The original Road House movie is memorable in many ways. It's neither as good, nor as bad as some people claim it to be. I've heard it described as one of the worst films of all time. I know people that think it's one of the best action films. I'm somewhere in the middle. I find it to be entertaining, in a ghastly sort of way.
Road House was both good and bad for Patrick Swayze. It's the movie that many people know him best. But it also effectively killed him as an A-List actor.
There are a lot of direct-to-home video sequels these days. I've tried a few and most of them are cheap, sorry, uninspired, cynical ways for lower end producers to make a quick buck at the public's expense. I avoid 'em like the plague, but I made an exception with Road House 2.
Road House 2 was written in part by Richard Chizmar, who should be well known by readers of Horror Drive-In as the head man at Cemetery Dance Publications. But few seem to be aware that Richard Chizmar is a hell of a writer of fiction. It helped that Borderlands Press published an anthology called 4 Fear Of... This cool little book features several pieces of Chizmar's excellent short fiction.
I didn't buy Road House 2 right away. I didn't rent it either, but that's a whole other issue. I waited until I could get a cheaply obtained copy, which I recently did. The verdict...
Well, if you are the kind of person who is willing to shell out money for a movie called Road House 2, you are probably going to enjoy it. It's not a great movie and not even necessarily very good, but it does have energy and it's nicely paced and there are plenty of fighting scenes. The best part of the whole show is a wildly over-the-top performance by Jake Busey.
The story? Well, Johnathon Schaech (who co-wrote the film and is also Chizmar's partner in their Chesapeake Films corp.) plays the nephew of Jake, the owner of the Black Pelican bar. He is a DEA officer looking to score a bust on a big dealer. The dealer is played by a maniacal Jake Busey, who wants to buy the brawling roadhouse to use as a home base for his drug distribution business. Lots of fistfights ensue.
Really, that's about it. If you aren't overly critical and tend to enjoy cheesy 80's type action movies, you'll probably have a reasonably good time with Road House 2. I did. Just don't plunk down the full price for it. At least until it ends up in the $5.50 Walmart bin.
Road House was both good and bad for Patrick Swayze. It's the movie that many people know him best. But it also effectively killed him as an A-List actor.
There are a lot of direct-to-home video sequels these days. I've tried a few and most of them are cheap, sorry, uninspired, cynical ways for lower end producers to make a quick buck at the public's expense. I avoid 'em like the plague, but I made an exception with Road House 2.
Road House 2 was written in part by Richard Chizmar, who should be well known by readers of Horror Drive-In as the head man at Cemetery Dance Publications. But few seem to be aware that Richard Chizmar is a hell of a writer of fiction. It helped that Borderlands Press published an anthology called 4 Fear Of... This cool little book features several pieces of Chizmar's excellent short fiction.I didn't buy Road House 2 right away. I didn't rent it either, but that's a whole other issue. I waited until I could get a cheaply obtained copy, which I recently did. The verdict...
Well, if you are the kind of person who is willing to shell out money for a movie called Road House 2, you are probably going to enjoy it. It's not a great movie and not even necessarily very good, but it does have energy and it's nicely paced and there are plenty of fighting scenes. The best part of the whole show is a wildly over-the-top performance by Jake Busey.
The story? Well, Johnathon Schaech (who co-wrote the film and is also Chizmar's partner in their Chesapeake Films corp.) plays the nephew of Jake, the owner of the Black Pelican bar. He is a DEA officer looking to score a bust on a big dealer. The dealer is played by a maniacal Jake Busey, who wants to buy the brawling roadhouse to use as a home base for his drug distribution business. Lots of fistfights ensue.
Really, that's about it. If you aren't overly critical and tend to enjoy cheesy 80's type action movies, you'll probably have a reasonably good time with Road House 2. I did. Just don't plunk down the full price for it. At least until it ends up in the $5.50 Walmart bin.
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