Some movies are so child-like in their approach to narrative that you'd swear the script was adapted from a rejected Scooby Doo episode. With that mindset, you might enjoy this slasher sequel, where the Damsel In Distress travels to an empty hotel (run by Jeffrey Combs!) on a remote island during hurricane season... one year after she was attacked by a killer whose body was never found. Then again, the Damsel in question is Jennifer Love Hewitt, so enough said. Fortunately, Hewitt's boyfriend is played by Freddy Prinze Jr, who appears to be preparing for the role in the Scooby Doo movie. It's hard not to think otherwise, because his blandly handsome leading man is Fred Jones to a tee, right down to a bungled attempt to catch the killer. The only cast member aware Hewitt's gone to a remote spot to be polished off by an Evil Villain, Freddie escapes from the hospital, buys a Sam Colt Special, forces a boat captain to take him to Death Island during a hurricane and arrives just in time to confront the villain... with a gun that goes click. There are many, many Scooby moments in the movie, including a Karaoke screen that reads "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer", a Hooded Killer who can vanish in the blink of an eye and a character who says "I ain't seen one goddamn psycho killer" without looking over his shoulder. There's even a dog owned by Combs's creepy hotel manager, who tells one guest: "Ive found pieces of guys like you in his stool. Top that, Scrappy Doo.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
