MCBASTARD'S MAUSOLEUM: NIGHT OF THE DEMONS 2 (1994) (Scream Factory Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review with Screenshot comparison)

NIGHT OF THE DEMONS 2 (1994)

Collector's Edition Blu-ray

Label: Scream Factory

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Duration: 95 Minutes 41 Seconds

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith

Cast: Amelia Kinkade, Cristi Harris, Jennifer Rose, Darin Heames, Johnny Moran

It took six years but a sequel to Night of the Demons (1988) was finally summoned in 1994 with Australian filmmaker Brian Trenchard-Smith (Turkey Shoot) at the helm. Once more it's Halloween night, and this time the teenagers from St. Rita's Catholic High School want to party at the spooky old Hull House! The flick opens with horny teen boys oggling nude girls from the neighboring dormitory via binoculars. After a trio of bad girls at the school, Bibi (Cristi Harris, Night the Scarecrow), Terri (Christine Taylor, Here Come the Munsters) and Shirley (Zoe Trilling, The Borrower), are forbidden from attending the school's Halloween dance by strict Sister "Leave room for Holy Ghost!" Gloria (Jennifer Rhodes, Heathers) they hook up with bad-boy Rick (Rick Peters, Leprechaun 4: In Space), Z-Boy (Darin Heames, The Fear), Bibi's boyfriend Kurt (Ladd York, Leprechaun 4: In Space) to make a late-night trip to the Hull House, along with the meek shy-girl Melissa/"Mouse" (Merle Kennedy, May), who is unaware that Shirley is planning a ritual sacrifice prank. They arrive at Hull House and unwittingly awaken the spirt of demonic Angela (Amelia Kinkade, Night of the Demons). No one seems to notice that poor z-boy has gone missing, a victim of a black-tongued Angela, and they flee the scene, but the evil transcends the Hull House by hiding away inside a familiar tube of lipstick picked-up by one of the girls, and follows them back to another party at another house, where Angela possesses Shirley and manifest herself, preforming a dance to Morbid Angel's "Rapture" calling back to the dance to Bauhaus from the first film.

The sequel doesn't fall too far from the original, once the demon possession infects that party the carnage never really stops. Highlights here include a pair of tits that turn into hands and melt Rock's hands to the bones, Angela transforming into a demonic-serpent, and more cool demonic make-up effects from Steve Johnson and crew, plus Sister Gloria, Father Bob (Rod McCary, 976-Evil II) and a nice Catholic boy who is weirdly obsessed with demonology named Perry (Bobby Jacoby, Bustin' Loose) crash the party armed with crucifixes, rosaries, Sister Angela's trusty yard stick and balloons and super-soakers loaded with Holy Water to save Melissa and the souls of the wayward teens, it's fun stuff and leans heavy on the humor of it all. It's not quite on par with the first film but it's pretty close, I dig the tone and the mix of humor and horror, the stern nun routine is fun, and those tits that morph into hands certainly fills the weird-tit quotient set up by the first film. I would dare say that the practical gore and make-up effects are actually superior to the first with demon Angela meeting a bubbling melting fate not dissimilar that of Stripe from Gremlins. Also a bit of a hot-take, I think Rick's demon make-up is the best of the flick, and when he starts playing basketball with his own head I was howling. Definitely not a serious horror flick, not was the first, and one that makes for a terrific group watch, and would probably make a killer double bill with something like Killer Party, Demons 1 or 2, or Murder Party.

Audio/Video: Previously issued on Blu-ray back in 2013 by the now defunct Olive Film Night of the Demons 2 (1994)gets a new Collector's Edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory in 1080p HD widescreen (1.85:1) sourced from a new 2023 scan of the 35mm interpositive. Comparing the two releases there are certainly differences, for starters the image is framed in 1.85:1 versus the Olive 1.78:1 so it loses a sliver of information from the top and bottom of the frame. I am assuming 1.85:1 is the correct aspect ratio. Also, it's not as overly bright as the Olive release was, which I think keep the grain during those darker scene a bit more managed, and skin tones are considerably warmer and more natural looking. Grain is better resolved as well, the fine details are improved, you can actually see the freckles on Cristi Harris's face which I never really noticed before. Likewise, color suffusion is pleasing throughout, the reds look more accurate, and the black levels are quite pleasing. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitle. The track is clean and well-balanced, no issues to report, and the soundtrack and pair of tunes from Morbid Angel sound great.

Scream Factory carry over the Audio Commentary With Director Brian Trenchard-Smith And Director Of Photography David Lewis from the Olive Films Blu-ray, plus stack it with some awesome new goodies. New stuff kicks off with a brand new Audio Commentary With Actors Cristi Harris, Jennifer Rose, Darin Heames And Johnny Moran, the very interesting A Tale Of Two Demons - An Interview With Directors Kevin S. Tenney And Brian Trenchard-Smith that runs 70-minutes as the director's talk about their films, and what was carried over into the sequel; the 25-min Trick Or Treat, Sucker - An Interview With Actor Amelia Kinkade who talks about how happy she was to be brought back for the sequel and how awesome Trenchard-Smith was to work with; the 21-min Red Curls And Screams - An Interview With Actress Cristi Harris who reminisces about shooting the film, some of the technical challenges, and how she was usually cast as the stereotypical good girl. The 49-min Monster Mayhem - An Interview With Special Effects Artist Steve Johnson is probably my favorite of the bonus stuff, in it he discusses the rivalry between digital and practical effects houses in the 90's, how both digital and practical houses are busier now than they've ever been with the glut of streaming programming, how the two blend together quite well, and his marriage to Quigley; plus we get the 13-min A Sequel With Guts - An Interview With Producer Jeff Geoffray who talks about how much he enjoyed working with Trenchard-Smith on this sequel. The disc extras are finished up with the 98-min Night Of The Demons 2 - Workprint version in VHS quality SD; over two-hours of VHS-sourced Dailies; 6-min Behind-The-Scenes Photo Gallery; and a 46-second Trailer.

The single-disc release comes in a standard keepcase with a two-sided but non-reversible sleeve of artwork featuring the theatrical poster artwork, which is replicated on the first-pressing only slipcover.

Special Features:

- NEW! 2023 film transfer from the interpositive

- NEW! Audio Commentary With Actors Cristi Harris, Jennifer Rose, Darin Heames And Johnny Moran

- Audio Commentary With Director Brian Trenchard-Smith And Director Of Photography David Lewis

- NEW A Tale Of Two Demons - An Interview With Directors Kevin S. Tenney And Brian Trenchard-Smith (70:03)

- NEW Trick Or Treat, Sucker - An Interview With Actor Amelia Kinkade (25:21)

- NEW Red Curls And Screams - An Interview With Actress Cristi Harris (21:21)

- NEW Monster Mayhem - An Interview With Special Effects Artist Steve Johnson (48:30)

- NEW A Sequel With Guts - An Interview With Producer Jeff Geoffray (12:54)

- Night Of The Demons 2 - Workprint (98:28)

- Dailies (129:35)

- Behind-The-Scenes Photo Gallery (5:58)