Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge

Alright, well I had no clue as to what I was getting myself into here, as I sat down to watch the 2022 horror comedy "Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge", but I must admit that I was initially lured in by the movie's cover/poster, as it had a very distinct 1980s horror feel to it. I had never actually heard about this movie prior to stumbling upon it.

What a dumpster fire this turned out to be. There simply was no narrative to the movie, and it was just a massive heap of chaotic and randomly filmed scenes that made little or no coherent sense when put together to make a movie. So I am rather amazed with the fact that seven writers could collectively managed to come together to churn out something as ridiculous as what "Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge" turned out to be.

Sure, the acting performances in "Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge" were actually fair enough, but I have to admit that I didn't care one bit for the characters in the movie, well, technically in the random segments filmed and edited into the mockery of a movie.

I haven't even seen or heard of the 2019 "Scare Package" movie, but after sitting through 65 minutes of the 98 minutes that "Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge" ran for, I can honestly say that I am not even going to bother tracking down the 2019 movie. Nor am I am going to attempt to finish watching this 2022 travesty of a horror comedy.

My rating of "Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge" lands on a two out of ten stars.

I really loved the first "Scare Package". I thought it was a very unique take on the comedy horror anthology genre.

That being said, this sequel does not have the same charm as the first. While there are sparks of enjoyable moments and references to classic slasher horror films, most of the film is cluttered with complete nonsense. The stories, themselves are rather weak and the connecting SAW story, also, leaves a lot to be desired. Also, we don't need woke moments thrown in for absolutely no other reason than to virtue signal.

If you're a big fan of the first, I'd skip this one to avoid tarnishing the memory of the far superior original.

As someone who very much enjoyed Scare Package and thought it was a fun slice of irreverent horror parody with sparks of genius and truly funny gags, this is painful. I was incredibly excited today to see this drop on Shuder and had no idea it was even coming. I started it up and was almost immediately hit in the face with humor as subtle as a hammer. The setup for the first vignette is great, but then quickly devolves into super meta takedown on final girl tropes. This is done in the most hamfisted way possible with it ending in a literal lecture. The subject has been broached by several great films, but this one just falls so flat. The rest of this wretched sequel is just one scene after another of basement quality parody and terrible humor that constantly fails to deliver even a small smile. The jokes here are as witty as the ones in terrible parodies like Meet the Spartans, Disaster Movie and all that other similar trash. This is honestly the worst horror sequel since Feast 3 and is so bad, it even makes me question my take on the first film. I suggest staying far away from this one.

Back in 2019, Aaron B. Koontz and Cameron Burns' Scare Package was a sly prank on the horror genre. It was a refreshing anthology series that riffed on all of the genre's tropes in clever and fun ways. The sequel, Rad Chad's Revenge, offers much of the same fun but much of the enjoyment is ruined by the filmmakers' constant need to push their repeatitive personal agendas over entertainment or blood-curdling good laughs.

The framing narrative this time is a spoof of the Saw series with a deceased horror guru and video store owner Rad Chad turning his funeral into a series of daunting, deadly escape rooms for the mourners in attendance.

Of the stories presented only two are fairly well done. The first, Welcome to the 90s, has several famous horror final girls and 'Buffy' (Steph Barkley) fending off Jason, Freddy, Xenomorph, Michael Myers, Leatherface stand-in: Tony the Killer (Joshua Miller). Although it is dragged down with a lot of ham-fisted, patronizing editorial commentary which it could have and should have done without, Welcome to the 90s is the best of the four stories. The second featurette, The Night He Came Back Again! Part VI: The Night She Came Back, is a sequel to The Night He Came Back Again! Part IV: The Final Kill in the original film with final girl Daisy (Chelsey Grant) making her return.

If you shut off Scare Package 2 after that one, you won't have missed anything much. If do you venture further put on that football helmet or hard hat you have sitting around as the filmmakers continue to hammer home their agenda over and over again like Thor bludgeoning the ice giants with Mjölnir. That's ultimately why what could have been a good follow-up just becomes as irritating as Love and Thunder. Okay, nothing in filmdom could be THAT annoying but Scare Package 2 gives it a run for its money.

First, I am a huge fan of the original Scare Package, and the clever way it had fun with a myriad of horror tropes. This sequel goes very far astray of what made the original so great, so to say I was disappointed is an understatement, though I could find a few redeeming qualities.

From the very beginning, writer/director Aaron B. Koontz makes it abundantly clear that this is a comedy... and a goofy, borderline-slapstick one at that. This is an anthology series, so you've got a variety of writers and directors. This aspect was slightly different from the original, in the fact that there were only four short stories, and the Koontz/Burns framework story is the bulk focus. Which is not exactly a mistake, as exactly half the shorts (the latter two) completely suck.

I thought the first two shorts were very good. As a matter of fact, the first, Welcome to the 90's, I felt was the one thing clever enough to fit into what the first movie accomplished. It is a fun take on a role reversal of final girls, though it does get preachy by the end. But a great idea, nonetheless. The second short is good, too, The Night He Came Back Again! Part VI: The Night She Came Back, as I always like to see characters return from the original (more can be found in the wraparound story). It is a (further down the line) sequel to a short from the original, and is left open-ended enough for more. I just hope Koontz goes back to his original winning concept, if this actually continues as a franchise.

Here's the problem: This sequel is (primarily) not a clever comment on horror tropes, it is a parody and reference-generator of horror films (plus other films in general). The framework story focuses mostly on the Saw movies. This sort of thing has not only been done already (in the "Movie" movies, Meet the Spartans, etc.), but I'm fairly certain one of the Scary Movies has done Saw already!! So, add redundant on top of all that's wrong. Now, I'm all for movie references, but when that's your movie's sole focus, it gets real tiresome. Case in point: The fourth short, We're So Dead, is nothing but a very obvious succession of movie references, seemingly designed for a Saw "game" in the ensuing frame. The references and quotes in the latter/concluding part of this movie fly at you rather mercilously, and made me wish the movie was over already.

There is a modicum of fun to be had here, but ultimately the movie is bogged down in dumb parody and cramming in as many references as possible. There is even an extra on the Blu-ray, done in a Pop-up Video style, TELLING you what and where all the references lie/refer to. Which is actually a pretty good idea, if I had the patience for it. Ya gotta sit through the movie again in its entirety to get them all.

C'mon, get back to the drawing board!