| House II: The Second Story | |
|---|---|
UK DVD cover |
|
| Directed by | Ethan Wiley |
| Produced by | Sean S. Cunningham |
| Written by | Ethan Wiley |
| Starring | Arye Gross Jonathan Stark Royal Dano Bill Maher John Ratzenberger |
| Music by | Harry Manfredini |
| Cinematography | Mac Ahlberg |
| Editing by | Martin Nicholson |
| Distributed by | New World Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 28, 1987 |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $7,800,000[1] |
House II: The Second Story is the 1987 sequel to the 1986 film, House. While it is a sequel, this film ignores the storyline and characters from the first film, in favor of a new supernatural comedy. Also, the film's tone was much lighter than the original film and the other following sequels. It is also the only House movie to receive a PG-13 rating.
In Italy, the film is known as La Casa 6, making it an unofficial sequel to The Evil Dead.
Contents |
Young urban professionals Jesse (Arye Gross) and his girlfriend Kate (Lar Park Lincoln), move into an old mansion that has been in Jesse's family for generations. They are soon joined by Jesse's goofy friend Charlie (Jonathan Stark), who brought along his diva girlfriend Lana (Amy Yasbeck), in the hopes of being discovered by Kate, who works for a record company. Jesse has returned to this old family mansion after his parents were murdered when he was a baby, and he quickly locates a mysterious skull.
Jesse and Charlie decide to dig up Jesse's great-great-grandfather (Royal Dano), who is a friendly cowboy zombie that likes to party and talk about how he found the skull with his partner, Slim. Its promise of eternal life and time travel prompted the two cowboys to become eternal villains, with Slim responsible for the death of Jesse's parents. Jesse, Gramps and Charlie must try to keep Slim from getting hold of the skull, while dealing with the fact that the skull has transformed the mansion so that each of its rooms act as a hidden doorway across space and time. While battling various time-traveling thugs that want the skull, including Slim, the trio pick up a baby pterodactyl, a caterpillar-dog, and an ancient Mexican woman about to be sacrificed.
Eventually, Jesse must face off with Slim in the Wild West, and while he is victorious, Gramps has been mortally wounded and passes away with a final warning about the power of the skull. The film ends with the suggestion that the heroes have decided to use the skull to time travel.
House II: The Second Story received negative reviews, although there are currently not enough reviews to warrant a consensus on Rotten Tomatoes.[2]
In October 1987, Marvel Comics released a comic book adaptation of House II. It was written by Ralph Macchio, with artwork by Alan Kupperberg (pencils) and Kupperberg, Hilary Barta, Danny Bulanadi, Jose Marzan Jr., and Pat Redding (inks). Its cover price was $2.[3]