Full Horror Short-Bits: Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge (2022)

Director: Alexandra Barreto, Anthony Cousins, Aaron B. Koontz, Jed Shepherd, Rachele Wiggins

Year: 2022

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Anthology

Plot:

After the funeral of their friend, a group of random strangers are forced to partake in a series of Horror Movie-inspired traps to leave the event alive while a series of stories about the life lessons he imparted to others plays out.

Review:

Generally speaking, this was a pretty enjoyable if somewhat flawed follow-up. One of the better elements across this one comes from the strong and generally effective combination of cheesy antics with practical genre effects. The series of graphic, gory, and somewhat impressive make-up work done on the numerous kills and bodily mutilations that take place, featuring everything from full body meltdowns into a pile of goo and slime, limbs ripped off, a couple of beheadings and multiple impalements just to name a few of the tortures inflicted here that come off incredibly well.

This could also be said for the type of humor present, which is incredibly hit or miss. Some might enjoy the fact that this one tends to whip everything around to the point of confusion in putting the meta-comedy references front and center. They provide a series of easy entrance points for people to pick up on as these provide a simple way to understand what the scene is trying to spoof or make fun of, yet there's also the irritating fact that those references are so overwhelming it becomes tiresome after a while. Constantly featuring callbacks and references to other films of the past is the main purpose here and that becomes really problematic.

Overview: **/5

A disappointing if somewhat still watchable anthology follow-up, this one manages to get something likable in most of the segments but also is so uneven in its presentation that it becomes entirely problematic as a result. Really only check this out if you're a fan of the original or of the creative crew, while most others should heed caution with this one.

This review ran as part of our 2023 Women in Horror Month celebrations. Click the banner below to check out the rest of our month-long celebrations including various reviews and interviews: