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.
I thought this movie and the first one were decent.
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