The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Ethan Wiley, who injected the humor into the original House script, returns to direct the sequel, which comes from a story by Fred Dekker that Wiley adapted. If you disliked the comedy in the original film, well, get ready. This one has no interest in being serious.Prologue: a young couple gives up their child before an undead gunman murders them in their mansion. That baby grows up to be Jesse (Arye Gross, who was the original voice of Kevin Arnold on The Wonder Years before Daniel Stern took over), who decides to move back into that house with his girlfriend Kate (Lar Park Lincoln, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood). They're soon joined by goofball friend Charlie (Jonathan Stark, Fright Night) and his wannabe rock star girlfriend Lana (Amy Yasbeck, who met husband John Ritter on the set of Problem Child).Jesse has insomnia, which leads to him digging through the basement. He discovers a photo of his great-great-grandfather (Royal Dano, who starred in plenty of cowboy films) standing in front of an Aztec temple with a crystal skull in his hand. In the background is Slim Reeser, his one-time partner turned enemy over the ownership of the skull.At this point, anyone would be happy to discover this photo and move on with their life. But that's normal life. Here, Jesse and Charlie decide to dig up his ancestor's grave to find the skull. Imagine their surprise when Gramps is still alive inside his coffin. Compound that with the fact that he wants to bond with his grandson.It turns out that the house was built with stones from an Aztec temple and that it contains gateways into other time periods with the skull acting as the remote control, if you will. The forces of evil are drawn to the skull, though, so the boys better be ready to defend it.Meanwhile, a Halloween party ends up with the boys losing their girls and an appearance by Bill Maher as a record exec. A caveman also attacks the party guests looking for a skull and a baby pterodactyl and a caterpillar-dog come along for the ride.To compound the film's weirdness, Bill (John Ratzenberger, who like George Wendt in House was a star on TV's Cheers) comes to inspect the wiring, but he's really an adventurer with a sword in his toolbox. He leads the guys through a portal - he's incredibly nonchalant about the proceedings - and helps them save a virgin who is about to be sacrificed.During a meal where Jesse embraces his new family - yes, a family that includes a dinosaur and a dog-headed caterpillar - Slim makes his return, rising out of a serving dish. He shoots Gramps, who reveals that this is the man who killed Jesse's parents. Jesse defeats the evil gunfighter, but can't save Gramps, who tells him that its time to say goodbye.The cops come to the house, alerted by all the gunfire, and prepare to fire on Jesse. He uses the skull to go back in time to the Old West, taking his friends and pets with him. The film ends with him burying Gramps and using the crystal skull to make his grave, as he follows the old man's dying advice and doesn't become addicted to the skull's magic.House 2 is something else. It's never sure what kind of movie it wants to be, but it gets so strange that you just feel like you have to go along for the ride. The scenes with Bill are great fun and the ending drama always makes me tear up. And you have to love the caterpuppy.If you're confused by the fact that this movie has nothing to do with the original House, the way the movie was released in Italy is going to blow your mind.

The original "House" with William Katt, is a grossly underrated mid- 1980's horror/comedy gem. Even though I do not really watch horror films anymore, I will always fondly remember "House", and it's dry sense of humor, but also fairly serious plot threads of overcoming the demons of your past, it is a movie that is serious while having a very dark sense of humor, that rises far above the low-brow humor of most horror comedies. This sequel "House II" is not a direct sequel, but rather a thematic sequel, it has an entirely new cast of characters, and a different house all-together, and it does not rehash the same story, but it is very much in the same spirit as the original house, although far less serious, if that is possible.The acting is surprisingly well-done, campy, and over-the-top, why yes it is! However, if you're coming to this movie with expectations of a serious film, you are sorely mistaken. This is a very goofy movie, with an even goofier plot, but the creativity is boundless, which makes for a fun and inventive viewing experience. Unlike some, I do not find the tone to be uneven, even though it starts with a fairly ominous beginning, and seems to "drop" this plot thread, it definitely doesn't, it is percolating in the background the entire film, and gave me an overall sense of dread, wondering when things were going to come back full circle. Everything ties together, and all of the plot threads due tie up by the end of the film, in a very goofy over-the-top fashion. The conclusion actually makes logical sense within the continuity of the film, and unlike more horror themed films, your not left thinking, "Yeah, but they just committed a ton of crimes in the process and getting away and will likely go to jail."The effects are better than in the original "House" and extremely well-done for the time it was made. Many of the effects still stand up today, though some of the stop-motion does look fairly dated. The caterpuppy is so adorable, and very uniquely 1980's creation which would fit right into the film "Labyrinth". While many questions are left unanswered by the end, I don't think of it as a bad thing, there just wasn't enough time to answer them all. The film is non-stop entertaining, from beginning to end, and yes, John Ratzenberger's cameo is hands-down, the best moment of the film, but Royal Dano is also endlessly entertaining as the great, great, great, grandfather. Some might be annoyed by Jonathan Stark's character, but his acting is always appropriately over-the- top, and Arye Gross, plays things mostly straight, and mostly anchors the film on his own as he deals with one ludicrous scenario after the next. A film worth watching if you love 1980's effects and fantasy films that have very outlandish plots, no offense to Ridley Scott, but this film is on the whole, a lot more entertaining than the straight-up fantasy film "Legend", which is often bogged down by a in-your-face moralistic message, a stilted love story, and stilted dialog, while "Legend" really would have benefited from some of the fun and adventurous tone of "House II", it obviously came out 2yrs before "House II". "House II" is watchable not because of a coherent plot, though it is more coherent than it should be, or because of deep character studies, there is none to be had, it is entertaining because that is what it seeks to do, be a fun entertaining popcorn movie, and it does well at that.Have the proper expectations and you'll be pleasantly surprised.God Bless ~Amy

Why is this rated 15? , He Should have been a PG! as this as got to be the babies horror movie I ever sat thought, it was Absolutely ridiculous.The whole movie felt like watching Kids TV show like Sesame Street, the next time I baby siting i will show my nephew (Who is 8), I got him into Chucky When he was 5. He love watching Seed of Chucky!, I am sure that even he won't find this movie funny or scary at all! I just found the whole movie very childish and Creatures in this movie, what the hell, Well that dog was kinda of Cute lol.The acting was well very cheesy in this movie, it fitted in really well rest of really too cheesy movie.I didn't not find this movie funny at all and it was not scary at all and it was not even rude, there were no swear words in this movie 3 out of 10, Really Silly

For a movie that has almost no "names" attached, this is surprisingly good. The actors are well cast, their characters are charming, and the jokes are well paced. It takes itself just seriously enough that you don't feel insulted by the storytelling. You can't have the wrong expectations. I think if you've seen the first and are expecting something similar you will be disappointed. I do however think this is a very well put together film. The pacing is solid, the comedy is more well done than a lot of big budget comedy from around the same time, and there are some well done quirky moments that really elevate the experience.The main area that it falls down is the lack of depth. There is maybe one moment that really touches something real, but it's brief. The rest is straight adventure. But it's well done. Given the choice between seeing this again or re-watching the new Indie movie about crystal skulls, I'd choose this since it's at least as entertaining but doesn't let you down like Indie did.The last criticism is perhaps the most damning. This is not a must see movie. If you live your entire life without seeing it, you'll be fine. I don't really even recommend it. But if you do watch it, I recommend you enjoy it for what it is and don't lament that it isn't better. I would recommend it for kids 9-12. It's perfect for that age. Kind of scary, plenty of snicker and giggle moments. Plenty of cute. Plenty of weird. There may be some language but it's situation appropriate and pretty tame. No nudity, a little cleavage, nothing you won't see on a visit to the mall.