(1981)
Dir - Steve Miner
Overall: MEH
With the case of 80s slasher films, generally you do not even need to see one to know how it is going to play out. With the case of Friday the 13th films specifically, this rings even more true. Well, at least that is the case for the second installment, which went into production rather quickly after the first one dropped the year before and is almost hilariously the exact same movie. Original director Sean S. Cunningham stepped down with associate producer Steve Miner stepping in both here and for the following year's Part 3. This was after Paramount's initial idea to have each entry in the franchise be a stand-alone one was tossed aside in place of making that kid who popped up out of Crystal Lake for five seconds the main antagonist from here on out, sans hockey mask at this point. A few of the cast and crew returned, though Tom Savini bailed as he thought a machete-wielding Jason was a stupid idea. Plus he was busy making the abomination that is John Russo's Midnight anyway. The stock, retreaded script of another crop of school counselors taking their clothes off, getting spied on, and then murdered is horrifically boring to endure yet again. To make it even more of a pain in the ass, there is an insulting amount of psych-out jump scares just to up the cliche count even more. Is it any worse than the other twenty-to-thirty slasher movies that came out the same year? No, but why compare the texture and feel of piece of shit to other pieces of shit? It is all shit.
(1987)
Dir - Fred Dekker
Overall: GOOD
One of the best kid-friendly horror comedies certainly of the 80s and possibly ever, The Monster Squad is fun, tight, silly, and in on its own charm. As the direct follow-up to his Night of the Creeps, Fred Dekker, (and co-screenwriter Shane Black who also wrote Lethal Weapon the same year), concoct a part-homage to Universal's classic monsters and horror movie logic in general, but if the film was nothing sans nostalgic nods then it would not be nearly as successful. The fact that the movie is genuinely funny and moving outside of its sentimental horror geek service essentially makes it work as a quick-paced, Goonies-style kids vs. bad guys excursion. While the well-equipped child actors get the most screen time, Duncan Regehr makes for a solid Count Dracula and as Frankenstein's monster, Tom Noonan honestly does the best job since Boris Karloff and his could rank as the most humane of any such portrayal. There is some dated, political incorrectness and the script while entertaining makes no attempt to ground a single solitary plot point in any semblance of plausibility. Yet for a movie specifically designed to be light-weight popcorn fare, it does more than enough things right to get by on charisma alone. Charisma which it thankfully has in spades.
(1989)
Dir - David Schmoeller
Overall: MEH
Installment number one in a whopping thirteen film deep franchise to date, Puppet Master is another that comes from the hands of writer/director David Schmoeller who has made horror films practically his entire career. Though to his credit, he would bow out creatively after this one. Many hallmarks of straight to video horror fare are present, including flat, inexpressive lighting, laughably poor acting by unfamiliar actors, dated special effects, and an incessant keyboard soundtrack that hardly ever shuts up. While some of this is amusingly hokey at least in small doses, matters are further complicated by the, well, complicated plot. The first act is oddly unforgiving. Instead of creating an air of proper intrigue, it seems amateurish with all of the other subpar elements of the production at play. Any movie where tiny toys are the monsters is bound to come off a bit or a lot ridiculous anyway, so in this regard it cannot really afford such shortcomings unless a full blown, schlocky approach is taken. While it does venture into such terrain at times, the slow build and foggy narrative is quite hindering. Even when the little puppet people do start finally running around playing stabby stabby, we are mostly treated to boring POV shots of them while inter-cutting with more lame characters and dialog.
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