Director: Jeff Betancourt
Year: 2007
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural Slasher
Plot:
Years after a horrible accident, a woman still terrified of the Boogeyman checks into a mental facility to get over it, but when someone starts killing off the residents she realizes it's here to prey on her fears and tries to overcome them in hopes of dealing with the demon coming for them.
Review:
This was a highly enjoyable and entertaining slasher. One of the best aspects is the rather great premise that it has where the fact that it uses the clichéd facing-fears gimmick to an advantage. There are plenty of set-ups to make it work, which is where the fun of this one actually comes from each patient has a therapeutic exercise segment devoted to trying and overcoming their fear, and there's some greatness to this when it goes onto the kills. These here are exceptionally fun as they're fully encompassing of the fears and actually have the added plus of being expertly designed scenes to exploit a fun set of fears, from being stuck in the dark basement for the one with a fear of the dark to the cockroaches in the food for the germaphobe and another with a cutting problem strapped down while maggots are poured onto them and a knife left in easy reach.
The kills overall are really brutal even when not taking advantage of their fears leading to quite a bloody series of scenes here which is just all sorts of awesome with an insanely bloody climax that is one of the greatest parts of the film. This is the highlight of the film, which is a long, really great final chase through the basement of the building in an ultra-creepy showdown that gets a lot right and the length easily makes it work. Due to taking place in the hospital with the closed-in hallways, darkened rooms, and general layout provide this one with a stellar location to work with that has a great setting overall here. The killer's mask is really cool-looking as well, going with a really well-hidden cloak and a spectacular-looking demon mask that stands out overall, this was a greatly entertaining slasher.
This one here didn't have all that many flaws. The main one here is the lame ending this one has. The resolution with the killer and the first few parts of the police are good enough, but then the film decides to tack on the ending from another film verbatim that was completely loathed, and while unexpected and a nice twist, doesn't make much sense and isn't really needed. The last part is that there's a really unnecessary beginning which makes it unclear what's going on. There are flashbacks, dreams, and more thrown in which make it hard to understand what's going on. Also, the attempts to tie this one into the rest of the franchise aren't all that worthwhile since it's barely even mentioned and could've easily been left out such as the tenuous connection made here. These here are the film's only real flaws.
Overview: ****/5
A highly creepy and enjoyable sequel with a lot to like about it, this one manages to become quite an effective follow-up that only has a few minor drawbacks keeping it down. Those with an interest in the series, appreciate this kind of indie slasher, or are fans of the creative crew will have a lot to like here while most others turned off by these factors should heed caution.
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