Directed by David DeCoteau
Expectations: Moderately high. The first was pretty good and I like David DeCoteau.
On the general scale:
On the B-movie scale:
I thoroughly enjoyed the first Brotherhood film, so my internal hype set me up to be somewhat disappointed with The Brotherhood II: Young Warlocks. Regardless of this, there’s no denying that the sequel is very entertaining. Anyone who enjoyed the first film is likely to enjoy this one as well. Both films follow similar structures, and I don’t know if the differences are distinct enough to build a sequel on, but both films are entertaining in their own ways and that’s what really matters, right?
The first Brotherhood is about vampires, so I honestly expected the whole series to be vampire-based. I don’t watch trailers or think too much about these movies before I watch them, but I guess I should have taken that Young Warlocks subtitle a little more seriously. The sequel’s mythology delves into witches and warlocks (but mostly just warlocks), and this is both brilliant and somewhat frustrating. I loved the secret society of the first film and I had hoped to go a little deeper into that. At the same time, the idea of a low-budget horror franchise based around a variety of college secret societies and their unique mythologies is wonderfully inspired and respectable.
The warlock mythology is intriguing, but I wasn’t as drawn in as I was for the vampire stuff in the first film. Instead of layers being peeled back, it felt like it was all out in the open within a few minutes. That doesn’t make what’s here any less fun, but it takes away the first film’s mystery without much to replace it. That being said, the film is peppered with scenes like the one where Luc makes his warlock recruits lick tears from his eyes after lots of slow-motion frolicking in the pool. That scene also has a seemingly never-ending booze bottle which is upended into the recruits’ mouths multiple times, and although it’s clearly almost empty every time, it never fails to deliver another cascade of alcohol the next time around. Some might call this a continuity error, but I call it entertainment. 🙂
The only thing I really disliked about the movie is how the big sex scene plays out. The first film has a similar threesome scene, but the circumstances change the response considerably. In the first film, the woman willfully engages with the men, spurred on by the alluring and manipulative sexual aura emitted by the vampires. In The Brotherhood II: Young Warlocks, it’s more of a date rape situation where the woman is given drugged wine before engaging with the warlock and his protege. Both scenes are filmed similarly to elicit erotic arousal, but I just couldn’t get on-board with the scene in this film.
Regardless of my hatred of pan-and-scan hackjobs, The Brotherhood II: Young Warlocks is a very entertaining sequel to The Brotherhood that any fan of DeCoteau should seek out. It’s not as good as the first film, but I also feel like this one probably has its fans that like it better. Watch it for yourself and decide!
Next time I get around to a Full Moon movie I’ll be checking in with the Moonbeam film Frankenstein Reborn, also directed by David DeCoteau! See ya then!