Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman

This time they tried to actually make it funny. They failed, but they tried. There are so many things that don't make sense but what would you expect? The budget is almost non-existent. They are clearly not on an island and every indoor scene was probably in the same building. At least Jennifer Lyons was in it.

Any self-respecting fan of cheap flicks is bound to approach Jack Frost 2 with a certain degree of understandable caution. Sequels are always tricky ground in this genre, and when you're dealing with the sequel to possibly the most beloved "Killer-Snowman-Shags-That-Chick-From-American-Pie-To-Death-In-The-Shower" movie ever, (a hotly contested title, for sure, but I stand by my judgement), the stakes are obviously fairly high.

Being able to recapture exactly the same sense of cheesy ineptitude without overdoing it was always going to be a tricky task. Cooney succeeds in fine style, principally by following the established blueprint in an entirely new location. In this case; a tropical island. Natural stalking ground for a snowman.

Early sequences, in which Jack is represented by a puddle of water and a carrot on a piece of thread, might suggest to the casual viewer that the budget for this follow-up will not stretch to the dazzling visual spectacles presented by the original. Don't be fooled.. Cooney knows just what he's doing, and is merely lulling the casual viewer into a false sense of security. He pulls out his trump card in the latter third of the flick. He has bought a home PC animation package, and he knows how to use it.

Well, he doesn't *quite* know how to use it. But he'll have a jolly good go. Hence, inept live action effects are seamlessly blended with inept computer generated effects, and we're all set for a staggeringly poor finale.

Despite the somewhat misleading title, at no point does Jack kill any mutants. Pity. I'm sure he'd have kicked Wolverine's fuzzy backside.

Title: Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman; Genre: Horror; Certificate: 18; Year: 2000; Director: Michael Cooney

Starring: Christopher Allport, Eileen Seeley, Chip Heller, Ray Cooney

Once in a while, a movie comes along that redefines the way you look at celluloid entertainment, if only for a short time. When flashy directors spend millions soaking their movies with state-of-the-art special effects, it supposedly increases the entertainment value of their work. Takes flicks like "The Matrix", "The 6th Day" and "Independence Day". I can honestly say that the entertainment ascertained from all the above movies paled in comparison to dismal B-movie "Jack Frost 2".

Yes, you heard me right. "Jack Frost 2" is utterly dismal. It is a B-movie in every sense of the phrase, looks like it was made with an expensive camcorder and stars actors who could very well be your neighbours. But despite this, it still managed to make me laugh so hard I thought I'd cough my lungs up right there.

The premise of "Jack Frost 2" follows similarly to the 1997 prequel. In the original, a serial killer is killed in a car wreck, but he somehow mutates into a snowman and seeks revenge on the sheriff who caught him. The sequel sees a lab expirement go wrong, and once again Jack Frost's remains mutate and he goes on a killing spree on a tropical island where our unfortunate Sheriff Tiler (Christopher Allport) and his wife are attending their friends wedding party.

But the beauty in this movie is not the storyline (as brilliant as a killer snowman on a tropical island is), or the script (which although generally awful, has some humorous and very witty lines). It could be attributed to any of a number of things. Perhaps the memorably bad acting and performances. Maybe the laughable special-effects and settings. The complete lack of editing, direction and production also help make this movie unforgettable. And finally the injection of Jack's "children" - a blatant rip-off of Gremlins, but hilarious all the same.

Not everyone is going to view this movie the way I did. Some will probably switch it off after 15 minutes. But if you like complete and utter rubbish, this is as good as it gets.

How about "Jack Frost 3: Jack vs Worzel Gummidge".

Rating: ***

If you have been reading my user comments, you will have seen that I enjoyed the original "Jack Frost" movie. I thought it was a pretty funny black comedy. So when I heard they had made a sequel, I was set to rent it. However, none of the video stores in my city got it (knowing that video stores watch screeners, that should have been my first warning.) It took years for me to get a copy, which I did by my Internet DVD renting service. On the DVD, I saw that there was a 3 year gap between the film copyright and when it was released on DVD - which should have been my second warning.

Anyway, I watched the movie, and I was sorely disappointed. The movie looks like it was made on a budget much smaller than the first movie (if that's possible). While the cheapness occasionally gets a laugh (check out the "airport" near the beginning), most of the time the movie looks very tacky. Some parts look like they were shot on videotape and not film!

Despite the cheapness, I might have still enjoyed the movie had it the wit of the first movie, but it doesn't. The humor this time around seems very forced, with (among other things) too many lame wisecracks by the snowman. The script also suffers from having a number of boring stretches, a lame climax, and the movie having to resort to ripping off "Gremlins".

Is there anything good about this sequel? Well, I thought that there were a few decent splatter scenes, which managed to be gory and amusing at the same time. But they are not enough to make it worthwhile to slog through the boredom and lameness in the rest of the movie.

I use the term bad very loosely, because like the first one, the sequel is so bad that it's good -- and that's the point! With the production values of a Cinemax skin-flick, shoddy effects and paper thin characters, 'Jack Frost 2' is one of the best bad movies I have ever laid eyes upon. This time around, we are on a tropical island where Sam & his wife Anne are trying to put the past behind them this Christmas. Sam is still troubled by what Jack did and feels a connection to him. No surprise then that when Jack shows up, Sam goes insane and Anne steps up as the Linda Hamilton/Sigourney Weaver type and takes matters into her own hands to find a way to not only destroy Jack, but his hundreds of mini-killer snowball offspring as well (that somewhat resemble the Gremlins). If you ever wanted to see a Snowman cry and get covered in bananas by a bunch of walking stereotypes, this movie is for you. If you liked the first, there's no reason not to like this one. Just curious though, what happened to Sam & Anne's son?

8/10