After the disastrous and god awful “The Tribe,” which was just a remake of the original film, “Thirst” takes every chance to link to the original film convincing audiences that it really is an honest to goodness sequel and not just a wannabe of the “Lost Boys” variety. In its essence though it’s still just nostalgiasploitation, as it takes every precaution to connect to the original movie trying to create a fluid sense of continuity. We hear the classic theme song played in the opening, there’s a re-make of the vampire train track diving scene in the original, Edgar has flashbacks (i.e. clips) of his fighting days with Sam and Alan, Edgar and his brother take the time to explain to one another what happened to the rest of the characters (Corey Haim who died before the film, is told to have suffered a slight case of vampirism and staking), and Alan re-appears as a supporting character now in vampiric form.
Tag Archives: Sequel
Halloweentown High (2004)
While “Halloweentown High” really isn’t the most subtle of films with monsters and knights acting as symbolism for civil rights, it does excel in fully realizing the character of Marnie who is no longer a student and now just a matriarch of other students looking to make their way in to the human world. Kimberly J. Brown is as good and charming as ever in the role of heroine Marnie who takes it upon herself to play civil rights leader by insisting some of the monsters from Halloweentown should be allowed to go to human school for the sake of diversity and equality. The catch is by Halloween if she hasn’t made progress, her powers will be stripped away. This allows for a more open forum for new characters, all of whom have their own likable traits and quirks. One if a goblin, another is a werewolf, another a wood nymph, and so on. Marnie plays more of a protector this time watching over the new exchange students, and falling for a new guy named Cody.
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge (2001)
While 1998’s “Halloweentown” was a very cute and entertaining little Halloween movie, the sequel “Kalabar’s Revenge” is much darker and slightly more adult in tone and atmosphere this time around. What’s interesting is you can sense the seeds for “The Witches of Waverly Place” within this sequel, and it’s not a far off prospect that what with Kimberly J. Brown getting older with each movie, Disney wanted to pass the wand over with a new franchise about magic and wizards.
Killer Cup 2: The Killer Cups Strike Back! (2004)
Oh god! They made a sequel! And it’s longer this time! A group of young people are going on a camping trip and have taken along the bare essentials like food, water, and styrofoam cups! The foreshadowing here is about as clunky as you’d expect with one of the characters making a point of declaring how big one of the cups are. Apparently it’s the master cup or chief general cup. In either case, what begins as a night of drinking and joking around (one of the campers even pretends to be bitten by the cup in a high-larious “gotcha” moment), soon all of the cups band together to strike back at the partiers and inflict carnage upon them.
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)
“He’s inside me and he wants to take me again!”
Ever since the remake of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” rather than looking back at the original film, many movie buffs around the web have been examining the infamous follow-up to Wes Craven’s sequel entitled “Freddy’s Revenge.” And after seeing it in its entirety for the first time ever, I’ll just say what everyone has examined from the get go: “Freddy’s Revenge” is one big metaphor for repressed homosexuality and its main hero’s confrontation with his demonizing and acceptance of his true sexuality.
30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010)
While I did really enjoy the original vampire film from David Slade based on the award winning graphic novel from Steve Niles, it wasn’t a masterpiece. Though everything about it was very tight and sharp, the film just didn’t end up being the groundbreaking game changer it promised. Not surprising, it spawned an inevitable sequel and thanks to the uselessness of vampires who are menacing monsters (Thank you Stephanie Meyer), this sequel entitled “Dark Days” is Direct to DVD fodder that is about as routine as you’d expect for a sequel to a major horror film that came and went before anyone knew who Steve Niles was.
Wanted Dead or Alive (1986)
In the eighties, Rutger Hauer was king. He was a man who managed to impress as both villain and anti-hero in many movies from the classic “The Hitcher” and “Bladerunner” to the not so classic but memorable “Blind Fury.” And as is the case, with every generation of bad asses, there’s always someone Hollywood is looking to peg as the next McQueen. “Wanted: Dead or Alive” is based on the excellent Western series starring Steve McQueen as a lone bounty hunter in the old west who travels along the land with his shot gun acquiring his next catch and teaching them lessons along the way while fighting the local bad guys. As is the case with the eighties, director Gary Sherman completely diminishes all of its period settings and sets its hero down in to modern times coating him with black leather, slicked back hair and teaming him against local terrorists as played by the tongued one Gene Simmons.