Ghoulies II (1988) Revisited – Horror Movie Review
INTRO: The 1985 film Ghoulies didn’t put enough focus on the title characters. The little, demonic monsters were overshadowed by occult rituals and other horrific events. If you really want to see the ghoulies in action, you have to turn to the sequel, a film designed to let them live up to their full potential. And to let them wreak havoc in a carnival. Ghoulies II is a fun practical effects monster mash that could have only come out of the ’80s, and it’s time for it to be Revisited.
SET-UP: Internet trivia will tell you that the first Ghoulies had a budget of five million dollars, but it was closer to five hundred thousand. Directed by Luca Bercovici, who wrote the script with Jefery Levy, it was meant to be a dark, black magic horror film, but Bercovici decided to add in more humor once he saw the ghoulies. Special effects artist John Carl Beuchler designed the little demons, all of which were somewhat inspired by animals. There was fish ghoulie, cat ghoulie, rat ghoulie, monkey ghoulie, the bat-like flying ghoulie – and the director thought they looked kind of comedic. Still, they ended up being the selling point of the movie, despite being a relatively minor presence in it. There was a clever marketing campaign; namely, a poster that shows a ghoulie emerging from a toilet, with the tagline, “They’ll get you in the end.” That enticed a lot of movie-goers who had just seen little monsters cause trouble in Gremlins seven months earlier. They made Ghoulies a hit. It earned thirty-five million dollars the box office. But then the complaints began. Ghoulies didn’t have enough ghoulies action in it!
The company behind the film, Empire Pictures, decided to move forward with a sequel, and this one would be all about the ghoulies. Bercovici and Levy had a falling out with Empire over monetary issues, so Ed Naha, who had worked with Empire on Troll and Dolls, was hired to write the follow-up. He wrote a treatment under the pseudonym Charlie Dolan, then dropped out of the project to go work with Dolls director Stuart Gordon on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. So Empire had their Valet Girls writer Clark Carlton handle some drafts of the script. Then Dennis Paoli came on board for a page-one rewrite. Paoli is also best known for his work with Stuart Gordon, having co-written Re-Animator, From Beyond, Castle Freak, and more.
Entirely disconnected from the events of the first movie, Ghoulies II finds the little demons infiltrating the Hardin Family Carnival funhouse, Satan’s Den, which is a very fun set-up. Paying customers walk through the funhouse expecting jump scares. Instead, some of them experience real horror at the hands of the ghoulies. There are plenty of deadly things for the ghoulies to play with in this place: a pendulum torture device, a guillotine, there’s even a straight razor just lying around. When interviewed for the book Empire of the Bs, Paoli said, “In writing a Ghoulies script, you never work from scratch. You have to account for, and respect the characters of, the ghoulies. But if the devil is in the details, I’m responsible for any deviltry in the story. Ghoulies II was a change of pace for me after my Stuart Gordon scripts, but I always adapt my style to the story at hand. I admit to taking joy in finding humor in any story I tell, including, and perhaps especially, the darkest humor possible. That said, the ghoulies are comics, and putting them in a carnival funhouse – that speaks for itself. What I tried to do in that script was de-mystify, and then re-mystify, magic.”
Satan’s Den is run by alcoholic former magician Ned, played by Royal Dano from House 2 and Killer Klowns from Outer Space. Ned is accompanied by his aspiring magician nephew Larry, played by Damon Martin, and they’re assisted by little person Sir Nigel Penneyweight, played by Phil Fondacaro, who is the heart of the movie in some ways. We’re also introduced to Larry’s love interest, high wire walker turned dancer Nicole. Kerry Remsen was cast as this character, who catches the attention of the human villain. That’s J. Downing as Philip Hardin, the head of accounting at the company that owns the carnival. The carnival is being audited, and Philip has shown up to make sure any attractions that don’t make a profit will be closed down. Satan’s Den is in danger of being replaced by a mud wrestling attraction.
John Carl Beuchler was the first choice to direct the film, but he was busy doing effects on other Empire productions and gearing up to direct Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood. So Empire founder Charles Band had to get another director… and he didn’t have to look far. He hired his own father, Albert Band, who had filmmaking credits going back to the 1950s, including the horror classic I Bury the Living. Albert Band admitted that he preferred producing films and only got into directing to save some money, but he made some great movies. And Ghoulies II is one of them. As he told Fangoria magazine, the first Ghoulies movie was, “a cute idea botched up. The new picture is a fun movie. It’s got the horror elements, but it’s very mild. The kids are funny, the carnival atmosphere is joyous, and the ghoulies themselves are much better than the original ghoulies.”
REVIEW: Ghoulies II begins with a priest being pursued through the night by a group of red-cloaked cultists. We won’t find out what that’s all about, and it doesn’t matter. What matters is that the priest is played by Anthony Dawson, best known for villain roles in the early James Bond films. He’s making a quick cameo, showing up just long enough to bring the ghoulies into the story. He tries to drop them into a barrel of toxic solvent in an auto shop, but that doesn’t work out for him. And when the ghoulies emerge from the barrel, we see that Albert Band was right. The special effects in this film are a vast improvement over the original. Fish ghoulie, cat ghoulie, rat ghoulie, and the flying ghoulie look better than they did before. They have a cool new friend, the toad ghoulie, and they’re brought to life not just through puppetry but also, occasionally, through awesome stop-motion effects courtesy of David Allen, who earned an Oscar nomination for his work on Young Sherlock Holmes.
The ghoulies catch a ride in the back of a semi truck that’s hauling the Satan’s Den funhouse to its next location. When the carnival is set up, the ghoulies continue to hang out inside the funhouse, revealing themselves to people who enter the place, to the amazement of some and the horror of others. Teens played by the likes of Sasha Jenson from Halloween 4 and Dazed and Confused and genre regular William Butler get the worst of what the ghoulies have to dish out.
In between scenes of the ghoulies tormenting people, we get to spend time with the characters. We come to care about Ned, which isn’t surprising, since Royal Dano could always be counted on for an endearing performance. We care about Larry, Sir Nigel, and Nicole… And we root against Philip Hardin, who’s a smarmy douche and gets the perfect comeuppance.
One of the most impressive things about this film is the carnival itself. Production designer Giovanni Natalucci created a fully functional fair on the Empire stages in Italy, and it looks totally convincing. It wasn’t quite as big as Albert Band was hoping for, but there were all sorts of rides and games set up… And toward the end of the movie, the ghoulies escape from the funhouse so they can run amok through the whole carnival, sabotaging rides, driving bumper cars, mauling a clown in a dunk tank. Band let the mischievous little demons take full advantage of the setting they were dropped into. This all builds up to a spectacular ending that involves a ritual being performed to summon another demon. This one is a giant fish ghoulie, even bigger than a human, that likes to eat other ghoulies. Unfortunately, it also mistakes Sir Nigel Penneyweight for a ghoulie.
Ghoulies II truly is a joy to watch. A purely ‘80s good time that even comes with its own heavy metal song. “Scream Until You Like It” by WASP plays over the end credits, and the ghoulies also appear in the video for that song, sharing the screen with lead singer Blackie Lawless.
LEGACY/NOW: Unfortunately, this sequel wasn’t able to replicate the success of its predecessor, despite being a lot more fun. While the first Ghoulies got a wide theatrical release, Ghoulies II only got a few theatrical previews, then went right to VHS. Empire Pictures was starting to fall apart due to financial issues at this time, mainly long-term debt obligations to a major bank, so Charles Band had to start selling off properties. Before Ghoulies II reached video stores, Band had already sold the franchise rights to video distributor Vestron. It must have been a difficult decision to let go of Ghoulies, especially since the second movie was directed by his father. Within months, he had lost Empire completely. He didn’t let that get him down, though. He jumped right into starting another company: Full Moon, a company that he’s still running to this day.
If the ghoulies had made it into the Full Moon era, we’d have probably gotten a lot more sequels by now. As it is, there have only been two post-Band Ghoulies movies made so far. Vestron made Ghoulies Go to College with John Carl Beuchler and increased the comedic element in a major way. A few years later, Cinetel Films made Ghoulies IV with Jim Wynorski… and that movie had such a low budget, it couldn’t even afford to have ghoulies puppets. Just people in costumes. It’s a Ghoulies sequel without proper ghoulies! It’s no surprise the franchise went dormant for decades.
Luca Bercovici and Jefery Levy, the makers of the first film, are working on bringing the ghoulies back now. They’ll probably make something that’s closer in tone, style, and story to the original, but they shouldn’t discredit the sequels. To really get an idea of how to take the ghoulies and make a crowd-pleaser, look at Ghoulies II, a film that strikes just the right balance between horror and comedy. It features really cool, practical special effects and puts the spotlight on the ghoulies, allowing them to run wild and cause mayhem without the movie getting distracted by occult rituals and other supernatural beings. Ghoulies II was where the franchise peaked. And if we never get another ghoulies movie this cool again, at least we still have part 2 to go back to. So if you haven’t seen it in a while, definitely revisit it. And scream until you like it.
Two previous episodes of Revisited can be seen below. To see more of our shows, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals channel – and subscribe while you’re at it!
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