Plot: A group of troubled teens is headed out to perform some community service, under the watchful eyes of supervisor Denise (Debbie Rochon). She will make sure the kids stay out of trouble and do what they’re supposed to, with a little help from a street wise bad ass that’s along for the ride. The trip barely gets started before things begin to go wrong, with the van broken down in the middle of nowhere. This leads to looking around for some help, but a voodoo priestess they run into doesn’t seem to be of much help, other than to warn them of a local legend. A maniacal, murderous clown known as Killjoy is still on the loose and if the teens can’t evade his detection, she assures them the clown will unleash his wrath. But is she just a crazy old woman or is Killjoy really out there and if so, can anyone survive the night?

Entertainment Value: The first Killjoy movie took itself a little seriously, but this sequel makes sure the pendulum swings to the other extreme. Killjoy 2 makes no effort at serious moments or even scares, instead going after some laughs and hoping the low rent, but inventive kills will satisfy genre fans. The pace is still a little slow, with a lot of filler between kills and interesting moments, but it marks a tighter, less dull take on the clown, compared to the original. In the original, Killjoy was a supporting role, one that popped up here and there, but not the core focus, whereas this time around, he is front and center. Trent Haaga takes over as the killer clown and while I like a lot of his work, he is terrible in this one. I wanted to mute the volume whenever he spoke, as his voice work was so forced and unfunny, save a few quips. The strange noises and filler sounds he makes are cringe level, just abysmal stuff. Debbie Rochon is a capable anchor here however, in a campy turn that adds a solid performance and some name value, so genre fans should be thrilled there. But in the end, a little more bloodshed and humor can’t balance out Haaga’s miserable performance and the overall mediocre experience of this sequel.

No nakedness. Any kind of sexual hijinks happen off screen, so no sleaze whatsoever in this one. There’s some blood and I liked some of the kills, but the movie is careful to show little of the actual violence that causes the bloodshed. So a kill where a dude is impaled on a water pump provides the most colorful kill, as Killjoy then uses the pump to drain some of the victim’s blood. I also loved the premise of the chattering teeth kill, but sadly, it happens off screen and nothing is shown. This holds true of most of the murders, with little kinetic bloodshed involved. But at least a couple of the kills are fun to watch, even without buckets of blood. The dialogue is not great, though Rochon has fun take charge moments and campy exchanges. Haaga drops the ball with his work here, which means one liners that should have added humor instead make you want to shut off the movie. I normally appreciate his performances, but he stunk out the place here. As for craziness, not much out of the usual happens here and the movie is content to play it safe and tame. I did like the guy who was super casual about putting a bullet into random people, but that’s barely worth one point.

Nudity: 0/10

Blood: 3/10

Dialogue: 1/10

Overall Insanity: 1/10

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