In Search of Darkness Part II: The Journey Into '80s Horror Continues

Unfortunately, part one is not currently available in any format, so I can't compare. But part two is a sweeping review of the horror genre year by year through the 80's. It's got lots of actors and directors giving their commentary in the genre and the decade, which is fantastic. It's also interesting that they didn't just scratch the surface, they dug deep into a reflection on many aspects of the genre, including exploitation and representation, and it's not nearly as one sided and simplistic as it could have been and as many outsiders would believe in that regard.

The mainlet down is the structure. Who is going to sit down and watch a documentary (or anything) this long in one sitting??? Why didn't they cut this into a mini series? You can literally watch 3 or 4 classic horror movies in the time it takes you to watch this. It's already got title cards and is broken into sections, so why didn't they just take that added step?

In any case the last thing to note is that they seem to touch on so many movies, a lot of these are going to be ones you've never heard of. That can be a good thing! It means I came away with a big list of new movies to watch, not that I needed that, but hey maybe there will be a few gems in there... New household favorites even. Who knows. That's the beauty of exploring the past. It does however also mean that they spend at most 5 minutes on any single film. Which is enough time to give a great overview and context, but not enough to delve deep into any single film. They do spots that occasionally go over films again as a part of some larger topic, like discussing a certain director, which is nice. But the overall cohesiveness of the documentary is lacking. Nothing feels connected or driven by a unifying narrative. This isn't a huge flaw if all you're looking for is a huge survey of the genre over a whole decade. Just be aware, they aren't going to guide you through it all or talk purposefully about how this or that movie changed the genre. That sort of thing comesup in the interview clips, but never as a clear historical narrative baked into the documentary itself. You may prefer that, or not, but it's something worth knowing up front. This literally just consists of hours and hours of title cards and interview clips stitched together with film clips added in and overlayed throughout.

It does beg the question... With so many films discussed, where is this or that film? Did I just miss it or forget they talked about it? Was it in part 1? There's a part 3. Confusingly, you might think since part 2 is the 1980's, that part 1 was everything pre-1980's and part 3 would be post 80's, right? Nope. Part 3 is... Exactly the same as part 2, just more movies. They even start back at 1980... odd. I have no idea what part 1 is because it's completely unavailable at the moment for me, so who knows.

Overall definitely worth seeing for any genre fan.

This is the follow up to In Search of Darkness and it adds more great horror flick clips and interviews. It was awesome to see Nancy Allen from Dressed to Kill and Robert Englund and Robert Rusler from the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise being added to the mix of interviews. There's also excellent coverage of many great horror films that you've probably never heard of. This time around, the interviews seem more sincere and toned down which is a good thing. Definitely worth the watch. Catch it on Shudder as of July 2021.

My wife first got me the In Search of Darkness part 1 blu ray and it was amazing. In Search Of Darkness part 2 picks up in the exact same format as the first one, year by year, but this time they go over more movies,including cult classics and hidden gems that all horror fans alike should be aware of.

This time with more horror icons insight on particular movies, this documentary has it all and for those who are lucky enough to order the special editions. I was lucky enough to get the Chris Jericho addition which gives commentary from Chris Jericho and it's freaking awesome. I recommend for all horror fans to check out both search of Darkness documentaries and add them to your collection.

I've been a horror fan since I was young and continue loving the horror genre but nothing beats or will ever compare to 80s horror movies. This documentary will bring your memories back to life with over 4 hours of movie moments that you may have forgotten about such as shocker, sleep away camp 2 and more.. Thank you again to my beautiful loving wife for purchasing this blu ray for my birthday two years in a row, allowing our names to be in the cast credits n allowing my love for 80s horror to continue. Let's go in search of Darkness part 3. I highly recommend a watch..with the lights off!!

Having just recently sat through the 2019 "In Search of Darkness" documentary, I opted to sit down and watch the 2020 sequel the day after, because I thoroughly enjoyed the first documentary. And this time around, I was prepared for the 4 hour and 23 minute runtime that "In Search of Darkness: Part II" ran for.

Once again writer and director David A. Weiner managed to put together a rather enjoyable and entertaining documentary, once that takes you further into the glory - well, more technically, the guts and gore - of the 1980s horror movies.

There are lots of nice interviews with actors, actresses, producers, directors, writers, etc. From so many known and lesser known horror movies from the 1980s, which undoubtably was the most glorious age of horror cinema. And writer and director David A. Weiner takes you along on a fun ride as you get to see great behind the scenes footage, given interesting information of how and why certain effects came into being, and such. So yeah, you are definitely in for quite a treat here.

"In Search of Darkness: Part II", like the 2019 first documentary, has a lot, and I do mean a lot, of familiar faces on the screen for interviews, giving you personal views and takes on movies, and such.

If you enjoyed the 2019 documentary "In Search of Darkness", then you most certainly have to sit down and watch "In Search of Darkness: Part II" as well. And I am definitely looking forward to the release of part III next month.

My rating of "In Search of Darkness: Part II" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

As much as I like the 80's I must say that In Search of Darkness Part 2 becomes tiresome. Sure, there are plenty of gory clips but the comments by the usual bunch of horror fans, scream queens, and Fangoria Hall of Fame alumni are not enough to sustain interest for four and a half hours! They are mostly small talk and don't provide much insight. The noble cause behind In Search of Darkness Part 2 is to focus on lesser known horror instead of the usual Freddy-Jason-MIchael Myers stuff. What we get here is more Freddy-Jason-Michael Myers stuff along with very quick presentations of lesser known titles-some of it European and Asian. Another big problem is that titles such as Hills Have Eyes 2, Poltergeist 3, Saturday the 14th (!!!) are treated like classics. The makers of the documentary seem to neglect the fact that there was a sharp decline of the quality of pictures in the second half of the decade. This decline is obvious if you examine the covers of Fangoria becoming lamer year after year. As a presentation of 80's horror the makers could have done much better. If they had focused on the good stuff and had made this a bit shorter. Those who are new in horror may find it more interesting. If you've been reading Fangoria since the 80's and have already seen Trailer Trauma 80's Horrorthon and In Search of Darkness Part 1, most of this will seem pointless.