![]() ![]() ![]() Film Appreciation - It's Getting Weirder.Worth Mentioning - What a Nutty Bunch of Fruitcakes.Worth Mentioning - Night Breeds Mischief.Film Appreciation - We're in Movie Hell.Worth Mentioning - I Know Fear When I See It.As he says, he's "a 170 year old fart, a goddamn zombie". He expected his youth to be restored, but he looks like he has spent a long time in the ground. Within moments of Gramps showing up on the screen, I'm loving the guy, and he gets me emotional when he chokes up at the sight of himself in a mirror. Gramps is played by Royal Dano, who delivers a very endearing performance. But they also find out that Gramps, as he likes to be called, is still alive in the coffin, and has been waiting decades for some jackass to dig him up. Jesse's right, they find the skull in the coffin. Jesse guesses that his ancestor was buried with the skull, so he talks Charlie into helping him dig up great-great-grandpa. A skull that can unlock the mysteries of the universe and bring eternal life to anyone who possesses it. A special crystal skull, with jewels in its eyes. Soon after moving into the mansion, Jesse has discovered that the great-great-grandfather he was named after was an outlaw in the Old West, and at one point the elder Jesse stole a crystal skull from an Aztec temple. House is a fine film, sure, but I have a lot more fun watching the kid-friendly adventure that is House II. That reference is meant to be a joke, but I've always been happy that House II got mentioned in a high profile film like that, and I'm not joking when I say it: I prefer House II over the first House. The films you usually hear named as the best sequels ever made - Terminator 2, Aliens, The Godfather Part II - are all mentioned, and then one of the students tosses out a reference to House II: The Second Story. There's a scene in Scream 2 where a class of film students debate whether or not any sequels have ever surpassed an original film. It wasn't the first horror movie I watched, but it was one I watched regularly during the early years of my horror fandom. I would have been around 4 years old when it reached home video, and my first viewings of it were at that time. Wiley's comments on his film really ring true for me, and the results of that poll make a lot of sense to me, because I have been a fan of House II ever since I was a little kid. He also mentions that, while House II was not as positively received as its predecessor was, a poll conducted in the year of its release showed that kids who had seen it chose it as one of their favorite films of '87. Cunningham, writer/director Ethan Wiley says that the film has a tone that's "more gentle" than the first House, and it turned out to be something that's "geared toward a younger audience", the sort of film that would be a good choice for a kid's introduction to horror. In the audio commentary he recorded for House II: The Second Story with producer Sean S. ![]()
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