*Clearly marked minor Spoiler near the end*
One thing can be said for Stephen King movies, whether he had a direct hand in them or not. They almost always have at least one or two really good characters, and the plot is always interesting. This film was no exception, and in fact was better than the first film, despite some incompetent cops and occasionally idiotic villains. Alexis Arquette made a great leader of the villains, though at times he seemed to be doing a bit of a Jerry Seinfeld impression. Micheal Gross was also very good as the typical troubled father. To be honest, the only part of the cast that wasn't up to par was Hillary Swank. If you told me in '96 that she would win an Oscar in less than a decade, I would have laughed in your face. As good as she may be now, she was awful in this film! Her lines were monotone, her facial expressions were flat, just and overall bad job. Up until the ending the plot moved along at a good pace, very interesting and enjoyable. The ending on the other hand seemed to drag on forever! I wont spoil it, but suffice to say it could have been a lot shorter. Last but certainly not least: The gore. *Herein lie the minor spoilers that I mentioned, so avert your eyes if you want. Nothing major though.* The deaths were all very well done and gory, though I wish we would have seen more of the lawnmower scene. The death by tarot cards was very cool however, and is quite possibly the best part of the film.
Overall, I recommend at least renting the double sided DVD with this and it's predecessor. Two very enjoyable films, though this is slightly better.
8/10
One thing can be said for Stephen King movies, whether he had a direct hand in them or not. They almost always have at least one or two really good characters, and the plot is always interesting. This film was no exception, and in fact was better than the first film, despite some incompetent cops and occasionally idiotic villains. Alexis Arquette made a great leader of the villains, though at times he seemed to be doing a bit of a Jerry Seinfeld impression. Micheal Gross was also very good as the typical troubled father. To be honest, the only part of the cast that wasn't up to par was Hillary Swank. If you told me in '96 that she would win an Oscar in less than a decade, I would have laughed in your face. As good as she may be now, she was awful in this film! Her lines were monotone, her facial expressions were flat, just and overall bad job. Up until the ending the plot moved along at a good pace, very interesting and enjoyable. The ending on the other hand seemed to drag on forever! I wont spoil it, but suffice to say it could have been a lot shorter. Last but certainly not least: The gore. *Herein lie the minor spoilers that I mentioned, so avert your eyes if you want. Nothing major though.* The deaths were all very well done and gory, though I wish we would have seen more of the lawnmower scene. The death by tarot cards was very cool however, and is quite possibly the best part of the film.
Overall, I recommend at least renting the double sided DVD with this and it's predecessor. Two very enjoyable films, though this is slightly better.
8/10