Rish Outfield's reviews
First things first: is the title truly necessary? I realize that Lovecraft wrote a story called "The Statement of Randolph Carter," but come on, the guy was insane! His work may have a following, but such a long, unwieldy, sprawling, unmemorable title has no place in the second least-intellectual of film genres. Imagine a pornographic film entitled "Astonishing Fulfilment of Adolescent Male Fantasies in the Sequestered Antechambers of Incarcerated Females." Who would want to see that?
Wait, Lovecraft WAS insane, wasn't he?
This film picks up immediately after the first one, with the survivors and their professor going back to confront the hideous monster. They manage to separate the demon into two halfs–and make off with the naked-for-two-thirds-of-the-film human half while the demon half comes after them.
This talky sequel was much less gory than the original, but it was also a little more intellectual and not as much of a dumb campus killer flick as the first was. I found the film confusingly academic, seemingly intended for Lovecraft fans and not many others (throwaway lines such as "Remember the Dunwich thing?" and references to "The Outer Beings" and "Cthulhu" don't help).
One actor was awful (really bad), but most were good. David Warner, touted as one of the stars, wasn't even a day player, appearing in one quicky scene. John Rhys Davies's part was much larger, and he was very good, as always. B-movie pinup girl Julie Strain played the creature, not that you'd ever know it without reading the credits. Stuffy Randolph Carter (Mark Stephenson) struts around again in this film, but he's more likable here, and actually causes a few laughs. And not only was the naked chick naked, but she was a good actress, and surprisingly effective.
There was a funny part about stab wounds ("The internal suction is very strong . . .") but that could've just been me. I was distracted by garish product placement, but again, I usually am.
The cops were actually scared–-but that's realistic. A frightened cop calls for backup, but an hour later, he's still alone. The creature/demon's makeup seems to have changed from the first film-–its less demonic, more doglike, and not as frightening. Wait a minute, didn't the creature cause madness in those that looked on it? The obvious low budget was real obvious sometimes. The effects limitations hampered the climax, which was unbelievably slow. Judging from my notes, I didn't have many major problems with the film, but wasn't left with anything overwhelmingly positive to report. I don't know what to say. I enjoyed this film for some of its nice moments of romance and heart, but it was hardly scary or memorable.

Total Skulls: 10

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood hits camera
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?