[Alone In The Dark 2]
Plot:Involves a group of witchhunter's tracking down a witch named Elisabeth Dexter.

Cast:Rick Yune, Lance Henriksen, Ralf Moeller, P.J. Soles, Bill Moseley, Danny Trejo, Michael Paré, Rachel Specter, Jason Connery, Rachel Leigh Cook, Natassia Malthe, Zack Ward.

My Thoughts:Not exactly a great film, but better than "Alone In The Dark" just the same.

Review:After Uwe Boll's 2005 released "Alone In The Dark", no one really ever expected there to be a sequel to a film that hardly anyone sw, and anyone who saw it really didn't like and in msot cases hated it. But alas, Peter Scheerer and Michael Roesch being the risktakers that they are, decided to write and direct a sequel anyways. The film follows a group of witchhunters who are on a misison to keep a certain dagger out of the hands of an evil witch named Elisabeth Dexter. Why is she evil? Well along with the script saying so, she also does the standard evil villainess stuff like playing mind games, taking human sacrifices, and did I mention she lives in an underground lair?

Yep....it doesn't get anymore evil that that. I always wondered how villains like witches, demons, and goblins were able to just live underground without catching the attention of anyone. Like land developers looking to build a mall or something. I dunno, maybe they use magic to cloak the area into secrecy from outsiders..."shrugs". Anyways, Dexter wants the dagger, and furthermore...she wants a young girl named Natalie. Natalies dad made a huge mistake, it seems like most people....being a simple dude just wasn't enough for him. He wanted to know all the secrets of existence, most importantly, the secret of eternal life. So he struck a deal with the witch Dexter.

He would bring her young female bodies to inhabit, and she would "hook him up" so to speak. At one point, he even promised Dexter the body of his daughter when she became of age. And now that daddy is dead, the witch has come to collect. Meanwhile, Edward Carnby (being played this time around by asian actor Rick Yune), has been pricked with the dagger by a man who previously witnessed Elisabeth slaughter some of the witchhunter crew, and now Carnby shares a psychic link with Carnby. Which makes him a liability, and so what's left of the witchhunters manage to extract Carnby to a safehouse of sorts before Dexter can get to him.

But they know it'll only be a matter of time before she finds him again. "Alone In The Dark 2" is not nearly as boring, or plotless as it's predecessor. It makes the smart move of setting up the story and making sure it progresses fully. Something part one, which ran off in many different directions storywise, didn't do. It seemed that part one had many different subplots and side stories to tell, but never had the time or will to do so. Part two is alot tighter, laying out one storyline, and sticking to it. The acting is also alot better this time around. Yune does well in his role as Edward Carnby, replacing Christian Slater who wasn't brought back for budget reasons. It was a bit strange seeing Yune play a good guy, but he did well in his spot nonetheless.

Backing him up on the supporting cast side is Rachel Specter, a major up and comer, and the ever always present Bill Moseley and Lance Henriksen. Moseley and Henriksen play their roles very well, and Moseley once again proves that he can play a psycho like Otis Driftwood in one film, and be the protective yet hard-nosed, witchhunter leader in another. The witch herself is played by Allison Lange, who pretty much is left to wear a robe and play voice-actress alot in the film. We don't see much of her, as she sports a cloak often...but she does have some cool moments where she disappears and reappears at will when on the attack against her enemies.

Not much blood and gore in "Alone In The Dark 2" though, it's certainly not in the footsteps of it's predecessor with violence such as people being killed by monsters in violent ways and such. It's certainly a movie that leans more towards the supernatural, and that is a good thing in this case. Scheerer and Roesch really seem to have known how to put together one of the few decent witch movies. There haven't been many decent witch-related horror films in the last few years. When you think back from now back to 1998, only "The Blairwitch Project" films come up as an answer, and most people aren't big fans of those.

But Scheerer and Roesch make Elisabeth Dexter into quite a formidable villainess, who relies on all of the typical witchery and trickery that any good horror film witch would, while throwing in a few new ability-related wrinkles into her wicked design. There are some weak spots in the film, such as Yune's character Edward Carnby. Whereas in the first film, he comes off more as the brooding burnt-out type...in the sequel he is alot more touchy-feely, especially when he meets Natalie. The total opposite of Slater's Edward Carnby, who viewed Aline, Tara Reid's character as more of a nusiance that he had to keep with him because her life depended on it.

I kind of missed the brooding, pissed off, burned out Carnby in this film. But Yune did alot of things better than Slater's Carnby as well, mostly not barging head-on into situations without the proper information or knowledge on what he's dealing with. The ending of the film is not that good either, being alot more anti-climatic than suspenseful of intense. In fact, there's a scene in the middle of the movie, before the remaining hunters invade the witches lair, where Dexter comes after Carnby, Natalie, and the dagger in a visual effects extravaganza set of scenes.

I felt that 10 to 15 minute set of scenes should've been switched with the films ending, which by horror film standards, was very tame and sheepish. Not that I hated the ending, but I just felt it should've been alot more intense and strong. "Alone In The Dark 2" is a good sequel by the low standards of the first film. It succeeds in most areas where the first film failed, and does a better job at storytelling.

Positives:Better storytelling this time around, Yune does a good job of stepping in as Edward Carnby, Moseley and Henriksen play their parts well. Elisabeth Dexter is a pretty good villainess.

Negatives:Could've been a bit more hard edge with the violence, and the ending sent the film out with a whimper instead of a mighty roar.

Overall:Two and a half out of 4 stars.





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