Waxwork II: Lost in Time

When we last left off, our heroes (Mark and Sarah) had just barely made it out alive from the wax museum as it burnt to the ground - killing all those horrible monsters from within. If you remember from the last blog, as they stumbled away into the night, a severed hand crawled out from the rubble and chased after them. Before I go any further, I need to point out two things. Although this movie picks up right where the last one left off, there are two jarring differences that makes me wonder whether or not anyone working on this movie even watched the first Waxwork. Although the original director, Anthony Hickox, has returned behind the camera bringing with him Zach Galligan, the same actor who played Mark from the last film, it seems as though they had some trouble snagging Sarah. So instead of getting a similar looking actress for Sarah, he got... Well, just look below.

Before:

After:

See the resemblance? Yeah, fuck-up number one. Number two: Changing the social class of the kids. I hope you also remember that all of the kids introduced in the first flick where of wealthy status - they owned butlers, fancy clothing, fast cars, the works. After Mark and Sarah climb into the cab and drive away (the severed hand clinging to the bottom of the car) they arrive at Sarah’s apartment building. Seemingly gorgeous on the outside, but from within it looks as though it’s some sort of condemned trailer park. Busted walls, rats, torn up carpet. It’s disgusting. Oh, and Sarah apparently has an alcoholic stepfather now who has no hold-ups about domestic abuse. Even Mark’s status has altered. Instead of being this suave asshole, he starts sporting this leather jacket and ragged jeans looking as though he wants to become Indiana Jones... Eh, I’m sorry. Let me get back to the plot for a second.

This film’s premise is fairly simple (but knowing me, I'm going to spend way too much time explaining it). After Sarah returns home for a beating, the severed hand sneaks into the apartment with her and eventually kills her stepfather in one of the most pathetic fight scenes ever. Sarah is framed for the death of her stepfather, and without the severed hand (she pulverized it in her garbage disposal) there’s no proof that her wacky story is in fact the truth. Struggling to find a way to prove Sarah’s innocence, Mark returns to Sir Wilfred’s (the crazy, old coot in the wheelchair who died in the last film) and stumbles upon this video will that leaves Mark with his most precious item: a magical compass. How Sir Wilfred would know that Mark would return and need this to help prove Sarah’s innocence is beyond me, but we’ll suspend our disbelief for now. With the compass, Mark opens a door to another world that he and Sarah fall into. While tumbling down the rabbit hole (this whole film hinges off Lewis Carole references... poor Lewis Carole references) Sarah is abducted by a winged-creature leaving Mark to save her... once again.

The compass transfers Mark from one world to the next - each world being an homage to a famous horror movie (Alien, Godzilla, Frankenstein, Day of the Dead, ect.) Mark bounces from one world to the next until he finds Sarah being held captive by this Medieval sorcerer who he must battle with to free her and bring her back to the real world.

Now, before I sign off, I must point out the two main highlights of this abortion. First: Bruce Campbell. In what was easily the best scene of the movie, we find Mark stuck in The Haunting - an old black-and-white horror film about a house with ghosts. Bruce plays the cocky professor who mysteriously goes missing until Mark finds him in the attic like this:

This film takes turn to comedy here where Mark continuously drops Campbell to the floor, squashing his exposed, mutilated chest. It reminds me of a three stooges gag, and totally redeemed the rest of the film.

The next highlight - and I should say the reason why I started watching these films in the first place - is Drew Barrymore’s scene. Coming into this, I was so curious as to how/why this experienced, A-list actress would stoop to Bruce Campbell level acting. The fact of the matter is that she’s barely in the movie for 30 seconds. In the final fight scene, Mark has a sword fight with the evil sorcerer while jumping from one world (movie) to the next. During this time, there are quick shots to a teenager Barrymore who’s either cowering from Nosferatu or lurching around like a zombie. You’re almost not even sure if you saw her at all. Then, checking the credits, her name doesn’t even appear. Doing this film must have been either a fun experiment or horrible mistake on her part.

All-in-all, this film was more watchable than the first. However, this one was definitely more corny with its horror teetering on the edge of comedy. Also, I’m still confused as hell as to why this had to be a sequel to Waxwork. Although the cover shows the old villain Lincoln, he’s not even in the movie. In fact, there’s nothing even wax-related in the film. This could have been a completely independent movie, but I guess studios knew they had to make use of all those Waxwork fans out there.