#2 – Ghoulies II (1988)
This is the one that everyone seems to love most and it is not hard to see why. A low budget Gremlins riff, Ghoulies II is goofy fun from start to finish. The first to bring the titular beasties into the limelight as the central focus, the majority of this outing has the little demonic creatures mucking about a haunted house attraction at a rundown traveling carnival.
Penned by Stuart Gordon’s long-time writing partner, Dennis Paoli (Re-Animator, From Beyond), the script for this one has a bit more polish to it than those that followed. Keeping the genre pedigree going, we’re also granted turns from recognizable actors such as Phil Fondacaro (Willow, Troll), Sasha Jenson (Halloween 4, Dazed and Confused), and Royal Dano (The Dark Half, Killer Klowns From Outer Space). In particular, Fondacaro and Dano both do a hefty amount of scenery-chewing.
Given that it sticks to a single location for most of its running time, Ghoulies II is able to focus the majority of its budget on its special effects. Always a good move, it clearly allowed John Carl Buechler to go hog wild with the little critters and the death carnage that they wreck upon carnies and customers alike. There’s even a giant rampaging ghoulie at the end!
I’ve always found this one to drag a little at times, which is why it comes in second place for me. All in all, it’s a fun film. It’s a shame that Charles Band didn’t hold onto the rights after this entry. I’m sure we’d be on Ghoulies XV by now if he had, but we probably would have actually gotten a few more good installments after this one.
