Film Review: SHARKNADO 2: THE SECOND ONE (2014)

What do you expect from a film called Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014)?  Nothing good, but at least you can hope to be entertained in how ridiculous the whole thing is.  That is exactly what you get (and more) from this sequel to the infamous Sharknado (2013).  Not long after the events in the first film, Fin Shepard and his ex-wife April Wexler (Ian Ziering and Tara Reid, respectfully) are trying to patch things back up while on April’s press tour for her book about the events of the first film that have made them both celebrities.  On a plane ride to New York Fin is paranoid that it’s all happening again when he sees a shark on the fin of the plane (great nods to The Twilight Zone).  

 

There is indeed a new sharknado happening in New York and before they can even rest on the ground Fin and April’s plane is brought crashing to the earth but not before several passengers die and April loses an arm to a shark bite.  Before Fin can stay with April in the hospital he has to go rescue family members at a baseball game before the sharknado hits ground and New York’s streets are swarming with sharks out for human flesh.  Fin is in a lot of trouble as an old flame Skye (Vivica A. Fox) also returns to add a little complication to Fin’s reconciliation with April but April isn’t going to lie still in a hospital bed this time as she’s gone through this once before and survived and she’s going to do so again.

The cast and filmmakers of this sequel are having much more fun with this film as they are intentionally making a bad movie but are trying their hardest to make it one of the most entertaining ones you will ever see.  And they’ve brought all their celebrity friends in on the joke as well since there are more star cameos in this film than has been seen in a long time from Judd Hirsch, Downtown Julie Brown, Billy Ray Cyrus, Andy Dick, Sandra ‘Pepa’ Denton, Robert Hays, Robert Klein, Matt Lauer, Biz Markie, Kelly Osbourne, Kelly Ripa, Al Roker, and Tiffany Shepis, to name a small few.

This is not a film that you can adequately critique as it was meant to be the best party and drinking game ever and succeeds better than its predecessor, so, if you can’t get in on the joke then don’t bother watching the film.

Film Review: SHADOW ZONE: THE UNDEAD EXPRESS (1996)

Fourteen year old Zach Kincaid (Chauncey Leopardi) is a card carrying fan of Fangoria magazine and classic horror films but when he discovers that vampires live beneath New York City he sets out to prove their existence to his friends who don’t believe him.  This is the premise behind the very kid friendly horror film Shadow Zone: The Undead Express (1996) in which Ron Silver stars as Valentine, the leader of a group of vampires who live in the old subway system of New York traveling on the Undead Express and unable to venture out into the world above.  Zach is a perpetual liar to his friends and parents.  It is only to his psychiatrist (played by horror director Wes Craven) that Zach truly feels free to tell the whole truth.  

 

While traveling between his separated parents homes he accidentally takes a wrong turn and finds himself on the Undead Express where a charismatic vampire by the name of Valentine decides to take the young troubled Zach under his wing.  It is not long before Valentine’s charms take their effect on Zach who has been cast apart from his best friends who disbelieve his stories about vampires living underneath the city.  Valentine decides to show Zach the history of the underground subway system in exchange for Zach showing him the world above, but once Valentine gets a taste of the above human world what is to stop him from returning to the underground subway system which has been his tomb for so many years.

As a kid friendly horror film it has that vibe of a film about a young boy on the verge of becoming an adult whose mentor may not be the best one in the world but Valentine’s charm is hard to deny and even though he is a vampire he has an allure that Zach can’t help to be captivated with especially during a time in which his parents are separated and always fighting and his best friends believe he’s a compulsive liar.  The film is light on genuine scares but is very creepy for the younger horror fan which is exactly what it should be.  The real draw for the older horror fan is to witness the rare occasion of horror icon Wes Craven as an actor.  This film is for the Goosebumps crowd and therefore is just an entertaining vampire romp for us adults.  It is a safe film to get the young ones associated to the horror genre.