Tuesday, November 27, 2018

HALLOWEEN HANGOVER: HOBGOBLINS 2 (2009) *


Rick Sloane returns with a Hobgoblins sequel no one asked for, and thirty-one years too late at that.  It was his first film in eleven years after Vice Academy 6.  According to IMDB, he hasn’t made a movie since, which I’m sure is best for everyone.

A bunch of forty-year-old looking teenage college students go on a field trip to a mental institution.  After their visit, a disbelieving doctor unleashes the evil Hobgoblins upon the hospital.  The teens go home for a movie night and the hobgoblins soon show up to feed on their fears.

Most of the jokes are complete groaners, or worse, don’t elicit any response at all.  The only sight gag I laughed at was when one of the girls holds a textbook that says, “Really Abnormal Psychology”.  There are a couple of callbacks to the original, like the fight with garden tools, but they don’t really add anything to the film.

The worst sin this painful sequel commits is that it’s just boring.  As bad as the original Hobgoblins was, there was a goofiness about it that made it at least semi-tolerable.  Whenever things get too dull, someone will say “Hobgoblins” three times and get attacked by a hand puppet.  Or, should I say, awkwardly hold a hand puppet to their chest and pretend to be attacked.  It’s that kind of movie.

Even though Hobgoblins 2 was made in ’09, the grimy cinematography makes it look like it came out of the ‘80s.  Because of that, it feels like a natural continuation of the original (even if the mythology of the creatures is totally different).  That’s about the best compliment I can give it.

The best part though is seeing glimpses of Sloane’s old fake movie trailers like Chainsaw Chicks, Amputee Hookers, and Nightmare of the Lost Whores.  Unfortunately, you’ve got to wait until the end credits to see most of them.  Say what you will about Sloane, but at least he was making these faux trailers decades before Grindhouse made it fashionable.

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