213) Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992)

"You said it was over!" 

Director
Anthony Hickox

Cast
Zach Galligan - Mark Loftmore
Monika Schnarre - Sarah Brightman
Martin Kemp - Baron Von Frankenstein
Bruce Campbell - John Loftmore
Michael Des Barres - George

Alexander Godunov - Scarabis
Jim Metzler - Roger
Billy Kane - Nigel
Joe Baker - The Peasant
John Ireland - King Arthur
Patrick Macnee - Sir Wilfred
David Carradine - The Beggar

Do you remember when I reviewed the 1988 horror flick "Waxwork" back in 2021? Of course you do!

Well, now I've checked out its 1992 sequel, "Waxwork II: Lost in Time." 

Like the first movie, it's also a horror fantasy comedy, although the comedy aspect is a little less subtle than the first. And also like the first, Zach Galligan and Patrick Macnee return to their respective roles. In fact, they're the only cast from part one to come back. 
Monika Schnarre takes on the role of Sarah in this sequel, played by Deborah Foreman in the first movie. Also, unlike part one, there are no wax figures in this movie. 

Part two starts off where part one ends. Mark Loftmore (Zach Galligan) and his girlfriend, Sarah (played this time by Monika Schnarre) leave the burning wax museum. They climb into a taxi unaware that a severed hand has crawled out of the zombie wax scene and is following them. It crawls on the cab and hitches a ride back to Sarah's house where she lives with her abusive and vulgar stepfather (George 'Buck' Flower). 

The hand strangles her stepfather and then smashes his head with a hammer. Of course, Sarah is accused of her stepdad's murder, and quickly finds herself on trial for murder. 

She obviously claims innocence and tells the jury all about the wax museum. They obviously think she sounds insane...and guilty. 

Zach Galligan and Monika Schnarre in "Waxwork II: Lost in Time.

Mark comes to her defense and disrupts the trial shouting that she's telling the truth. 

Right after her court appearance, the two head to Sir Wilfred's house. Sir Wilfred (Patrick Macnee) died in the first movie after losing his head at the claws of a werewolf. Though Wilfred is dead, he left a film for Mark detailing the adventures that he and David (Mark's grandfather) had taken. 

He also discusses the variety of strange, mystical, and mysteriously powerful artifacts they collected during their trips. 

Among these objects, Wilfred notes one in particular called Solomon's Locket. It's a small trinket that looks like a compass. As Wilfred explains, it's a device by which good angels and fallen angels use to pass to other universes called the Kartagra. 

This is where eternal battles of good against evil take place. And both victories or defeats are somehow reflected in our world in the form of either peace or natural disasters. 

And these various universes are manifested in multiple movie stories we're familiar with - "Frankenstein," "Dracula," "Alien," "Godzilla," and even "Dawn of the Dead." That's weird!

They've kept these treasures in a secret room which Mark manages to open through a rigged chess piece on a chess board that Wilfred left set up.

When Mark and Sarah find Solomon's Locket, they start jumping from movie story to movie story. And just like what happened to them in "Waxwork" when they jump into each wax scene, they become a character in that story. They're also forced to survive each story they fall into as they struggle to find evidence to prove Sarah's innocence and get back to the normal world. 

This certainly isn't a scary movie, or maybe I'm completely desensitized by this point. Of course, I'm not. And it's not a scary movie. It's more grotesque humor. 

It barely passes as entertaining, but everything else is underwhelming.

Zach Galligan is an actor who truly seems passionate about actomg. Just listening to him in movie commentaries, particularly about his role in "Gremlins" and "Gremlins II," and watching him act, he never seems to half-ass his performances. There's a lot of effort and enthusiasm on Galligan's part. This is certainly true about his performance in this sequel.  

Bruce Campbell cameos as John Loftmore in a black and white scene.

"Waxwork II" relies nearly almost on the multiple references to the other movies that the story packs itself with - "Friday the 13th," "Dracula," "Frankenstein," "Psycho," "Godzilla," "Alien," "The Haunting," "Dawn of the Dead." I think there's more. 

Bruce Campbell has a small role in this movie. In one scene, his character makes a nod to his "Evil Dead" movies. Why not? 

David Carradine also has a cameo as a beggar. And Drew Barrymore shows up in a brief scene. 

Each of the movie references soon begins to feel like one parody after another. That's really the only entertaining factor. 

Somewhere in the middle of the story, I forgot what the movie was about. I forgot what Mark and Sarah were trying to do. It all felt like one large satirical throwback to all these other movies. 

By the end, it all came across as dull and repetitive. Yep...dull and repetitive. Dull here. Repetitive there. 

I remember the comedy in the first "Waxwork" being lousy. I think it's a little less lousy in this movie, as I did chuckle a couple times. Like I mentioned in my "Waxwork" review, the first movie felt both rushed through, and loose at the seams. 

In "Waxwork II: Lost in Time" it seems the writers decided to take it slow. Maybe, too slow. It's still loose at the seams. 

There's one scene at a royal feast in the presence of King Arthur (John Ireland) which feels like a bad 90s music video.

This movie does carry some appeal but relies more on its gimmicky tone rather than its workable story. Basically, it's looking in the wrong direction. 

Of course, it's set up for a sequel which, I don't think ever happened. Maybe it's better that way.