Hotel Inferno 2: The Cathedral of Pain

I thoroughly enjoyed the Italian film Hotel Inferno (2013), it was a well made highly original horror effort and upon learning it was becoming a franchise I was fairly excited.

Foolishly they waited too long, it took a whole four years before the second part came out and I can confidently say that it's a bust and does not come close to the quality or novelty appeal of the first.

We see Franks story continue, he's now dead after the events of the first film and finds himself in hell. Upon escaping his chains he makes an ally and goes about finding a way back to his body in the land of the living.

Solid enough idea and once again the practical effects are top notch (If you can stomach them) but the story is an absolute mess and never quite finds its feet.

For those unaware of the first movie it's all filmed through the characters eyes, so found footage but less silly. It's hyper gory, on levels you may never have seen before. It even gives Brain Dead/Dead Alive (1992) a run for its money. This is really hardcore stuff and for that reason certainly niche, people might also struggle to make it through the level of profanity. How can swearing be hard to cope with you ask? Watch it and find out, it's very annoying.

I had high hopes for this franchise as the first movie was fantastic, but if this is it's future then I'd say wrap it all up with one final movie and be done with it. I'd say don't bother with the third movie, but Cathedral of Pain hardly resolves anything.

Wasted potential, such a shame.

The Good:

Incredible gory practical effects

Decent soundtrack

The Bad:

Voice work is still hokey as hell (Pun intended)

Weak script

Not for the squeamish

Oddly boring in places

Some stupid inconsistencies