Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge

Wow, this was bad. First, I liked the first Scare Package. It wasn't perfect but overall was very fun and had some good horror elements. The shorts were inconsistent but pretty fun.

Well thet must have used all their A, B, C, and D material on the first movie. This installment is neither fun nor witty. I had to take a break after the first two shorts because it was so bad.

First, the humor is non existent. The jokes and gags were not funny, I didnt laugh once. The shorts were poorly written, none of them would not even make the first movie. The wrapper story dowsn't go anywhere either.

Finally, it was dusted with wokeness. Not sure if this was supposed to be a dig at how wokeness has come into horror movies (unlikely) or if it was just done because they wanted to send that message (probably). Either way it pulled down the movie further. The first short which is the best (not good, just the best) literally ends in a lecture. Wow just what I'm looking for in a horror parody. There is more sprinkled in after that, including a speech on white privilige in the overarching story. Wow what fun.

In summary, avoid this movie even if you liked the first one like myself. It has none of the fun or charm of the first one and seems like a rushed sequel with no reason to exist.

First, I am a huge fan of the original Scare Package, and the clever way it had fun with a myriad of horror tropes. This sequel goes very far astray of what made the original so great, so to say I was disappointed is an understatement, though I could find a few redeeming qualities.

From the very beginning, writer/director Aaron B. Koontz makes it abundantly clear that this is a comedy... and a goofy, borderline-slapstick one at that. This is an anthology series, so you've got a variety of writers and directors. This aspect was slightly different from the original, in the fact that there were only four short stories, and the Koontz/Burns framework story is the bulk focus. Which is not exactly a mistake, as exactly half the shorts (the latter two) completely suck.

I thought the first two shorts were very good. As a matter of fact, the first, Welcome to the 90's, I felt was the one thing clever enough to fit into what the first movie accomplished. It is a fun take on a role reversal of final girls, though it does get preachy by the end. But a great idea, nonetheless. The second short is good, too, The Night He Came Back Again! Part VI: The Night She Came Back, as I always like to see characters return from the original (more can be found in the wraparound story). It is a (further down the line) sequel to a short from the original, and is left open-ended enough for more. I just hope Koontz goes back to his original winning concept, if this actually continues as a franchise.

Here's the problem: This sequel is (primarily) not a clever comment on horror tropes, it is a parody and reference-generator of horror films (plus other films in general). The framework story focuses mostly on the Saw movies. This sort of thing has not only been done already (in the "Movie" movies, Meet the Spartans, etc.), but I'm fairly certain one of the Scary Movies has done Saw already!! So, add redundant on top of all that's wrong. Now, I'm all for movie references, but when that's your movie's sole focus, it gets real tiresome. Case in point: The fourth short, We're So Dead, is nothing but a very obvious succession of movie references, seemingly designed for a Saw "game" in the ensuing frame. The references and quotes in the latter/concluding part of this movie fly at you rather mercilously, and made me wish the movie was over already.

There is a modicum of fun to be had here, but ultimately the movie is bogged down in dumb parody and cramming in as many references as possible. There is even an extra on the Blu-ray, done in a Pop-up Video style, TELLING you what and where all the references lie/refer to. Which is actually a pretty good idea, if I had the patience for it. Ya gotta sit through the movie again in its entirety to get them all.

C'mon, get back to the drawing board!

Alright, well I had no clue as to what I was getting myself into here, as I sat down to watch the 2022 horror comedy "Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge", but I must admit that I was initially lured in by the movie's cover/poster, as it had a very distinct 1980s horror feel to it. I had never actually heard about this movie prior to stumbling upon it.

What a dumpster fire this turned out to be. There simply was no narrative to the movie, and it was just a massive heap of chaotic and randomly filmed scenes that made little or no coherent sense when put together to make a movie. So I am rather amazed with the fact that seven writers could collectively managed to come together to churn out something as ridiculous as what "Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge" turned out to be.

Sure, the acting performances in "Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge" were actually fair enough, but I have to admit that I didn't care one bit for the characters in the movie, well, technically in the random segments filmed and edited into the mockery of a movie.

I haven't even seen or heard of the 2019 "Scare Package" movie, but after sitting through 65 minutes of the 98 minutes that "Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge" ran for, I can honestly say that I am not even going to bother tracking down the 2019 movie. Nor am I am going to attempt to finish watching this 2022 travesty of a horror comedy.

My rating of "Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge" lands on a two out of ten stars.

Damnation of making a good sequel that hits bad in this scare package 2, i gave the 1st 8 stars for its crazyness and coherent plot and loads of good music. This one has the trails of something but its slashed away in too much dry wittyness and far too much gore, that is splayed around like mr heitz ketchup in a childrens sausage party. The methods of the killbill menu aint that bad but it doesnt have a good plotline to cling to and the actors and direction deeds aint done as profound as in the first movie.

Ill admit that i played around with the fast forward button here and there, just to set the pace that was very rollercoasterly, so just a small yep from the grumpy old man, and i hate to write 600 characters in a rewiew i couldve ended at 230...

After the funeral of their friend, a group of random strangers are forced to partake in a series of Horror Movie-inspired traps to leave the event alive while a series of stories about the life lessons he imparted to others plays out.

The Good Stor(ies): Welcome to the 90s-After inadvertently helping a serial killer start a murder spree, a group of sorority sisters must band together to stop his deadly rampage using the rules of the genre to do so. Overall, this was an entertaining starting point for what's going on. The amount of meta-humor present, from the names to the character archetypes and play-on-words involving the type of action here with the interactions they have with those around the campus, provides a highly enjoyable framework for what's going on here. The stalking isn't bad and generates some solid confrontations and cheesy scares that go along nicely with the rule-breaking that goes on which is hammered on so thick it becomes somewhat eye-rolling at points. It's the only issue here but it does stick out somewhat due to the fun involved in the rest of the segment.

The Night He Came Back Again! Part VI: The Night She Came Back-Returning to her childhood home, a woman and her boyfriend arrive at the cursed cabin where her murderous brother will return to exact his revenge on her and her family. This was a rather fun slasher outing and had plenty to like about it, starting with the back-and-forth war that takes place as the reveal of their supernatural powers enables a heavy-hitting and exciting confrontation that allows for a constant stream of wholly effective practical effects. It also leads to a fun finale that's undone by the brevity of it all and a lack of explanation for what's going on due to that brief setup which is a bit of a flaw but not enough to truly hold this down.

The Bad Stor(ies): Special Edition-After gathering her friends together, a woman's efforts to have them pack up her dead brother's belongings at the lighthouse where he worked finds the efforts impeded by a malicious supernatural being. This was a generally bland piece that only has one aspect going for it. This segment only really works due to the wholly effective gore and make-up work throughout here which features a cool-looking mutation and a slew of effective deaths which aren't enough to hold out over the other features here. The sluggish pace that spends far too much time on a group of friends debating an urban legend rather than explaining everything is a major source for this one making it hard to care or understand what's happening, leaving this a disappointing feature.

We're So Dead-After encountering a dead body in the woods, a group of friends decide to use it to test their reanimation serum on a human being for once which causes problems when the. This one could've been a lot more fun than what it already is had it been given more time to do anything. The lack of explanation for anything as the flashback structure of the whole thing makes for a rather difficult immersion into what's going on with the friend group and how the exact nature of the serum works. This is even more troublesome with the introduction of the matter transference device that comes into play that has very little information on anything which makes for a wholly troublesome piece. The whole idea of melting together the various stories into one whole makes for a fine concept initially and the exploits of the experiments manage to generate some solid special effects for the kills do make it entertaining but it's not enough.

Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge-After the funeral of their friend, a group of random strangers are forced to partake in a series of Horror Movie-inspired traps to leave the event alive. This wasn't too bad for the most part but does have a bit of an issue here with the series of traps that they're forced to partake in during the interstitial moments here feeling more like what would come about from genuine parodies than anything else. While that ends up making these scenes somewhat hard to get through, it also causes a somewhat uneasy transition into the next story with very little throughline into the next segment. The finale in the video store connecting the dots with everything and turning it into a short slasher with a solid game behind it with some decent effects, but it's too little too late.

Rated Unrated/R: Extreme Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.