House of the Dead 2 (2006)

good back-story, and good acting

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

While missing the unique touch of visionary director Uwe Boll, this sequel to his original classic film is a superb entry in the Zombie Canon. Michael Hurst certainly does spectacular work from the director's chair himself and screen writer Michael Roesch's supremely crafted script gives Hurst a treasure trove to work with. What truly distinguishes this fine motion picture from other stories of the undead is it actually is unafraid to use the word Zombie. It is a bold creative choice that most productions universally avoid and hearing the word spoken aloud by characters in a film is quite a moving experience for they who study the genre. The cast is uniformly excellent but there are several actors that truly standout. Sid Haig, of course, is nothing less than superb. The underrated Ed Quinn gives another stunning performance and it is one that brings an unequaled intensity, strength, and humanity to what might well be a stock character if played by a lesser artist. Overall, this is a extraordinary horror film of unusual quality, a cinematic triumph for the creative team and fine cast alike.

A clandestine experiment at a university campus causes a zombie outbreak. 29 days later, a squad of Special Forces soldiers & government scientists are sent to the campus to find the original zombie in order to develop a vaccine from its blood. But their mission is jeopardized by a soldier's plans to sell the blood sample to a biotech firm, as well as the zombies, who are tougher than the team expected."House of the Dead 2" is the second of two film adaptations of the popular video game. The original HOUSE OF THE DEAD was lambasted by almost all reviewers as being one of the worst zombie films ever made. The only connection this film has with the original is the screenwriter, Mark A. Altman, a genre fan who co-wrote the script for the first film.After viewing the first film, which was a third-rate spin off from a second-rate game, I set my expectations low before sitting to review this sequel. I was slightly impressed with the film.Given the film industry's penchant for making films from older films, films made by other countries & videogames, "House of the Dead 2" works surprisingly well but is let down by a number of factors. First, the source material, in this case a video game, does not lend itself too readily for filmwork. The game is nothing more than a cheap attempt to rip-off the massively successful RESIDENT EVIL games, with the zombies being nothing more than targets for the player's guns (as well as the fact that the zombies act very un-zombie like, jumping, wielding weapons & not feeding on flesh). The original film, for all its faults, actually was pretty faithful to the game, with the exception of the setting. HOTD 2 again uses a different setting to that of the original but unless you count a college campus as a house, the title is a stretch at best.Despite being derived from the game, the zombies here are a marked improvement over their game counterparts. They stick to the Romero mould, unlike the creatures in the first film, which were nothing more than undead thugs. The film tries a new idea – that of scientists trying to locate the original zombie in order to find a cure from its blood – which is perhaps its saving grace. That & the fact that the actors giving some good performances, as well as some clever characterizations. But while these elevate the film to a higher level than the original film, it still suffers from a poorly developed script. With the recent spate of comedies which derived their humour from film references, HOTD 2 throws in a few genre film references (one character mentions "Alone in the Dark"; the film is set 29 days after the experiment, after the British zombie film 28 DAYS LATER; the campus is named Cuesta Verde after the housing development in POLTERGEIST) which don't work too well.

I'm pretty surprised by the extremely low score this has here on IMDb. I remember when I tried to watch the first 'House of the Dead' and stopped it halfway through because it was just too damn awful. So a while ago when this first came out on DVD someone had told me that it was a lot better then the first one, I didn't get around to watching it until just then...on late night cable.The movie is pretty much tongue in cheek it doesn't take itself too seriously. Take for example the library scene. Because of this, all the plot holes, the illogical happenings throughout the movie can be forgiven, as it is purely light entertainment.The archetypal military characters, were done well and fitted the feel of this kind of zombie film. The chauvinistic bald lieutenant had a great performance (which separates it from most cheesy horrors), especially his rant at the end. The banter back and forwards especially the moments concerning the bald chauvinist, could've been taken from a film that would've been taken much more seriously by the general film going public.The hardcore dancing/Circle Pitting zombies will also make any metal head/hardcore fan laugh, at least a little.Again, because it was tongue in cheek and didn't take it self seriously. 7/10(reviewed after first viewing)

I just can't believe that a sequel to an absolute rubbish film would turn out to be so good. After watching the first crappy House of the Dead I thought this one will also be the same, I rented it because I couldn't find another movie that looks good. Uwe Boll did not direct it so I was saying to myself "It shouldn't be bad as the first one". The film was much better than I expected and I have only 2 words for the make-up effects; awesome & mind-blowing definitely the best make-up for any zombie film. The story is really good about a mad scientist in a university campus whose dream is to bring the dead back to life but the virus broke out after an experiment on a dead girl so it took only one zombie to spawn an army, the special forces are sent to find the patient zero which is the original zombie from where the infection started and create an antidote to stop the plague. This is the third video game movie I've liked the other two are Resident Evil & Resident Evil: Apocalypse. I've seen it twice in my 2-day hire although I usually watch rented films only once. Do not mistake that the sequel is crap just because the first one was, House of the Dead fans won't be disappointed. Thank goodness Uwe Boll did not direct it and thank you Mike Hurst!