The Haunter of the Dark II – 2017 – Underground lowbudget

First of all, I regret that I have to say that I haven’t seen the first movie. It has happened before that I’ve seen movie in the wrong order and it’s never good. I have no idea if The Haunter of the Dark part one is connected to part two in any way. I have done my best to see it as a stand alone feature. To get som basic information about the previous film is possible of course. Like that the previous film also features russian dialog and also base the plot on HP Lovecraft stories. The Haunter of the Dark part one was made for about on tenth of the budget of this one. And let me tell you, that’s not a lot!

At the very beginning, before know anything about The Haunter of the Dark II, I thought that this feels like a Lovecraftian adaption. I didn’t know but a few moments later I got the information from a test screen in the film. I don’t know why I though it. The film begins with some nightmares about something that cannot be described. Maybe that is it? For me HP Lovecraft often described scenes in his stories by mentioning what was NOT there. His kind of unique storytelling is what so many of us love I think. It’s not just about monsters and ancient beings. It’s also about how its put into words. For me anyway.

So, I soon established that HP Lovecraft was present in the story. I think it’s fair to say that the main part of the budget obviously wasn’t spent on acting skills. There are som decent gore in there but you’ll have to wait for it. You’ll have to what for som CGI as well. It’s pretty ugly but there’s no real way to get CGI to look good without spending millions of dollars. It’s better to keep to old-fashioned special effects. The story takes a slow-paced way along the passing minutes. It’s a bit too long in my point of view. The first 45-60 minutes is a chaos of imagery. I figure this is to establish a sense of nightmarish state. There’s no actual storyline as I see it.

That change later though. The main characters come across this old house where they find som recently slayed victim. apparently we have a serial killer on the loose. He wears a mask with three eyes over his face and seem to have inhuman powers. Maybe he’s just a man? Maybe he has a hidden agenda? Is that to call on the ancient ones?

For me this is too badly acted to be really enjoyable. I wonder how the first movie was. Judging from the rating on IMDB it looks great! Of course rating can be a deception. comparing to that, this can’t live up to those standards. I like the finishing 30-45 minutes but the opening if too dull and uneventful.