House II: The Second Story

**_“Looks like you've got some kind of alternate universe in there or something”_** This is a self-contained sequel to the 1985 film featuring a different house and backstory, as well as a slightly lighter tone. It’s a fun horror comedy with horror tropes but not frightening at all, plus it includes a spirit of adventure in the manner of Indiana Jones or “Firewalker” from the previous year. Indeed, the fourth Indiana Jones installment borrowed the concept of the crystal skull found here. Redhead Amy Yasbeck was 24 during shooting, the youngest I’ve ever seen her. Meanwhile raven-haired Devin DeVasquez and blonde Jayne Modean are on hand, not to mention Lar Park-Lincoln. More shoulda been done with them, but the director/writer didn’t know how to shoot women (no pun intended). I had my doubts due to the goofiness, such as the character of Gramps, yet the movie won me over by the mid-point. It’s basically a combination of two future movies: The soon-to-come “Waxwork” and “Monster Island” from 2004, except that the latter knew how to photograph the feminine gender. Like the first movie, a regular from the TV show Cheers makes a guest appearance, in this case John Ratzenberger, aka Cliff Clavin, similar to John Goodman’s character in “Arachnophobia.” Two more sequels would manifest in 1989 and 1992, with another installment announced in 2023 to relaunch the franchise. It runs 1h 27m and was shot in Jul-Oct 1986 in the Los Angeles area at Doheny Mansion in Mount St. Mary's College, the Stimson House, Paramount Ranch in Agoura (the Old West Town & countryside) and Culver City. GRADE: B+