Criminally Under Rated

I love this film. I understand Wes didn't feel there was much of a story left to tell and did the movie for the money. But it's testament to the genius he had that even though there aren't the usual intellectual ideas Wes featured in his classic films, and stuff like the dog flashback bothers some people, this still has a great atmosphere and lots of really cool horror moments.

Personally I dig the hell out of seeing the likes of Michael Berryman and Janus Blythe as these characters again, there's a great desert setting and with Manfredini's music and the slasher structure it felt like a Friday the 13th sequel which is never a bad thing. It also had a great cast IMO, I really enjoyed everyone's performance in the film. I get why people feel it's not a worthy successor to the first film but personally I find it entertaining. All the flashbacks can actually be cool if you haven't seen the first film for a while! The only thing I wanted more of is Bobby Houston. Even in his small role here he is brilliant, would have been very cool to see him pop up at the end, confronting his fear of the desert and saving the day. Another thing I loved is the original artwork, it's still one of my favourite 80s horror posters.

I wish those involved with this film would talk about it more. I've heard Kevin Blair mention it but everyone else seems to pretend it never happened. That shouldn't be the case, at this point this film has a cult following of fans. I would love to see a retrospective Making Of for this film along the lines of the in depth segments in the brilliant documentaries Crystal Lake Memories and Never Sleep Again.