Review: Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman (2000)

Stars: Scott MacDonald, Christopher Allport

Budget: Less Than Part 1

Directed By: Micheal Cooney

Ah remember that little comedy horror film with the cult following?
No, not troll or troll 2, the one with an early performance by Shannon Elizabeth and a wise cracking killer snowman.
That's right Jack Frost and I know I made this joke on the first part but not the Micheal Keaton heart warming one either.

In the first film we see Jack on his way to be executed for being a murdering psychopath, just when you think he's escaped he's dowsed in a chemical that melts him at an atomic level.
His DNA mixes with the snow allowing him to form into a snowman at will. Much murderous hilarity ensues as he goes on a killing spree with some quite unique kills racked up and some truly awful puns thrown into the mix.

Unfortunately despite it doing okay Cooney rushed out a sequel that supposedly had half the budget the original did. I can't find anything to back this up, no numbers or documentation anywhere for amounts these films cost. It does show in this sequel what an even crappier budget does and doesn't allow you to do.
In a sequel you want more of the same but ramped up to 20 right?
Unfortunately Jack Frost 2 does not offer this.

We Join the cop Sam from the first film Suffering from post traumatic disorder from his encounter with Jack (even worse than when he first caught him). He's advised to go on holiday by his wife and doctor so he decides to, especially since his two coworkers are also getting married.

Like most Government officials It seems they can't leave well enough alone, the FBI dig up some of the jack infected anti-freeze to do tests on. A janitor accidentally knocks a cup of coffee into the Jack mix and the caffiene and warmth somehow counter the chemical effects and Jack is reborn. Theres a new twist now though Jack has some of Sam's blood in him now which psychically links them both.

So he follows Sam to the Cobana in the pacific by just flinging himself into the sea and washing up on the beach. I think he's immune to heat now too or something like that, Agent Manners returns too even though he seemed quite dead in part 1, This is when Sam starts to realise there's something amiss.
Killings ensue with carrot noses being used as deadly weapons, this is where the budget shows they aren't nearly as good or as fun as the first films.

Despite the heat not effecting him as much as it should, he does seem to be able to cool the whole place down and make it snow! Despite the kills being subpar to the first films they are certainly increased 3 or 4 fold with many people dying in this one.
Sam tries to use the anti-freeze trick again and it does work, unfortunately Jack is now resilient to the chemical from being bonded with it by the coffee (I think). Jack also now has the ability to reproduce by spiting up snowballs that turn into little snowmen. These little guys devour poor Manners after he finds a nest of them.

The way they find out how to kill them and thus kill Jack in the end is incredibly odd compared to the anti-freeze ending of the last one. Despite not being as pleased with this one as I was the first film it's still got 'some' of the charm of the first. Cooney does apparently want to get a 3rd one off the ground but that was back in 2016, if he ever does I hope he has a better budget and brings back the feel of the first one more (supposedly a giant Jackzilla).
THN awards Jack Frost 2: RotMKS, a decent 2 out of 5 stars with a watch if you enjoyed the first one recommendation. 

Review: Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula (2020)

Stars: Gang Dong-Won, Lee Re

Budget: $16 Million

Directed By: Yeon Sang-Ho

Every time we look to the East for films something good always comes, be it Ringu, Ju-on or Godzilla. It goes the other way too, clearly on the undead hype director Yeon took the zombie genre and added a flair that was much needed in 2016's Train to Busan.

It was eerily creepy, tense yet had heart that made you feel each major characters ending. Along with the ending that gave us an incredibly tense finale to boot.

It was to many as it was to me cinema gold. Which when I heard of a sequel coming I was positively squeeing with delight. Every bit of information I leapt on, then it started to fall apart when I seen the first trailer.

BAD CGI I mean PS2 game cut scene bad, silly gimmicks like using radio control cars and Kids drifting in cars.

I kind of hoped it was a trailer didn't do the film justice kind of deal, I hoped that it would come together and gel well in the finished format. It almost very almost did for the first few minutes of the film. I watched getting my hopes at the tense feels of the first ten to fifteen minutes of this film. Then it jumped to the future and everything unraveled like a poorly knitted scarf...

It's like everything they did from making Alien into Aliens they did everything right, added action, heart likable characters expanded the universe. It feels like Peninsula tried to do this but failed terribly by adding the wrong type of stuff. Namely no good characters, no returning characters, not that that's needed. Not if you take the story then expand it in a meaningful way surely then?

OH it involves a plot to just steal some money and takes things from films like fast and furious, Land of the Dead and even resident evil. Suppose i'd better get on with the film.

The great beginning, starts off with some akin to the last film with our protagonist Jung a Korean army captain. He's escaping with his sister, her son and brother in-law in the initial break out of the virus. They make it to a ship but not before they have to leave behind another family with a young kid. OH that's not going to come back is it?
In the ship an infected man starts to attack everyone, unfortunately Jung's Nephew is one of the people infected. His sister refuses to leave her child forcing Jung to lock everyone infected in the cabin on the ship, much to the chagrin of Chul-min (his bro in-law).

Cut to FOUR years later now, we have s suitably mentally scarred Jung doing odd jobs for money and supplies. This is where it quickly descends into bad territory, they are recruited by the American mobsters to retrieve 20 million dollars, really you take a lame storyline like that for your sequel?
Bad man, just bad, they agree and quickly get to the money. It's while on the way back they are ambushed by some thugs who've formed some kind of gang. From here the two nobodies with them are quickly dispatched.

Jung gets separated from Chul but it rescued by some stupid toys and a Tokyo drifting teen girl, He quickly realises once introduced to them that the family is the one he left behind at the beginning didn't see that coming now did we.
Chul is capatured after the Gang discover him in the back of the van he was hiding in and Land of the Dead make him fight for survival in an arena. There is a pretty cool Rat King type zombie amalgam here that's about it.
Like most bad guy tropes the gang members that realise theres a ton of money in the one truck decide to double cross their boss and run off without him with the cash. 

Jung learns that theres a boat waiting for him so he goes to get the money, then learns Chul is alive too, so goes to get them both. Chul is unfortunately killed by the lead bad guy Hwang while saving Jung's life, bummer right?
They are then chased to the boat by the remaining bad guys, they use some zombies to help them win against the thugs. The girls grandpa dies from wounds too, I won't spoil anymore as we don't here at THN unless the film is abysmally bad. What I will say though is Peninsula end on a much more higher note than Busan did.

So I wanted to like this, hell I liked the beginning and some of the visuals (shitty CGI aside) are just fantastic. The numerous zombies up against the glass, the Rat King zombie thing are great. But it's just so bland and by the numbers compared to the OG TtB. So THN awards TtB Presents:Peninsula a decent 2 out of 5 stars, it might make an entertaining time filler if nothing else is on.