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Ghoulies/Ghoulies II - Blu-ray Review

3 stars

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the bathroom, Ghoulies return from the toilets.  Making their blu-ray debut, courtesy of Scream Factory, the films responsible for the hilariously awful cult class Hobgoblins - Ghoulies and Ghoulies II – arrive with a heavy does of cheese, gore, and fun.  Created by Charles Brand and Stan Winston (although he quickly became too busy to be involved with the actual creature designs), the Ghoulies franchise is what happens when you take Joe Dante’s Gremlins and mix it with a shot of the occult, some bathroom humor, and a heavy sense of carnival house humor.

Upon returning to his family's abandoned mansion in Hollywood, Jonathan Graves (Peter Liapis), a college student who could pass for Eric Roberts' double, realizes he has inherited his father's powers of sorcery, which he uses to unwittingly unleash a handful of demons known as Ghoulies in his aim to experiment with real power.  While his eyes turn neon green, the tiny terrors run amok, getting into mischief and killing their unfortunate hosts before Jonathan understands exactly who is in control of them.  Co-starring Lisa Pelkin (Jennifer), Michael Des Barres (Waxwork II, Under Siege) and Jack Nance (Eraserhead, Twin Peaks), Ghoulies manages to be a fun experience even if I remember liking it more as a kid than I do now. {googleAds}

Written by Luca Bercovici and Jefery Levy and directed by Charles Band, Ghoulies – while fairly pointless – is a B-movie shot with a twist of some seriously dark fantasy elements.  Winston might have assisted with the original drawings but John Carl Buechler's creature designs are both creepy and original, even if the cheapness of the latex is hard to ignore.  That being acknowledged, the film does enough to carve its own identity with some arcane magic and some seriously goofy acting from its actors.

With a bigger budget, things get a bit better and funnier in Ghoulies II.  This time the operators of a traveling spook house pick up some unlikely hitchhikers and the three now-roaming-free Ghoulies begin terrorizing carnival goers at Satan’s Den.  They bring big in money to the fair with their particular brand of freakiness but when Uncle Ned (Royal Dano) finds out that they have killed a couple of the workers all Hell breaks loose.  His nephew and Sir Nigel Pennywight (Phil Fondacaro) must stop them. Ghoulies/Ghoulies II - Blu-ray Review

In every way, Ghoulies II is better than the original.  It’s funny, kid-friendly, and wackier than the first round of creature attacks.  The special effects are better.   The cast is both familiar and solid and the new Ghoulies design, again Buechler’s work, is more effective at looking less like hand puppets.   Several stop-motion animation shots have also been added to give the creatures more validity as they run amok and get in to all sorts of mischief.  While the gore has increased as well, the lighter tone creates some serious laughs.

Scream Factory brings the toilet scare of many children who grew up in the ’80s back, with their new Blu-ray double feature release of Ghoulies and Ghoulies II.  The small creature-filled film and its sequel are both a lot of silly fun, and Scream Factory does an excellent job giving each film the HD treatment, as well as providing some entertaining and insightful special features sure to please the most die hard fans of the series. 

For B-movie fans, this double feature release is not to be missed.

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Ghoulies/Ghoulies II - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - April 21, 2015
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles
: English
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Single disc (1 BD)
Region Encoding: A

The 1080p transfer is an upgrade from previous versions.  Colors are well-saturated.  Black levels are strong.  The contrast is high.  The release is offered in a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • There is an audio Commentary with director/co-writer Luca Bercovici.

Special Features:

  • Ghoulies:
  • New Interviews (30 min)
  • Original Theatrical Trailer
  • Still Gallery
  • Ghoulies II:
  • New Interviews (17 min)
  • Alternate Scenes (3 min)
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Still Gallery

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