Chromeskull: Laid to Rest 2 (2011) Reviews

• ChromeSkull is back and once again it's just all about the death scenes

  KineticSeoul2011-10-30

  The first "Laid to Rest" wasn't a great slasher but it was a alright slasher that is passable because of the creative kills with a single weapon. This time the kills are a bit more gruesome for this sequel but it also seemed like they just put in bunch of random character for ChromeSkull to kill. And that basically sums up most of this movie for the most part. If you have a weak stomach though it's just better to stay away from this if you do cause there is almost nothing in the story department. The acting is even more atrocious this time and almost laughable at times than actually makes the premise intimidating. There is more weapons that is used to gruesomely kill people but the only audience I can see really enjoying this movie. Is the audiences that like to watch people die in some of the most gruesome way possible with sharp objects. Although I seen similar movies like this before but even I had to cringe a few times while watching this. Also the mystery behind ChromeSkull is what sort of made the videotaping killer sort of interesting and this movie reveals a bit of ChromeSkull and who he is. I am not sure if this is a good thing but the premise is even more ridiculous this time around. And not only because ChromeSkull manage to survive the first incident, it just makes the killer more supernatural than human. Okay so it is now revealed that ChromeSkull is like some leader in some creepy secret organization. Although it isn't clearly explained what that organization is about. Like I said there is little to no script for this movie and to sum it up, it's a sadistic gruesome killing movie. But there is audiences for this type of movie so if your one of them this movie might be worth a watch with a group of friends that share the same interest. I personally just found this sequel to be gruesome but bland. The movie sort of picks up near the end and than fall short again because it just becomes too ridiculous and stupid. 3.8/10

• Great gory sequel

  TdSmth52014-05-25

  Emergency personnel arrive to the scene after Laid To Rest ends. One girl escapes with a guy. There's some abusive guy in charge. He finds a phone which he'll use to track down the girl. But this isn't your regular emergency personnel. This is Chromeskull's crew. They operate on him to save his life and restore his face after he wore a skill full of acid. The guy, Preston, does track down the girl and slashes her up in Chromeskull fashion. In fact, he's sort of in charge of the organization while Chromeskull is recovering. When the cops find the girl's remains they recognize the familiar pattern. Elsewhere, a girl is about to undergo surgery for her eyes, she's progressively losing her sight and one night parties with a friend, when Preston-as-Chromeskull arrives, kills the friend and grabs the girl and stashes her in a casket for the real Chromeskull to kill, who's doing better. The cops investigate the girl's disappearance and find a video with Preston walking by. They bring the guy who drove the surviving girl to the station to identify the image. But Preston is also after this guy to tie up Chromeskull's loose ends. Later he kidnaps him and puts him in the same warehouse with the girl. The lame cops eventually make it to the place, just as Chromeskull is up and ready and not happy with Preston impersonating him. Laid to Rest 2 is a great sequel. It's enjoyable when a crew learns and when a sequel for once improves on the original. Acting is better, direction is better, the special effects are truly spectacular and realistic. And they are all physical effects, no cheap CGI stuff, which is great because this movie is very gory. Some death scenes are striking but then there are others that are weak. The story is more elaborate and intriguing when it comes to Chromskull's mysterious organization. Unfortunately, locations are weak and they still struggled with telling the story. At some point this movie confines itself to some small dark warehouse and some tiny office as police station. And that's also when this movie runs out of steam. Preston is always whining and begging for forgiveness for something, we do not know what. The cops are an incompetent bunch. This movie, like the first, also has portions shot in POV for no good reason really. It doesn't add anything or improves things in any way. Overall a strong sequel. And at this pace, a third movie should be near A-movie quality. I just hope they get around to making more in the series as the idea and villain have a lot of potential.

• Inventive kills, but the movies a mess. (very minor spoilers)

  jurassicmarc2011-09-07

  I will start by saying I loved Laid To Rest it was a great late night B-movie slasher with a great pace and even better inventive deaths akin to that of Hatchet. However as with Hatchet 2 it would seem the promise seen in the first movie has fallen by the wayside. The opening scenes with what appears to be government agents or some clandestine organisation coming to the rescue was a good idea but the execution was terribly amateurish the shaky cam just didn't work and what the hell was it with the acting of the minion in the glasses it was as if he was reading his line of a dummy card. Being a low budget slasher movie I gave it the benefit of the doubt but it didn't get any better. There appeared to be no plot no motivation for this organisation, I get that Chromeskull is one sick puppy but what the hell were these people doing helping him It was never explained. The police made one ridiculous move after another and one of the lead characters literally just disappears what the hell happened to him? The ending was abrupt and seemed as though it had been decided on the day it was shot. I will praise the SFX they were top notch and its nice to see practical effect instead of CGI but that alone doesn't make a satisfying movie. I'm sad to say I was very disappointed, would I watch a Part 3 possibly but they need to work on a story next time around.

• Laid to rest, yes, but gets the shock treatment for the sequel

  StevePulaski2011-09-17

  Robert Hall's 2009 horror debut Laid to Rest wasn't perfect by any means, but offered a great gore-scheme and pacing and suspense that came to its favor. Its characters weren't very well crafted, and logic had to hide out so the film could do its thing, but overall it was a cute and enjoyable little gore flick. Did it ever need a sequel? Well, to Hall, since it was a moderate success on the message boards and online yes it did. Laid to Rest 2, accompanied by the "Chromeskull" subtitle, is a bleak and ugly film not because it's gruesome and violent, but because its plot becomes blown out of proportion and it becomes a cocky horror film. Somebody should've whispered in the filmmakers' ears that this wasn't a big success, but a fairly unexpected one. The story has now become enlarged and has now gone to expand its boundaries to the point where it's unbelievable and contrived. The film picks up right where the first left off, then manages to fast-forward three months later where we are introduced to Jess (Michaels), a girl going blind because of scar tissue in her eyes. Jess is drugged, kidnapped, and locked in a coffin by the killer who has a video camera on his shoulder and a shiny, chrome-silver mask in the shape of a skeleton on his face. He uses deadly, homemade knives that are something straight out of a sadist's mind, but are crafted with such detail they become one of the strongest points in the film. I'm not going to even try to explain the backstory of the killer because I feel ashamed for even asking for it. I wished for minor backstory after seeing Laid to Rest. I thought, I'd like just a small, brief explanation of why this person was killing and videotaping it. I didn't need a huge, bloated, and exhausting storyline that is convoluted and outright ridiculous. The film wants to bring the top-secret, government business into play but it doesn't have the budget nor the skills to do so. This is a slasher film. It's a hack and slash, gorehound, bloody, disgusting, gruesome horror film that deserves zero conspiracy talk at all. The fact that they bring the overblown backstory into play is just a clear sign of cockiness, but who can really blame them? If you spat out a random, unknown horror film into stores with a promising cover and you made big bucks off of it, you'd take the obligatory sequel one step further wouldn't you? Well, Chromeskull: Laid to Rest 2 doesn't take just one step, it takes about two leaps and, when you think it has officially stopped in one place, it manages to tip-toe a bit further and further. Have mercy. Bobbi Sue Luther, director Robert Hall's wife respectively, played the heroine from the original film and makes a quick appearance in this one as well. Sadly, she's killed off very quickly just to bring in an annoying and obnoxious blonde girl instantly. She's no Bobbi Sue, and she's not even interesting enough to be concerned for unlike her. Chromeskull: Laid to Rest 2 was somewhat promising, but ultimately falls flat on its face. There is a third film planned which I assume and sort of hope will close the series. I hope after this ludicrous sequel we at least get a final and respectable entry in a series that never got off its feet completely. Aside from gore, the series never truly accomplished much else. It succeeds in being a standout for a few reasons, but overall, when closely examined, or even mildly, it's just another horror film inspired by too many others. Starring: Brian Austin Green, Danielle Harris, Mimi Michaels, Nick Principe, and Thomas Dekker. Directed by: Robert Hall.

• Quite awful

  recyphered6662011-08-31

  I was looking forward to this one, the first movie was kind of trash with some style and top notch gore and after reading a few positive reviews my expectations weren't too low. The story is simple, "Chromeskull" is fixed up by some helpers, does some killing and picks a girl that he seems to enjoy having locked up in a coffin. From the it's the usual procedure, the cops kind of get an idea of where he could be, the captive girl and the surviving guy from the first movie end up together facing the killer and his helpers. Due to several plot holes and idiotic behaviour by the cops, the killer(s) and the victims one killing leads to another. The gore is great, old school slicing and dicing with some really neat corpses. but to be honest, the already mentioned plot holes and erratic behaviour (cell phone anyone?) by everyone involved ruins the atmosphere completely. And I know it's a low budget movie, but come on, at some point a set of approx. 20 sq ft in some bad lighting becomes extremely boring. Either way, it's a good show reel for the fx crew. I was looking forward to this, now I wish I had known it's a typical "fast forward to the next death scene" trash movie.