2000
Reviewed by D.R. Hesse
1/4/2012
Language: English
Original Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Directed by J.R. Bookwalter
Cast: Ariauna Albright, Elizabeth Hobgood and Nicholas Lanier
Synopsis
A professor and her students are asked to investigate four unmarked graves that were recently uncovered only to accidently release the witch - Lilith.
DVD Release
Witchouse 2: Blood Coven was released by Full Moon and Tempe Video and distributed by Koch Vision in 2000. The film is boasted as being the extended Director's Cut (5 additional minutes). Video is in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and looks okay. The film was apparently shot on 35mm but it gives off a very shot on video feel to it. There seems to be a hazy overcast in almost all the shots and I'm not sure if that was intentional or just a bad transfer. Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and sounds decent. There's a lot of places where dialog is to low or where the rock music is too loud. But I'm being pretty picky. For a low budget flick, it does a pretty good job.
Extras
Director Commentary- Actually it's a three person commentary with Andrew Prine and Ariauna Albright. JR has a great ability to just keep rambling on. The other people chime in every now and then but the commentary is mostly JR. He gives some great information from setting up shots to location finding. Recommended.
Disspelling Illusions: The Making of Witchouse:Blood Coven- (29:20) I was really hoping for a more behind the scenes featurette on the film but what we are given is more of a back history of JR Bookwalter's involvement with Full Moon and then a rather boring conversation with how the sound/cgi was created. Discussing Pro Tools and After Effects doesn't really make for an enticing watch. Skip.
Bloopers and Outtakes- (6:44) A bunch of clips with actors flubbing lines and additional conversations with the in film interviewees. Not bad but bloopers and outtakes were never really my thing. Skip.
Cast Biographies- Cast text biographies of Andrew Prine, Ariauna Albright and Nicholas Lanier. In each of the actors filmography there are links for additional trailers. Go the the trailers section to find out which ones!
Bucharest or Bust!: A Tour of Romania- (26:48) A rather long and drawn out featurette about the crews trip to Romania. There's some interesting stuff like the Castel film backlot and the various castle exteriors. JR and Ariauna provide an audio commentary to help ease the boredom and I have to say that JR does a good job of just randomly coming up with stuff to talk about. Not bad but probably could of been cut by 10 minutes. Skip.
Music Video: "Start it Over" by 7 Months- (5:18) A rather lame rock ballad music video with scenes from the movie in it. Skip.
Music Video: "Nothingland" by SFB- (5:18) Rock/Metal song with scenes from the movie. Skip.
Director Profile: JR Bookwalter- A bunch of various clips and such about the career of b-movie director JR Bookwalter.
- Biography/Filmography- Text based biography with additional trailer links in his fimography. See Trailers section below for full list.
- Introduction- (1:17) A rather misplaced clip that probably should of been on the main screen. Skip.
- The Dead Next Door: 15 Years in 15 minutes- (15:50) A rather cool making of behind JR's first film. Ton of interviews and rare behind the scenes. Recommended.
- JR Bookwalter Trailer Reel- A bunch of trailers of JR's Films. With or without commentary by JR Bookwalter and Ariauna. Recommended.
Trailers- Various trailers for other Full Moon and Tempe Video titles.
- Witchouse(2:04) - The first film.
- Witchouse 2: Blood Coven(1:31) - This film!
- The Dead Hate the Living(1:45) - First major film by Dave Parker. He also made the delightful slasher flick -
Hills Run Red. - Voodoo Academy(1:08) - Typical David DeCoteau film. Bunch of dudes running around in underwear while something is trying to kill them.
- Sideshow(1:39) -Looks to be a very gory version of Todd Brownings Freaks.
- Bloodletting(1:30) - Found in the Ariauna filmography section in her cast biography. Low budget serial killer like film.
- Polymorph(1:37) - Found in the Ariauna filmography section in her cast biography. Weird and gory flick with a ton of bad cgi.
- Frankenstein Reborn(1:13) - Found in the JR filmography section in his director biography. Full Moon's attempt to rejuvenate the horror icons.
- Talisman(1:37) - Found in the JR filmography section in his director biography. David DeCoteau film.
- Curse of the Puppetmaster(1:48) - Found in the JR filmography section in his director biography. Sixth film in their very popular Puppet Master series.
- Shrieker(1:34) - Found in the JR filmography section in his director biography. David DeCoteau monster flick.
- Ozone(1:55) - Found in the JR filmography section in his director biography. About a drug that makes people zombies.
- Skinned Alive(1:59) - Found in the JR filmography section in his director biography. Gory sleaze film.
- The Dead Next Door(2:00) - Found in the JR filmography section in his director biography. His most notable film. Shot on Super 8.
Thoughts
The first Witchouse film proved to be very successful for Full Moon so they decided to make a sequel the following year. Of course this isn't anything new to the horror genre since sequels and prequels are usually made for all horror films and it's something that horror fans are used to. JR Bookwalter directs the second film and does so with a moderate amount of success. The film is very ambitious for what it tries to be. The Blair Witch Project had recently came out so we get several scenes in Witchouse 2 where our cast carry around camcorders and for the most part it works. The camcorder scene towards the end of the film when our three survivors are walking through the house has some tension which the first film carried absolutely none.
The acting was a vast improvement over the first film. Veteran actor Andre Prine, who appeared in such cult films as the Eliminators, The Town that Dreaded Sundown and Grizzly, plays two roles very straight and does a great job. B-movie star Ariauna falls a little short when compared to Prine but I would take her over any other b-movie star today.
The special effects are a little of a let down. We lose the makeup effects of Lilith in the first film and instead we get a puffy hair woman in a black outfit. Shes goes through changes and the final trollish looking makeup appliance looks alright but is by no means witch-like. The looks of the demons change to a more dramatic feel in the second film and I think I enjoy the first film demons look just a tad more. More toned down seems sinister. We have some lackluster CGI like in the first film but thankfully no where near as often.
Conclusions
Witchouse 2 is a far better film than the first one but that's not saying a whole lot. Fans of b-movies will find a lot to enjoy from JR's film and if you've seen his Dead Next Door and enjoyed it, you owe yourself to check another one of his films out. The DVD release by Tempe is pack filled with extras and it's a shame that other genre films aren't given this amount of love with their DVD releases.
Rating
4/10
More Reviews
Witchouse (1999)The Hills Run Red (2009)
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