Amityville Scarecrow 2

Released a year after the original Amityville Scarecrow,

We open with over 10 minutes of two people arguing about working at the camp that was in the first film, we get two basically offscreen kills.

Despite a new writer and director, the two estranged sisters and the ones daughter return to the movie. In a pinch for money, they've decided to open the campground that their family members were slaughtered on.

As with the previous film, and most of these low budget UK films from ITN, the next hour consists of very languid conversation scenes with the scarecrow popping up occasionally to bump one of the unlikable cast off.

With the release of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, ITN proved they can deliver something decent when they put a bit more money into things, but dreck like Amityville Scarecrow or Curse of Humpty Dumpty are slogs to get through, with the producers hoping that the ludicrous title and admittedly great cover art will be enough.

Production is per usual acceptable, especially compared to the American Amityville films being released lately such as the horrid Amityville Hex that just consists of people recorded on their webcams. The loud sound floor that was in the first Amityville Scarecrow is still there in the exterior scenes. Gore is still nonexistent, with kills either offscreen or blood splashes. They did include several scenes of nudity this time.

For Gods sake no part 3.

Two years after the horrible killings by an evil spirit inhabiting a scarecrow, two sisters named "Mary" (Kate Sandison) and "Tina" (Amanda Jade-Tyler) decide to reopen the campground where it all took place. To that effect, they hire several people to help them get everything operational. Additionally, to avoid frightening them off, they don't tell any of them what happened there previously. What they don't count on, however, is the scarecrow coming back to life and the killings happening all over again. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say this film mirrors its predecessor with certain issues still not being adequately addressed. For example, the location of the campground and its relationship to the infamous house in Amityville is still rather confusing--especially since the house did not burn down as claimed by one of the characters in this movie. Throw in weak special effects and a complete lack of suspense, and it all adds up to a rather weak sequel, which I have rated accordingly. Below average.

Over a year after the previous encounter, the survivors of the scarecrow encounter prepare the camping grounds to open it to visitors with a group of counselors, but when they start disappearing around the camp forces them to believe the cursed scarecrow has returned and must try to save the others.

This was a decent enough follow-up with some intriguing aspects. The main feature to like with this one is the rather strong setup that provides a reason for carrying on the storyline of this one incredibly well. Taking the story from the original with the survivors and how they've developed over the year with a stronger relationship than how they started, it brings a realistic touch that doesn't normally come off in this kind of situation, and when combined with the connections made here involving how the other survivors have been equally affected with their distrust of scarecrows all creates a solid amount of build-up from the original. As the truth about what happened to the location not just with the group but the other accidents that took place there allows for a more understandable reaction to what's going on and their regulations about staying there that puts it all together quite well. That all brings about some decent stalking scenes here involving the revived scarecrow coming to life and striking the campers. The long opening with it taking out the couple who are setting up the camp by themselves has some atmospheric touches that give it some suspenseful touches, much like the later scenes where it attacks the randy couple separately in the shower or in the supply bunker where the settings for these scenes features some solid setups for the suspenseful outcome. The big finale, where the remaining survivors band together to get to the creature with several big battles with the group attacking in waves and trying different tactics to stop the killer that has some life to things based on what's came before including some shocking revelations to take place which are enough to hold this one up. There are several factors here that hold this one down. One of the main issues to be had here is the generally sluggish and extremely dull pacing that keeps everything moving along at a rather glacial pace.. Far too much of the first half here is spent on inane conversations between them and the campers about what went on previously or how everything is going with the staff's inappropriate behavior which makes everything take forever to get going. Focusing on these issues as much as it does at the expense of the scarecrow's antics as they're quite low in comparison to the mindless banter without much going on. That ends up leading into the other big issue in the lack of gore from the dearth of on-screen kills featured here with the lack of time being devoted to them which is then further hampered by the low-budget not allowing them to come off that impressively with either off-screen kills or just not that interesting, leaving this one with some issues holding it back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Full Nudity, several sex scenes, and Violence.