Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Lawbolisted Powerful

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

BA_Harrison The first Ghoulies was a success off the back of Gremlins, a case of casual movie fans expecting it to be just like Joe Dante's wickedly dark horror comedy. How disappointed they must have been (I rented it in the '80s, but knew very well what I was letting myself in for).This second outing for FX man John Carl Buechler's demonic rubber hand puppets is just as underwhelming as the original—not in the slightest bit scary or funny. This time around, the toothy, malevolent creatures cause havoc at a carnival, starting off by attacking visitors to a haunted house before escaping to spread the mayhem to other rides and attractions.Unlike Gremlins, the diminutive creatures in Ghoulies II are utterly charmless, and with dreadful performances, a weak script, uninspired direction and risible effects, Ghoulies II is a major turd. I can't, however, say that I was disappointed, because I had fully expected it to be terrible.

bowmanblue You normally think of cinematic greats such as the Godfather 2, Terminator 2, Empire Strikes Back and Aliens as 'superior' sequels. Not many people ever mention the eighties horror 'Ghoulies 2' in the same breath as any of the affore-mentioned films. However, it is head and shoulders about its predecessor. Although, that's not saying much.The original was about a wannabe sorcerer who conjured up a load of evil little critters, aka, 'ghoulies' only to have them turn on him. Sadly, the first film centred on the – pretty bland – humans, whereas the real stars of the show were the nasty little puppets who terrorised people. I'm guessing this was more to do with budget constraints, but, this time round, they seem to have learned from their mistakes. The ghoulies are the stars.They're in it pretty much all the way through. Yes, the human characters are still pretty bland, but at least you don't really notice when the monsters get going. You could naturally pick faults in the film by saying how the ghoulies are about two feet tall and would probably find it difficult to actually hurt someone (let alone savage them to death), but we'll just skip that one and assume they are capable of killing tonnes of people.It's hardly scary. There's not an awful lot of tension of scares in it (unless you're that afraid of rubbery-looking monsters) and you have to majorly suspend your disbelief to imagine that creatures can walk around a packed fairground and not be seen until it suits the script's needs. But, if you like cheesy eighties horror/monster movies, then give this one a go (and ignore the sequels – the series truly peaks here – and that's saying something!).

Michael_Elliott GHOULIES II (1988) ** (out of 4) The circus attraction Satan's Den is given notice that if their latest stop doesn't make money then their doors are going to be closed. Uncle Ned (Royal Dano) and his nephew Larry (Damon Martin) gotta kind a new attraction to liven things up and they find it in some ghoulies that found their way in. Soon they both realize that these disgusting creatures aren't worth the extra money.GHOULIES II is actually an improvement over the original film but then again that's really not saying too much considering the original was pretty bad and a poor mile behind films like GREMLINS and CRITTERS. This sequel has a few funny things in it and the special effects by John Carl Buechler are much better and they're the saving grace. This sequel also manages to have a fairly fun setting and when you put all of this together you've got a mildly entertaining film.I think the best thing this film has going for it are the special effects. I thought all of the ghoulie effects were quite good and certainly miles better than what was seen in the previous film as well as other low-budget movies like this. I thought the creatures looked very realistic and I liked how much personality each of them had. There are some gore effects as well but the majority of them were cut so that the film could get a PG-13 rating and be more "kid friendly," although the recent Blu-ray release has the uncut footage. It's strange that they'd aim this film at kids yet the "F" word is said three times.Another thing I liked was the circus setting, which added some fun to the movie. With that said, there's still nothing ground-breaking here. There's some pretty bad performances scattered throughout and I'd question the film running 89-minutes as that's about ten minutes too long. Another problem is that there are some pretty slow moments throughout the first hour but things really pick up during the final third when the ghoulies break free and cause havoc.

Scott LeBrun Those hostile little beasts are at it again in this adequately entertaining sequel. It takes quite a while for it to really get started, but the final half hour is worth waiting for. It's actually played fairly straight for a while, with comedy elements getting introduced more and more as the movie goes on. The Ghoulies themselves are definitely cute in an ugly sort of way, and are a genuinely amusing bunch. Fortunately, some of the human characters manage to be almost as interesting.After an attempt to kill the Ghoulies fails, they hitch a ride with a truck carrying the contents of "Satans' Den", a house of horrors for a travelling carnival. They hide out inside Satans' Den for a while, intermittently killing people, until the big finale when they finally break out. The place has been hurting financially, but when patrons get a look at the Ghoulies and assume them to be part of the act, business starts booming.I have to be partial to any movie featuring the following elements: an appearance by old Hollywood pro Royal Dano, who's in fine form as drunken old Uncle Ned, a song by the metal band W.A.S.P. ("Scream Until You Like It"), old school effects (puppeteering, stop motion animation, etc.), a role for Italian exploitation veteran Romano Puppo ("2019: After the Fall of New York"), and a carnival atmosphere (even if done on a budget). Production design, by Giovanni Natalucci, and cinematography, by Sergio Salvati, are both well done.The enjoyable cast features familiar faces from other horror films: Kerry Remsen ("Pumpkinhead"), Sasha Jenson ("Halloween 4"), Starr Andreeff ("Dance of the Damned"), William Butler ("Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III"), and Donnie Jeffcoat ("Night of the Demons" '88). Damon Martin ("Pee-wee's Big Adventure") is our likable young lead, Phil Fondacaro (who played the title role in "Troll") the engaging Sir Nigel Penneyweight, and J. Downing the appropriately odious money man Mr. Hardin.Overall, agreeable entertainment for genre fans; produced and directed by Albert Band, veteran director and father of Charles Band of Empire Pictures and Full Moon fame.Six out of 10.