Let's be clear: nobody asked for this sequel, as the first film probably hasn't been viewed by anyone beyond the director's family and friends and the few unsuspecting suckers who may have stumbled upon it on Tubi (myself included). While the first film is truly terrible, it does have some charm simply in the awful over the top performances and hokey death scenes. Literally nothing stands out about it, so I was super caught by surprise when I see that this sequel was out. Curiosity got the best of me and I checked it out simply because many indie filmmakers learn from their first film and, in turn, grow with their next one. Rest assures this is NOT the case here. This film is miles worse than the first one.
It apparently takes place two years after the events of the first film. Survivor Riley Conner (again played by Writer/Director Hayden Newman) and some of his friends head to a remote cabin to celebrate Christmas with his mom (now played by Lisa Wilcox) and her new sheriff from the first film boyfriend and his uncle (a wasted Danny Hassel). While the first film was terrible, it did have a small fragment of fun to it and the pacing was pretty decent. Here, the first 45 minutes are SLOW and PAUNFULLY BORING. Legit nothing happens except stale conversations among stale characters. While we are introduced to new characters, the script by Newman doesn't know how to properly juggle them all, as there are long stretches where characters disappear from the film, despite them all staying at the same small cabin. The acting all around is really bad; wooden, wooden, wooden, doesn't even begin to describe. Even when genre favorite Mark Patton shows up out of the blue for one of the most ridiculous and unbelievable reasons ever, his performance is so odd and disjointed from the rest of the cast, that it is distracting.
Speaking of distracting, we certainly didn't need a nude scene AND a love scene with Hayden Newman. On top of being one of the most unlikable characters I've even seen in an indie film, I am not sure who told him it was a great idea to cast himself in a lead role where the character he is playing is lusted and obsessed after by numerous good looking men. It just rings silly and completely unbelievable. Also, Newman wrote the script and like the first film, there are SEVERAL lines that are taken word for word from films like Scream 2, Scream 3, Black Christmas 2006 and others. Paying homage is one thing. Plagiarism is quite another.
For a slasher, the deaths are all lame and lackluster. By the time you make it to the climax (if you can last that long), you just don't care. And while the acting is awful by everyone involved, by god the person who plays the "main" killer is on a whole other level of bad. Stu Macher or Billy Loomis he is NOT.
Nothing about this film sticks. At a time where there are some truly talented, visionary indie directors doing some great stuff, there is just no reason to watch or support such an amateurish, pedestrian effort such as this.
Unfortunately, the final shot of the film sets it up for ANOTHER sequel. If they go through with it, it will be interesting to see what films they rip off this time.