Ah, those gross little goblins are back. This time we find the ghoulies taking up residence in a haunted house called Satan’s Den run by a couple of yahoos named Uncle Ned and Larry. When these two goobers arrive at the carnival they’re setting up in, they butt heads with the overbearing fairgrounds owner P. Hardin. But thankfully for Larry and Ned, the ghoulies prove to be a hit with most folks just thinking the ghoulies are part of the attraction. Before long though, some unlucky customers find themselves dinner for those tenacious toilet trolls, and the ghoulies begin a ravenous rampage through the carnival. Can Larry, his girlfriend Nicole and Hardin’s underling Nigel stop the ghoulies with the aid of dark magic?

Before Critters… Before The Gate…. Before Hobgoblins… There was Ghoulies! Released later in the same year that Gremlins came out as the first rip off of a burgeoning “out of control puppet monster” sub-genre, Ghoulies was in general a pretty dire film that received a lot of views solely for its toilet-centric ad campaign. In fact, the toilet scene is probably what anyone remembers from Ghoulies. It also had some cheesy nonsense about a guy conducting satanic rituals for power or something, but no one cared about that. We just wanted more of those gross, slimy puppets! Ghoulies II takes the franchise in a more lively direction than the moldy old mansion of the previous film with its freewheeling carnival atmosphere and bigger emphasis on sorcery. The actual puppet designs from John Carl Buechler look as solid as ever even though they also move as stiffly as ever much of the time, in contrast to Gremlins‘ more versatile puppetry. But the movie does have a brisk pacing with some fun sequences courtesy of Charles Band’s dad Albert Band back in the director’s chair for the first time since 1977’s Dracula’s Dog over a decade prior (which actually reinvigorated his career since he would go on to direct stuff like Robot Wars and Prehysteria!). They even work in another toilet scene as a nod to the first one. I tend to like the juxtaposition of horror movies that take place in carnivals and theme parks. The idea of being terrified in what is supposed to be a place of happiness and joy is an appealing one and Ghoulies II capitalizes off the location in some fun ways. Overall, I actually think Ghoulies II is a better film with better cinematography and deeper lore.

Charles Band is never one to let a double- or triple-dip pass him by, so it’s not surprising that we get a 4K upgrade of Ghoulies II. What is surprising though is just how good it actually looks! The gorgeously comic book-like lighting in deep red, blue and green hues looks excellent and really pops, particularly for a low budget horror movie from the 1980s. The DTS-HD stereo 2.0 track also sounds really nice and expansive, once again surprisingly good for this kind of film. On the subject of the audio though, I do think one aspect where Ghoulies II does not improve on its predecessor is on the soundtrack. Richard Band’s lively orchestral score in the first movie would’ve been a perfect fit for the carnival setting of this one. Instead we get a more generic synth-heavy score from Fuzzbee Morse that could’ve been slapped into any random ’80s movie. For this latest entry in MVD’s throwback Rewind Collection, they have given us a nice group of extras. First on the 4K disc, we have both the PG-13 theatrical cut and the extended R-rated cut with several brief gore sequences added back in. This is a particular treat for us folks in the US since the R-rated cut was previously only available on the Austrian NSM blu-ray release. Then on the blu-ray disc we have “More Toilets, More Terror: The Making of Ghoulies II“, a 15-minute behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the movie, a carryover from the previous Scream Factory release, and a 30-minute interview with screenwriter Dennis Paoli, also found on the Austrian and Australian releases of the film, that illustrates how he put much more thought into a Ghoulies sequel than anyone would’ve expected. We also get alternate scenes, trailers and an included mini-poster. All-in-all, a nice set of extras, although it would’ve been nice to get an audio commentary as well.

Ghoulies II is actually a lot of fun and improves on the original in many aspects, and MVD has given us an excellent reason to upgrade to 4K with a stellar new transfer. Pop this baby in and remember to check in the toilet before you sit down!