Spike (Pat O'Bryan) survives the events of the first film and now roams the countryside on his motorcycle. Why? We're not completely sure, but he does end up in a town where a college Dean has been abusing the 976- EVIL hot line and killing young girls. He is arrested but uses Astral Projection to leave his cell and continue to stalk Robin (Debbie James), the sheriff's daughter who has teamed up with Spike. This sequel is a strange creature. It makes an effort to connect with the first film, but feels completely like a random horror script they forced the 976 concept onto. Director Jim Wynorski handles it well enough and gets bonus points for some really WTF? moments (the biggest one being George "Buck" Flower getting obliterated by a semi). Crazed stunt coordinator Spiro Razatos delivers two pretty spectacular car crash bits. One of them (a girl in a runaway, possessed car) features a few shots where I think the actress really feared for her life and Wynorski has recycled this footage many times. The film's biggest plus is a genuinely creative bit where a character is zapped into a mash up of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (both in public domain at the time). And you thought James Stewart was never in a Wynorski film. Bridgette Nielsen has a small cameo as a Satanic book shop owner and Philip McKeon of ALICE fame is a deputy.
Review of 976-Evil II
