Schizophreniac 2 : Necromaniac

Schizophreniac 2 : Necromaniac (1997)

Dir: Ron Atkins

IMDB: 3.7 out of 10

Ah the sequel, Many times a sequel just does not live up to the expectations of a series' prior installment, Sometimes it rarely surpasses it's predecessor and in this films case it just rehashes the entire prior film almost scene for scene. The question is in this situation is, Does the sequel at least improve on the original much like the hopes of many a failed remake? In Necromaniac's case not really.

Necromaniac opens with a scrolling text explaining the prior events and the back story of Harry Russo, Stating that since the events he has flee'd to Las Vegas and has still not been captured by the law. Then the opening scene is basically a rehash of the prior films opening with the exception of some higher quality eye candy as a very buxom blonde is in the shower before the ever lovely Russo arrives at her door in an old ladies dress and it is business as usual as Harry strangles the women before sodomizing the woman's corpse.Then we are treated to a few flashback sequences where the sexual abuse Harry withstood as a child is shown , yet Harry appears as a grown man while being molested by his mother. I guess this is just supposed to be how he replays it in his head? I am not sure what the film makers where trying to establish here. We also see that Russo went on to kill his neighbor Ms.Parker from the first film after the events of the original installment. After the opening kill and flashbacks Harry is on the run and has a run in with Jesus Christ himself (Played by the films director). Harry and the savior of mankind exchange words before Harry has his ass handed to him and is bitch slapped by Jesus for not excepting a second chance to make things right and to stop killing.

As Harry continues to flee from the police, We meet the two detectives on his trail. Lt.Hayes a racist "Bad As" who wants to kill Russo and the standard good cop Lt.Gayles who wants to seek help for Russo's troubled mind. Meanwhile Russo picks up a couple of slutty looking hitch hikers and we all know where this is leading by now as they want to get high and smoke more than they expect as he kidnaps the couple. Russo seeks hideout at his buddy and dealer Otis' house. After a bit of odd dialog Russo makes an offering and shows his pal the two kidnap victims he has in his trunk. The two make plans to shoot a film ,But when it becomes clear Russo has more planned than just making a porno Otis gets uneasy and this of course does not end well for Harry's old pal. After taking the group captive in the hideout Harry heads out to find some video equipment, But not before reattaching his thumb he cut off in the previous film.While out on the town Harry has some interesting flashbacks and he stumbles on to a news crew where he kills a reporter live on T.V. but neglects to take there camera. Lucky for Harry he runs into a familiar face in a darkened lot and steals a camera from a local small time electronics thief. Now that he has all he needs for his film he heads back to Otis' place to start filming. Back at the Police station the good cop as asked to be taken off the case due to his partners racist slurs and he is replaced by John Baxter, A rough and tumble officer who has some personal ties with good ol' Russo.

Russo returns to his hideout to shoot his "documentary". He springs into full on psycho once again and begins torturing the two women held captive after disposing of Otis for good. This leads to a lengthy murder scene that really tries it's hardest to shock the viewer, As Harry disfigures one of the ladies and even goes as far as to remove one of their eyes in order to skull fuck the victim before eating her brains. All the gore effects here are pretty much what you would expect from a film of this quality and that is not saying much as it doesn't appear the budget has been improved since the first film. After his "Shoot" Harry gets back on the road to Vegas and just happens to run across the detectives looking for him, But not before we get one more gross out moment when Harry has a run in with a female motorist and he masturbates into his hand and throws it at the women's car before rubbing his own shit on her face. This leads to one of the most anti climatic endings in the history of cinema as Harry easily disposes of the big bad cop out for revenge almost instantly.After Russo gets the cops off his trail we see Russo having sex with his mothers grave before Russo is spotted running frantically through the strips of Vegas in a hilarious moment of the traditional guerrilla film making as you can see the by standers confused as hell as to whats wrong with this guy they are filming which adds a little to the film and makes Harry look legitimately crazy. Which I guess was the point in the first place.

After all the gross out moments and attempts to shock the viewer, Necromaniac is basically the same exact movie as it's predecessor. With the only noticeable difference being the inclusion of the cops that are on his trail.The same over the top dialog spouted with the same thick accent, The same no budget gore and shots of Harry Russo's junk. Is it bad? well it is just as bad as the first in the series so yes, But again it is funny as hell if you have a sick sense of humor. So in the respect I guess this could be considered a success of sorts. I think I have certainly had my fill of this guys films for awhile and I will not be looking into anymore Ron Atkins flicks until I can find the quasi third in this series, So until then I am off to the next awful series for the month as I continue to find films so bad they test my own limits this month. If you like low budget flicks with lack of any real direction but will make you laugh at how awful they are then I recommend you give this series a chance and I would say watch the second installment just for the better looking woman in the opening because as for the rest of the film it is pretty much identical. I really cannot suggest watching both flicks , especially so close in succession because the repeated racial and homophobic slurs that Russo spews out at every turn does get a bit sickening after awhile. At first I felt it was just an attempt to make the character seem more over the top and insane but after awhile it looses it's shock and just seems pointless and mean spirited , like a way for the director to secretly express his true feelings towards certain people. I hope that is not the case but honestly it is a bit much after the first hundred N-Bombs and Faggots. Not to mention the assortment of other colorful terms the Character chooses to use.


Gore:5
Nudity:8
Story:3
Characters:4
Fun Factor:6

Overall: 5 out of 10