 
A beautiful artist named Paige (Ami Dolenz) moves into an apartment which is run by an eccentric lady named Elaine (Laraine Newman) and also discovers a ouija board as she messes aropund with it and discovers a spirit who claims to be a dead resident that was murdered there but there's no record of her case as one of the repairmen named Jonas (Christopher Michael Moore) gets murdered by some of his tools and trapped in a room at the suite as well as Paige having nightmares about a woman named Susan (Julie Michaels) who has plans for her as she starts to change her personality very slowly.
There's a witty moment with a repairman named Jonas talking to his new resident which happens to be Paige about stuff at the building in which seemed to show okay timing but slightly cheesy making it look like one of those party type low budget flicks.
We have another flat humoress with Paige talking to the landlady Elaine while holding something heavy as well as discussing those types of situations which looked too stale to make me laugh and seemed pretty obvious by what goes on in this scene. A case of bad writing indeed.
There's a moment when Paige spots a ouija board and experiments with it which also looked terribly cheesy and uninspired by what goes on here as this was supposed to have looked effective for the storyline but it doesn't at all. Alot of low production values but yet there's a near jumping moment when someone slams their hand down on the board to catch her attention which works in well.
There's a fair good argumentive scene between Paige and her ex-boyfriend Mitch as this seemed to work in pretty strong as well as one of the residents at the building Russel telling him off and then a good approach by Mitch coming up close to him as this gives you a cringing feeling that a fight might break out that the performance here clearly shows it like that. Pretty well done here.
We also have a nice moment in a storage room involving Paige with everything still as well as hearing some strange sounds which gives things a nice spooky feel and a good jumping moment as well afterwards.
Also have a moment with Paige using the ouija board again looking cheesy and a still moment and suddenly the phone rings which is a total miss for a jumping moment here like it was supposed to have been. Oh well.
We spot a perfect dream sequence involving Paige in a room with candles and the wind blowing while she's in her nightgown walking up some stairs and spotting the ouija board with a hand striking up from it grabbing her neck as this is a nice brief jumping moment and the most popular scene in this sequel that anyone who watched it really remembers. It was perfectly well done and makes up for the previous cheesy moments that we spotted in the story beforehand.
A scene I really enjoyed is when Paige looks for a file in her co-worker's desk whom tried to push her around and then she stands up to her and gives her an idle threat as this was a good strong scene to watch for sure.
Things fall flat again late ron when we spot Mitch in a room and ghostly moments with an electric saw flying in the air about to attack him as the effects don't look spooky at all or when he is trapped in the room trying to make this moment look intense and it doesn't.
There's a nice moment with the coroners entering the building as well as spotting Elaine weeping as well as good discussions on what had happened as this time the story in the film starts to look a little more seriously done.
We do have some good strong and serious discussions with Paige Russel and Elaine on their plan by using the ouija board to find out some answers which looked very well done as well as a good camera shot looking down on them using it.
Some perfect camera shots on a ghostly feel with the camera zooming through a keyhole as well as spotting Paige by an object which almost seemed to pay a tribute to Tenney's previous flick Night of the Demons.
Nice strong discussions with Russel doing a photo shoot with Paige as this looked perfectly uplifting and very natural as well when we spot on what they are talking about.
There's more intense dream sequences that involve Paige in the same room as well as her experiencing her reflection in the mirror along with then spotting the ghostly Susan appearing which looked incredibly effective here while we watch this moment.
A good confrontation with both Russel and Elaine towards Paige discovering on what the ouija board was really used for as this was well focused on their arguments and other situations like that.
The best scene I found was when Paige and Russel go to a wooded area which seemed cheesy by the surroundings but dark and fun after what they hear and try to run away as it almost gives a sort of Friday the 13th feel to everything. Plus good argumentive moments with Mitch arrives there as this looked strong plus some good near fighting sequences between him and Russel along with Paige getting aggressive trying to break it up as this looked powerfully energised. A perfect moment to put in for a story like this one.
Also a good moment at a junkyard where we spot a crane with a steel ball aiming towards Elaine behind a vehicle as well as perfect shots on the vehicle being smashed which looked incredibly suspenseful to watch.
A terrific moment with Mitch driving in his vehicle and the gas petal going on automatically as well as drivers and other people trying to didge his vehicle including school kids trying to cross a street as this keeps you watching in terror and suspense wondering what will come out of this since all of this was perfectly shot.
Then the story really stirs up nicely when we have Susan finally coming out to do a battle between Russel and Mitch as at times it seemed to look a bit hokey and other times mildly powerful too. Some neat ghostly effects when Mitch tries to get Paige to fight Susan taking over her body as well as spotting lights exploding or a skeletal ghostly face zooming away as well as a perfect camera speeding away from the apartment. All of this looked entertaining for others who enjoy cheesy low budget horror flicks.
Bottom line is that the film looked sloppy in certain spots and exciting in other spots but disappointing here and there too. So it's an above average horror flick which can be watched for if you're in the mood for a party type cheesy horror film. It's not too bad as some critics say it is but isn't really a sequel to the original either.
The acting is a bit cheesy as lead actress Ami Dolenz (Paige) seemed to have the pretty innocent looks that did the talking for the most part but showed off a convincing innocence too. Yet when she tries to get into something like the ouija board and acts way too over the top and not makiong this look convincing at all with her excitement and is totally wooden by all of this too. Also there's moment when she acts anxious as she is a bit off too. Plus a scene when she screams was low on energy too. Yet she does seem to improve when the story gets rolling and when she starts to change by acting sharp with what she does. Plus does a nice job with her obscene language or getting overly aggressive while stopping a fight as all of this she seemed to bring together nicely. So she was half good and half bad in her performance here.
John Gatins (Russel) really showed off a good sharpness to his role in the film by acting believeable standing his own ground and having a nice courageous behavior too when he needed to be this way. Shows good expressions throughout this too. Also brings on a nice charming type of behavior too along with acting convincingly outgoing with his speaking and conversations as well. Plus shows off some terrific intense energy when he gets aggressive or stern by when he has to act this way. Yes I'd say he was close to being a character actor.
Laraine Newman (Elaine) however was so mellodramaitc it wasn't even funny. She doesn't seem to know on how to pull off her eccentric behavior and was unfunny when she tried so hard to behave this way by acting strange with whatever she did here. Also seemed to try too hard with her sobbing emotions while acting devastated. Yet when she acts serious by getting into something she seemed to act not too shabby while doing this. Doesn't make up for the lack of her talents that were involved here.
Timothy Gibbs (Mitch) shows off a good masculine type of macho attitude along with doing well by getting in your face on his cocky and obnoxious attitude too. He shows off a good powerful presence as well as changing those ways by acting like a kind and caring person. He offers a nice versatality here. Plus does a good job with his struggling behavior when the terror strikes him by acting perfectly demanding from what he does in a battling sequence.
Christopher Michael Moore (Jonas) was a natural ham in his role as the repair guy at the suite and really knew on how to get into a conversation and acting okay while being funny too. He had the right burly looks and appeal to whatever he did coming off greatly onto the camera and can grab your attention a great deal while doing all of this. Also does well by acting fully alerted when some devices are attacking him which he shows some nice energy here.
Julie Michaels (Susan) came in later into the story but really pulled off a nicely type of powerful attitude looking sharp within all of this which is an extra plus here. Also does a nice job with her wicked attitude and acting ruthless as she seemed to know her stuff with this role indeed. She proved to be a worthy character actress here.
There's nude photos of Julie Michael's portraiting to be the wciked Susan in a book but just exposing her breasts
In a dream sequence a woman's face is sharply stabbed.
A slaughtered looking arm is revealed under a blanket in a stretcher.
The music sounds quite low budget in which we mainly hear a synthesizer playing hearing some nice clear chiming and tinkling sounds. Also there's the odd screeching sounds which kinda sounded a bit cheesy as well as some low sounds which at times seemed fairly effective. Plus we hear ghostly wind sounds as this worked out smoothly. Plus there's the odd effective music for the suspenseful scene's as it was strongly done in all composed by Dennis Michael Tenney. |
