I first attempted to watch ‘Hobgoblins 2’ around about 13 years ago, and for the last 13 years it held the rather ‘odious’ honour of being one of only a handful of movies that I turned off before it finished. Whether I was just in a bad mood that day, or whether I found the core location of the film (a mental hospital) particularly tasteless, I cant rightly say. But; I got about 2/3rds of the way in, let out a primal pained yelp and vowed to never go back.

Well; after six ‘Vice Academy’ movies, I decided I needed a palette cleanse. And I didnt want to feel like a total failure for bailing on this movie all those years ago…So; I gave it another try. And; in *SOME* ways it was a bit better than I remembered. But its hard to tell if time has been kinder to this film, or if nearly 10 years scuba diving to the depths of the barrel has just made me ‘battle hardened.’

The plots a bit of a mishmash of semi beige ideas and key points from the original ‘Hobgoblins’ as we’re introduced to a gang of medical students studying to qualify for the profession. And at this point in time; they’re looking to learn about patients with mental health issues and learning disabilities. So naturally the film takes EVERY opportunity to call it a ‘mental hospital’ and to make all the residents seem like the most loony, over the top crazy people you’ve ever met.

While performing their residency however; one of the gang is introduced to a recast Mcreedy (the security guard from the original ‘Hobgoblins’) Who was institutionalised for blowing up the movie studio at the end of the last film. He warns the group and their lead doctor about the ‘Hobgoblins’, and basically tells them everything they need to know to summon them. And guess what!? THEY SUMMON THEM!

At first they mainly latch on to the gangs mentor. But eventually they tie themselves to one of the gang (Steve) and from their begin to set twisted carnage to the group AND the regulars of the hospital! Leading to Mcreedy having to show the guys and gals the only TRUE way to get rid of a Hobgoblin!

Im going to be upfront about this movie. Its not very good. I think nearly 10 years of ‘Softly from cable’ fundamentally damaged Sloans ability to write a coherent and detailed script. A lot of the humour here shares itself with the latter day ‘Vice Academy’ movies, and while there is definitely a whiff of the original ‘Hobgoblins’ in this, it all feels a bit watered down and budget restricted, to the point that we hit the same problems Sloans latter day film career repeatedly ran into. A LOT of time to kill, and not a lot of money or resource to fill it.

The scripts got a three act plot…which is something I guess, but its sloppy. the opening act feels a bit lazy and leans very heavily on ‘crazy people are funny’ to try and get it through, as the first act gives way to the second act, the whole thing begins to sogg and melt as the plotting becomes a bit ‘all over the place’ and increasing references to the original ‘Hobgoblins’ creep in to try and reassure the audience that these films both share a universe.

By the 3rd act, it almost feels like we’re experiencing a skit show, rather than a detailed film. as large swathes of action appear to happen off screen, and the stuff that DOES make it on screen is incredibly cheap looking to say the least.

The temptation is to say that Sloan realised at some point in the 90s that he was percieved as a ‘so bad its good’ director, and that he leaned into it in the latter part of his career. But I dont really think thats the case. This doesnt feel ‘Lazy’ in the way the some other low/no budget directors wide up being. This feels almost stifled by the sheer stuffiness of a director who’s on screen humour really hadnt advanced since about 1994. There are ‘in references’ to Sloans other movies peppered throughout this. But I think the bigger problem is that this is a film shot in 2009, that reads like a script written in 1995 and looks like a film shot in 2002.

The pacing is glacial with very VERY brief zaps of energy to push the plot along. But like the ‘Vice Academy’ movies, we spend an ungodly amount of time in ‘2 shots’ or mid group shots where 2-3 cast members will iterate and RE-iterate the same plot points over and over again until we hit that sweet 80-90 minute ‘distribution’ runtime.

The characters quite literally ARE just reimaginings of the ‘Hobgoblins’ characters, but even more cartoonish and ditzy now than before. their dialogue really struggles through most of this and that combined with a set of performances that really just felt overtly wooden really failed to win me over.

The direction does at least try a couple of interesting things. I think ‘Hobgoblins’ predominantly is known for its interesting use of coloured lighting, and this film DOES at least TRY to create a matching sense of mise-en-scene. But it does fall short for me, and not helping matters either, the only version I could find to watch this one was a copy on ‘Tubi’ that appears to be a DVD rip of the movie that hasnt been upscaled to even basic HD (theres a huge black border around the film, and it appears the image itself has been cropped, leaving a small, pixellated, blurry offering center screen)

I will say this is a solid attempt from Sloan on the direction front, especially compared to his offerings 1992 -1999. But I think, due to the budget limitations, while its definitely a step in the right direction, it cant escape looking as painfully cheap as it does. Maybe a proper HD remaster would bring things to life a bit more. But as its currently available? its a smeary blurry, cheapish looking offering.

Composition is a mixed bag too. sequences are built in quite a considered manner I will say, they use B-roll, some of the puppet fight sequences are actually pretty decent all things considered and almost all the footage is in focus and sharp. But at the same time, the majority of the sequences are a bit overly basic. shot composition is sometimes compromised (with actors heads being cut off slightly, or the framing being every so slightly too far left or too far right) lighting is a little up and down (again I think a remaster might smooth that out though) Its a bit rough around the edges. But you can tell it has heart. and I cant be mad at that.

As for the score? Well…the soundtrack wasnt really for me, a forgettable midi offering. It was felt mainly by its absence, OR by the poor mixing which sometimes caused it to almost entirely blot out the dialogue. Not the worst i’ve ever heard. But it absolutely could have been better.

Folks coming to this movie from ‘Hobgoblins’ may experience a type of whiplash that’ll make their Grandchildren need a splint. But if your used to weird, strange and low/no budget offerings. I think you’ll probably fare through this one in one piece. Its a shame to me that a ‘Hobgoblins’ sequel is, in my opinion, at best, kind of unremarkable…But I did enjoy this one at least a little bit more this time around than last time, AND more importantly; I actually made it to the end.

Not recommended, even if your into this kind of film making. Unless your doing a Rick Sloan retrospective marathon. You can give this one a wide birth. I think its probably his weakest movie. Which is shame, but at least its got some things going for it.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/hobgoblins-2/