Text © Richard
Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet
Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama 2
Directed
by Brinke Stevens
Candy Bar Productions; Full Moon Features; MVD Entertainment
62 minutes, 2022
www.FullMoonFeatures.com
www.mvdvisuals.com
The first SBitSBaR (1987) starred the holy trinity of Scream Queens (in no particular order) Brinke Stevens, Michelle Bauer, and Linnea Quigley, all in their horror prime. I saw this when it first came out on VHS when I rented it from my local store in Brooklyn, Video Video. It was a silly, hot mess, but so much fun.
Now, nearly 35 years later, comes Part Dos, directed by Brinke Stevens herself (I knew she was brilliant even in the 1980s), and in cameo roles, both herself and Bauer, with Quigley nowhere in sight except in archival footage (don’t worry, her career is still doing quite well, with the likes of 2017 Bonehill Road and 2020’s Death Drop Gorgeous; according to IMDB, there are conflicting stories both about how Quigley was not asked, and that she was going to be in it but broke her leg). This film was written by Full Moon regular, Kent Roudebush (such as the Giantess films recently reviewed elsewhere on this blog).
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| Katie O'Neill, Jessie Gill |
We are introduced, once again, into the cleavage and spandex world of sorority Pi Epsilon Delta (as opposed to Tri-Delta in the first film), where actors play younger than their actual ages (a trope that goes back even further than 1978’s National Lampoon’s Animal House). Anyway, it is the sorority’s Pledge Night, and ringleader Sarah (Jessie Gill) and her second, Tiffany (Katie O’Neill) are corralling the new recruits, under the strict housemother, drinker Auntie Snake (Kelli Maroney, of 1984’s Night of the Comet, another ‘80s B-film classic, and more recently, 2022’s NightCaller). Auntie is the sister of Spider (Quigley, in the first film).
As both Sarah and Auntie admit, the sorority is in rough shape, and Sarah wants to bring it “forward” to a better class (pun unintended). There are only two new recruits this year, busty Ginger (Audrey Neal) and multi-inked Devin (Hannah Tullett). We meet them all doing jazzercise in spandex one-sies, and bending over a lot. Not to mention the energetic shower scene; and let us not go into the whole whipped cream montage. Joining them late is leather jacket wearing tough girl Bitsy (Glory Rodriquez); you can tell she’s tough because she keeps throwing “the bird.” I am guessing a secret by her name (PS, I was wrong, but close).
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| Hannah Tullett, Audrey Neal |
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| Nathan Blair, Luka Parente, Justin Luper |
Of course, the guys get caught and are “forced” to join the sorority to break into the same bowling alley (the real Dickey Lanes, in Cleveland, OH) from 35 years earlier. Man, these people are dumb. I mean, really dumb. The guys hold the bowling pins in front of their pants to emulate their junk, and carry two balls up to their chest to symbolize breasts (with one “motorboating”). The two original pledges accept these doofuses as potential partners, and dance around practically pushing their chests together, while the new one snarls. This is all done during a montage to ‘80s style electronic music. Oh, Brinke, you can do better. Gotta say, as the future body count, there is no one that will make the audience go, “Oh, no!”
During a catfight (of course) at about the halfway mark, a trophy is broken open and out comes our imp, the same puppet used in the first film. In the earlier incarnation, the imp’s voice is high pitched and electronically enhanced (and pre-autotune!). Now, being the son of the original imp, the vocal is deep and sounds stereotypical African-American (voiced by Derek Reid, the writer/producer/director/star of the series, “Black Spider-Man”), who starts off saying “Free at last, free at last / Satan O mighty, I’m free at last.” Oy. He sounds a bit like Audrey II (Levi Stubbs) in Little Shop of Horrors (1986).
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| Neal, Glory Rodriquez, Gill |
As in the original release, Monsieur Imp grants wishes to “thank” the doodle brains for letting him out. but unlike the first, these wishes are given in unexpected manners, seeming taking a nod from the Wishmaster franchise (1997-2002); It does not go well, nor will I go into details. But it is funny. You may see some of the gags coming by the wording of the wishes, but still, it made me smile.
The physical effects look good, and there is a lot of CGI purple smoke and electrical energy that also is effective, especially since this is definitely going for a 1980s vibe. It is all remarkably effective.
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| Brinke Stevens, Michelle Bauer |
There are some nice cameos by Stevens and Bauer, though it was obviously spliced in after. Still, works for the story though it is never explained why they aged if they were trapped in the bottle with the imp.
Okay, to be honest, this is some stupid, sexist stuff, but that is the demographic they are aiming for: teen boys, horny dudes, and people who joyfully remember skimming the aisles of their local video store of their youth as, well, teen boys and horny youth. It is extremely successful in that way, and if this had been released in the ‘80s, it probably would have been a huge VHS hit, that is plain and simple. I am not making any judgments on this, just stating the facts. I enjoyed these kinds of films in the ‘80s as I fit that previous demographic, and this is nicely retro and nostalgic.
I am not only glad this
was directed by a woman (reminds me of Richard Pryor being a writer for 1974’s Blazing
Saddles, making it possible to use some quite offensive language and
actions), but one who was there in the period, so she could have a first-hand
experience to make this as loyal to the time as possible. I am also grateful that
this film is relatively short, so as not to over-use its topic. There is a hint, however, of a possible sequel to the sequel.
The extras on the Blu-ray are
a stack of recent Full Moon trailers, and a short called "Brinke vs. the Imp" (3 min), in which the first half is Stevens discussing the poster of the original film poster when the first release was called The Imp, and the second part shows the person who was the voice of the Imp.
IMDB listing HERE
Warning: spoilers in
the trailer
