I saw the first Spirited Killer a long time ago when it was rereleased to cash-in on Tony Jaa’s rising popularity. I don’t remember much about it, other than it was by far the worst Tony Jaa movie I had seen up to that point. He’s nowhere to be found in this crummy horror-comedy sequel, which is good news for his career and bad news for me.
A group of friends go out into the wilderness looking for treasure. To find the loot, they must perform a ritual that will awaken one of the girl’s dead grandfather. Meanwhile, in another part of the woods, a gang of criminals are performing a ritual of their own. They wind up getting their wires crossed and as a result, there are dead gangsters and zombie grandfathers hopping around the woods looking to make a hot lunch out of our heroes.
The comedy elements are painfully unfunny. The sure sign you are in trouble comes when there are multiple Benny Hill-style fast motion chase scenes. If you’re watching a Benny Hill-style fast motion chase scene that doesn’t involve Benny Hill, chances are, you’re in for some pain.
Another sequence has the zombies following their intended victim by tracking their breathing. The guys then get the bright idea to hold their breath until the zombie goes away. Just when it looks like the zombie has lost them, one of the dudes farts. Hardee-fucking-har-har.
The action scenes are pretty much a wash too. At all times it looks like something filmed in someone’s backyard. I don’t mean that as a knock against low budget filmmakers in general… just these low budget filmmakers. Another lame sequence involves our heroes setting up an impromptu wrestling ring to fight off the zombie, complete with a bit where he argues with the “referee”. One thing’s for sure, I won’t be going to the mat for Spirited Killer 2 any time soon.
At least the last half hour is basically a series of non-stop fight scenes. I didn’t say they were “good” fight scenes, but there are a lot of them. While that’s not quite enough to completely salvage the movie, it did keep it from slipping down to a * rating.
AKA: Wake Up to Kill 3. AKA: Spirited Killer 2: Awakened Zombie Battles.
I found the fast-motion scenes funny as hell and I thought the action scenes were cool.
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