Customer Reviews

Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

This movie was never intended to be a horror/scary movie. The filmmakers CLEARLY meant for it to be a campy, funny film, with a lot of humorous deaths along the way. If you watch it with that in mind - NOT expecting anything truly scary - but just a disposable, kill-90-minutes-on-a-Saturday-afternoon movie. The production values are nil, and the acting and script are unquestionably sub-par, but on that one certain level - that very specific level I mentioned previously - this movie actually has some funny scenes and isn't as bad as others have made it out to be. The strongest point I can make is the one I made already: if you are looking for The Shining or Rosemary's Baby, this AIN'T it. If you're bored or under the influence of something, there are worse ways to spend 90 minutes. Looking for true scares? Skip it. Looking for a quality horror movie? Skip it. Looking to kill some time and maybe laugh a little, and lighten up a bit, you may want to at least give it a try. I gave the one two stars, because one stars are really reserved for those films that intend to scare and pretend to deliver (if only through the box cover artwork and "reviews" from obscure online review sites) and really rip off the audience.

Just by way of background, and while other reviewers seems to prefer to reveal much of the story and plot, I think that sort of ruins the film in many cases. So, you'll want to look for other reviews and reviewers if that is what you are looking for...

I was ridiculously excited when I first heard about this sequel to Michael Cooney's criminally underrated splatter-comedy, "Jack Frost." The first "Jack" was an endlessly entertaining mix of high- and low-brow humor, gory slapstick, and genuinely striking visual direction. Like most converts, I first rented "Jack Frost" because of the tacky holographic cover art. However, the film itself was so inventive and exciting that I had to own it. The DVD edition of "Jack Frost" was enjoyable enough (the widescreen transfer was a nice surprise), although there were no noteworthy extras. This remains a true shame, and I eagerly await the arrival of a fitting Special Edition DVD of the first "Jack Frost."

With the DVD release of "Jack Frost 2," A-Pix Entertainment has redeemed itself (for the moment). The Jack Frost 2 DVD is riddled with the type of cool extras that have become standard fare for big studio releases. Some extras work (the "music video" is good for a laugh), and some don't (the "behind-the-scenes" section leaves much to be desired. I'm probably as big a fan of the Jack movies as anyone could be, and even I was fast-forwarding past these largely uneventful vignettes shortly after they began). However, regardless of the relative highs and lows, die-hard Jack fans have finally received what they have sought for so long... a full-length audio commentary by writer/director Michael Cooney.

Cooney makes for an engaging host during his insightful play-by-play account of the production (his nifty accent is a surprise bonus!). I've sat through dozens of these commentaries, and while the vast majority of them feature the musings of more widely celebrated Hollywood players, few are as informative and amusing as this one. Cooney addresses a litany of topics - from his decision to shoot on High-Definition video, to the constant rain which forced the film to be photographed primarily in close-ups so as not to reveal the omnipresent tents in the background. Each bit of information is sure to be appreciated by the faithful few who revel in every exaggerated camera set-up, knowingly silly one-liner, and hysterically creative action sequence. It is a welcomed wealth of insight into the working methods of a truly talented young filmmaker.

Of course, die-hard fan that I am, I wanted more. Cooney says little about his own background and training, and there is no mention of the film's conscious influences either. I suppose that it is possible that the spirits of Sam Raimi, Joe Dante, Peter Jackson, and countless others were nowhere to be found during the production of each Jack Frost film, but that seems highly unlikely. I would like to have heard more from Cooney about the effects of past and present Masters on his personal approach to filmmaking. Films as self-consciously stylized as his sort of beg such name-dropping, don't they?

No matter... the DVD is a joy to behold. And the movie is pretty terrific as well. While never quite reaching the manic highs of its predecessor, "Jack Frost 2" is certainly packed with enough ingenuity to delight fans new and old. The snappy visuals and clever transitions are pretty much wall-to-wall, which is wonderful news for those of us who couldn't get enough of the melted Jack Frost P.O.V. shots in the original (in this installment, I am especially fond of the rapid zoom/dissolve which serves as the transition between Captain Fun's explanation of his secret plan and the good Captain's plan in full-blown action... very cool shot). The introduction of Jack Frost's offspring is an appreciated twist, as is Sheriff Sam's hilarious shift towards simple-minded buffoonery during the film's conclusion.

The montage sequences are especially noteworthy. The opening lab sequence and the offspring combat set piece are visually dazzling examples of storytelling efficiency. Shawn Paper's perfectly paced edits and Jeremy Paige's second-unit camera shine especially bright in these sections of the film. If nothing else, both Jack films serve as stellar examples of giddy action films crafted on nonexistent budgets. This is good stuff, folks. Really, really good.

In fact, my only complaint is the use of High-Definition video in place of 35mm film. Despite the admirably clean transfer on the DVD, the High-Definition video only serves to distract from the overall quality of the movie. High-Definition video may be the undisputed King of Video formats, but its inherently flat imagery and compromised color palette are no match for properly wielded celluloid. Cooney and his crew manipulate their High-Definition cameras as well as anyone I've seen in the world of short and feature filmmaking (in fact, cinematographer Dean Lent deserves a special shout-out for eliciting some surprisingly vivid color from the notoriously droll world of video). However, at the end of the day, "Jack 2"'s low-budget look seems only heightened by the use of video instead of film. For me, this was a bit of a let-down.

Of course, the fact that a sequel was even prepared remains a rather astounding feat, so I suppose I should quit with the silly fanboy complaints. The bottom line is that both "Jack" films are wicked cool additions to the frequently overlooked splatter-comedy genre. And like every other splatter-comedy masterpiece (a list of fanboy favorites that beg, at least once, to go without mention in an online horror movie review), Michael Cooney and his team seem destined for bigger and better things. I, for one, am excited about the movies these guys could create if ever provided the luxuries of a major studio's financial excess. To be sure, when that day comes, I'll be the first in line for a ticket.

If you can enjoy stupidity, and want a good laugh, this is the movie for you.

Many moons ago, when Sid was just a young elf, we came across a film sporting a very attractive holographic cover containing a killer snowman at our local video store. After reading the synopsis we knew we landed on a fine piece of b horror that just had to be done. Years later we decided to revisit the classic and unfortunately were a little let down. Most likely the disappointment of the first flick was due to a lack of our favorite movie enhancing substance, which we considered when it came to Jack Frost 2. Luckily with a little help from our friend this time around was much more enjoyable as Jack is back in full b style.

In our second Jack Frost installment Sheriff Sam Tiler, his wife Anne, and their two buddies decide to get away after their first encounter with the murderous styrofoam snowman. They decide to take a cruise to the Caribbean to realize there is no escape from b no matter where you go. Somehow Jack is able to make it to the islands and cruise around in liquid form doing his killings, despite the 90 degree weather. Eventually Jack freezes the island so he can assume full cheaply made snowman form and attempt to finish off the Sheriff and company. Naturally Sam conjures up another way to stop Mr. Frost for now. Hopefully someday soon they will pump out a third installment as the idea of a killer snowman just doesn't get old. It seems unlikely, but we can dream.

To sum it up Jack Frost 2 was very much enjoyed by the old boy Sid and took us back to the good times. There a certain films that have been viewed years ago and must be revisited now that we review everything. So be looking out for Uncle Sam and the Ice Cream Man in the very near future. As far as out feature flick we had a lot of fun watching it despite the fact it took 20 minutes to figure out how to get it working. Not to mention this was already our second bout with the dvd, but Sid came out victorious when he decided to pop it in the laptop. Thankfully it worked instead of being forced to watch the trailer over and over. To those out there looking for some low budget b horror fun, Jack Frost should do you good. This was certainly one enjoyed back in the glory days as much as it is today.

this movie was funny not scary you actually think a snow man will scare somebody but it made a great comedien effort but this movie was good really for its comedy not horror.

I liked this movie.If you liked Jack Frost, you will like this one also.Nothing like watching a snowman having his fun.Not a movie to be taken serious.

First of all, let me just say that this movie can not be horror. It just can't. How can mutanat killer snowman be scary. I have no idea, and I also think the director had no idea either. Like one reviewer said already, this movie is like an 8th grade video project.

This movie starts off when a stupid retard janitor with a dumb hat walks into this lab and starts to clean it when...... are you ready..........are you sure.......ok here it is.....
all of a sudden he knocks over some anti freeze collant stuff into this open container. It then goes into this crappy special effect where it zooms in and shows him being transformed into the killer snowman. At this point I, with my two other friends started bursting out laughing. At this point I knew that this movie would be very bad, but in a good, funny way.

I don't know why this got an R rating, it wasn't very gory. There was this one scene where Jack pulls out someones eyes, but they looked like white gumballs with ketchup on them. And Jack frosts' costume looks like the ones people wear at Disney World. But whatever. This can not be taken as a horror movie, and I don't know what they were thinking to ever even make this movie. Go rent this movie if you want to see some bad special effects( if you can even call them effects ) and poor acting. The only reason I give this 5 stars is because it was hilarious, and I still can't belive this movie even got made.

okay to be honest i was kinda disapointed,the movie was a blury film.to be more specific it was filmed in digital, but who cares it was a good movie.the story goes like this,a theripist talks sam(chris allport)into showing them his stash of anti-freeze(wich contains jack the chilla killa)so they experiment with it(for some reason they keep failing the tests)but finally jack wakes up and smells the coffee(you'll see what i mean...when you watch it!)and wakes up at a tropical island!where sam and his friends are vacatoining at.i'll leave it to you to figure out the rest,but i will say this,this disc has some decent features!when you select somethin jack face will start changing,comes with 4 trailers,a hilarious music video,footage of off-screen/on-screen stuff,a live interview,spanish subtitles,& a perfect scene index what else can you ask for!also some added characters and buckets of gore!

I have to say, I enjoyed this film very much. I mean, I knew going in that it was going to be a cheesy horror film. Just look at the cover, and you know that. And I was not disappointed. It was fun from the get go with cheesy acting (although the woman who played the main character's wife was very likeable in her role, a much beefier part than in part 1), cheesy dialogue, and tons of gore (at least on the DVD. I hear the VHS is heavily cut).

While this is a step down from part 1, in actual film grade and set design, it realizes that from the get go. This one is ten times more self referential than the first one, and also lacks any disturbing scenes (Shannon Elizibeth in the bath tub was one of those scenes in the first one) but still has BUCKETS of gore. I mean, this one has red stuff to spare. And the addition of the little snow ball nasties was a nice touch. They were cute, and very fun to watch. If only they did more CG stuff with them. And on CG, I have to say, the little bit that there was in this movie looked REALLY good for such a cheap budget.

I liked the first one; It was kind of funny and dumb. We drank all this Pabst Blue Ribbon on a cold December night and laughed pretty hard at it. So when this second one came out, me and the wife got all excited and prepared ourselves for maximum laughs. Sadly, the maximum laughs were not to be. This movie was so dumb that it was boring. About 45 minutes before it ended we were sitting completely silent on the couch, not laughing, not scared, not stimulated, not happy. Just pondering which one of us had enough energy to get up and push the stop button. If you want to achieve the same level of maximum laughs as you did during the original Jack Frost, I would just recommend renting the first one again. Renting this garbage sequel will only encourage them to make a 3rd one...