In the audio commentary he recorded for House II: The Second Story with producer Sean S. Cunningham, writer/director Ethan Wiley says that the film has a tone that's "more gentle" than the first House, and it turned out to be something that's "geared toward a younger audience", the sort of film that would be a good choice for a kid's introduction to horror. He also mentions that, while House II was not as positively received as its predecessor was, a poll conducted in the year of its release showed that kids who had seen it chose it as one of their favorite films of '87. Wiley's comments on his film really ring true for me, and the results of that poll make a lot of sense to me, because I have been a fan of House II ever since I was a little kid. I would have been around 4 years old when it reached home video, and my first viewings of it were at that time. It wasn't the first horror movie I watched, but it was one I watched regularly during the early years of my horror fandom.
There's a scene in Scream 2 where a class of film students debate whether or not any sequels have ever surpassed an original film. The films you usually hear named as the best sequels ever made - Terminator 2, Aliens, The Godfather Part II - are all mentioned, and then one of the students tosses out a reference to House II: The Second Story. That reference is meant to be a joke, but I've always been happy that House II got mentioned in a high profile film like that, and I'm not joking when I say it: I prefer House II over the first House. House is a fine film, sure, but I have a lot more fun watching the kid-friendly adventure that is House II.
When Fred Dekker, who would go on to make Night of the Creeps and The Monster Squad, wrote the initial story that became House, he was aiming to make it one of the scariest haunted house movies ever. But when Dekker's story was fleshed out into a screenplay by Wiley, Wiley worked with director Steve Miner to turn it into a wild horror comedy. House was successful enough to get a sequel greenlit, and on this one Wiley was given the opportunity to make his feature directorial debut. While doing so, he made the sequel even wilder and sillier than the first movie.
The sequel takes the anthology approach; it has no connection to the events of the first movie, it tells its own haunted house story. So you don't need to have seen House to watch House II, you can skip right to The Second Story - and I usually do.
House II begins in the early 1960s, when the frightened couple that lives in an old mansion (which seems to have drawn design inspiration from Aztec temples) send their infant child Jesse away with friends. Stepping back inside their home, the parents are alerted to the fact that something's wrong by the sound of jangling spurs. The film instantly appeals directly to me with the fact that the main villain is a rotting cowboy called Slim Razor (Dean Cleverdon, with Frank Welker doing vocal work). To this day, I love it when the horror and western genres get mashed up, and it's probably because House II was a major building block in my cinematic fandom.
25 years after Slim shoots the parents dead, their child Jesse (Arye Gross) returns to the mansion with his girlfriend Kate (Lar Park Lincoln of Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood), who works at a record company. They're soon joined by Jesse's goofball friend Charlie (Jonathan Stark) and his singer girlfriend Lana (Amy Yasbeck) - so yes, a major reason why Charlie is here is to try to land a record deal for Lana from Kate. That plan works out, but it doesn't work out for Charlie or Jesse, because Lana and Kate end up leaving the mansion with Kate's associate John (Bill Maher) and they're never seen in the movie again. They're just gone. In the script, Wiley had that bunch get killed by Slim Razor, but the death scenes didn't make it into the movie. And it's fitting to the tone of the film that it doesn't have those three extra deaths in it.
Kate leaves believing that Jesse has cheated on her with his ex Rochelle (Jayne Modean), but he didn't and Rochelle is barely in the movie, only showing up briefly at a party. Jesse and Charlie don't have much time to register these changes in their love lives, because they're too busy dealing with zombies, supernatural forces, and doorways to other dimensions.
Soon after moving into the mansion, Jesse has discovered that the great-great-grandfather he was named after was an outlaw in the Old West, and at one point the elder Jesse stole a crystal skull from an Aztec temple. A special crystal skull, with jewels in its eyes. A skull that can unlock the mysteries of the universe and bring eternal life to anyone who possesses it. Jesse guesses that his ancestor was buried with the skull, so he talks Charlie into helping him dig up great-great-grandpa. Jesse's right, they find the skull in the coffin. But they also find out that Gramps, as he likes to be called, is still alive in the coffin, and has been waiting decades for some jackass to dig him up.
Gramps is played by Royal Dano, who delivers a very endearing performance. Within moments of Gramps showing up on the screen, I'm loving the guy, and he gets me emotional when he chokes up at the sight of himself in a mirror. He expected his youth to be restored, but he looks like he has spent a long time in the ground. As he says, he's "a 170 year old fart, a goddamn zombie".
Of course, unearthing that skull causes a lot of trouble for Jesse, Charlie, and Gramps. This skull is what Slim, who rode with Gramps back in the day, was looking for when he killed Jesse's parents, and he's not the only one looking for it. As it turns out, there are portals to other dimensions hidden throughout the mansion, and whether it's Slim entering the house, a Barbarian (Gus Rethwisch) coming in from a prehistoric time populated by dinosaurs, or the Aztecs that live in one of the walls, our heroes have to keep the skull out of the wrong hands.
Jesse and Charlie have to follow the skull thieves into the other dimensions, and during their trip into the prehistoric dimension they inadvertently pick up a couple of very cute pets - a feathery baby pterodactyl and a creature called a caterpuppy, which is one of the most adorable things I've ever seen.
A swashbuckling action sequence in an Aztec temple is one of the standout parts of the movie. The entrance to this dimension is discovered by electrician Bill Towner (John Ratzenberger), and he's not surprised to find that the house has an "alternate dimension" in the wall. He just pulls out a sword and helps Jesse and Charlie save a virgin (Devin DeVasquez) from being sacrificed by the Aztecs. Ratzenberger is hilarious in the role, and what makes it even cooler that he's in House II is the fact that his Cheers co-star George Wendt was in the first one.
This all builds up to Jesse and Slim having a showdown that starts off in an Old West ghost town, which warms my heart nearly as much as the scenes with Gramps, the pterodactyl, and the caterpuppy.
House II is a ridiculous, fun and funny adventure movie. It rips through its 88 minute running time at a quick pace, shows off some terrific special effects, and blesses us with the chance to see Royal Dano play Gramps. Dano delivers a performance that is so touching, Gramps is one of my most beloved film characters.
House fans sometimes put down House II, but this was a very important movie to me in my childhood, and I still have a great deal of appreciation for it all these years later. I don't have anything bad to say about it; I've loved this movie since I was 4 years old, and my opinion of it hasn't changed at all since then.
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