I got this film on a collection of various other horror films, which is the only reason I viewed it. Before watching this one, the only film that was good to me was "The Unholy". After watching this one, it is still "The Unholy". This one is about what one expects from a bad series of films that started out successfully, not because it had a good product, but rather because it came out on the heels of Gremlins and featured little creatures. The first film, while pretty bad, actually grossed a very impressive 35 million back in 1985 (that is a lot) and thus the sequels would be made and be even worse than the first film. The second was completely forgettable and I am guessing, after a couple of weeks, this one too, will escape my mind.
The story, of course, has nothing really to do with the first two films. So, on the plus side, one does not have to watch the previous two films to enjoy this one...though, I doubt many will find any enjoyment in this movie. It takes place on a campus, of course, and on said campus it is prank week. Two fraternities are fighting it out to determine who is the king of pranks. This week is particularly bothersome for the humanities professor and he will somehow accidentally raise the Ghoulies from the depths of a toilet to cause even more mayhem. Meanwhile, at this university doing pranks is cooler than having sex, super attractive blond nymphos can't seem to find anyone who want to have sex with them and an idiot tries to win back a girl who dumps him after he forgets one date to be with the leader of the rival fraternity.
The first Ghoulie film had a bit of comedy in it, but it had more of a horror atmosphere. This one removes 99 percent of the horror and is basically a comedy. That is pretty much why it fails as the humor does not work. It is like one of those teen sex comedies of the era, where nearly all the humor fails and the only thing to keep one watching is seeing the attractive girls go topless from time to time. The Ghoulies are limited to three this time, but at least they put some effort into making them look like actual creatures that moved and stuff. That is something the dreadful Hobgoblins cannot boast as in that one the monsters were hand puppet plush toys. Some good effects though and some good nudity do not save this film enough as it seems like it runs too long and relies to much on unfunny gags.
So, this film is bad, but that is not surprising in the least. It is surprising to see the late Marcia Wallace play a small role in the film and to see the bad guy from Innerspace and a ton of other films in this one. It basically plays out like a horrid "Animal House" ripoff film mixed with the horrid Gremlin knockoff franchise. It does not work in the least, and it does not make sense that a college guy would pass on a girl that is super attractive and wants some!
The story, of course, has nothing really to do with the first two films. So, on the plus side, one does not have to watch the previous two films to enjoy this one...though, I doubt many will find any enjoyment in this movie. It takes place on a campus, of course, and on said campus it is prank week. Two fraternities are fighting it out to determine who is the king of pranks. This week is particularly bothersome for the humanities professor and he will somehow accidentally raise the Ghoulies from the depths of a toilet to cause even more mayhem. Meanwhile, at this university doing pranks is cooler than having sex, super attractive blond nymphos can't seem to find anyone who want to have sex with them and an idiot tries to win back a girl who dumps him after he forgets one date to be with the leader of the rival fraternity.
The first Ghoulie film had a bit of comedy in it, but it had more of a horror atmosphere. This one removes 99 percent of the horror and is basically a comedy. That is pretty much why it fails as the humor does not work. It is like one of those teen sex comedies of the era, where nearly all the humor fails and the only thing to keep one watching is seeing the attractive girls go topless from time to time. The Ghoulies are limited to three this time, but at least they put some effort into making them look like actual creatures that moved and stuff. That is something the dreadful Hobgoblins cannot boast as in that one the monsters were hand puppet plush toys. Some good effects though and some good nudity do not save this film enough as it seems like it runs too long and relies to much on unfunny gags.
So, this film is bad, but that is not surprising in the least. It is surprising to see the late Marcia Wallace play a small role in the film and to see the bad guy from Innerspace and a ton of other films in this one. It basically plays out like a horrid "Animal House" ripoff film mixed with the horrid Gremlin knockoff franchise. It does not work in the least, and it does not make sense that a college guy would pass on a girl that is super attractive and wants some!