It’s been 6 years since Monica’s crazy sister hacked up all her friends—then got away. Now Monica is living with her mother and doing everything she must to protect herself from her sister’s return…including completely changing her face (to that of a different actress)!
The new look has scored Monica a man. They’re getting married, so with all their friends, they head off to an old Southern plantation for a combo bachelor/bachelorette party. You know this isn’t going to be good.
With Holla, creator H.M. Coakley made a tight black slasher flick with some very unique and effective horror moments, clever humor, and a true indie feel. Read my blog about it here. With Holla II, he takes a much more mainstream approach. Like most slasher sequels, the goal seems to be more kills and more boobs.
There’s an opening kill that features plenty of man bod, lady boobs, and blood. There’s plenty of killer POV, some good kill sequences, and a couple of creepy caretakers, including one who does the old Norman Bates trick, watching women through a hole in the wall. He also happens to watch the original Night of the Living Dead on TV, and naturally, it’s a scene featuring the African-American leading man!
There’s also the traditional crazy old man warning the kids that they’re all going to die. But forget Monica’s crazy sister. He’s referring to the wrath of a whole bunch of slaves who were murdered on the plantation….
This time, the killer dons a big doll costume—one of those freaky racist black face dolls from back in the day. Eek! And when we finally get the big reveal of who’s behind the mask, the person playing the role just rocks the insanity. Great crazy/campy performance.
Again, since this is more of a standard slasher sequel setup, it’s pretty much just a series of kills as couples go off to have sex. While not much of it shows off H.M. Coakley’s creative edge, which brought some fresh and creepy situations to the original movie, there is a very notable aspect to Holla II….
There’s a gay character! And he isn’t simply a gay caricature or sexless or hyper-butch. He’s a cutie who gets his gay on when the situation calls for it. For instance, he’s the first one to whip off his shirt and shake his groove thing when the girls ask the guys to strip for them. He also has a sexual encounter. While brief, it is quite sensual, with shirt removal and some jockstrap action. Kudos to H.M. Coakley for including a gay guy as just one of the gang.
Holla II most definitely concludes with the possibility of another sequel. While a trilogy is always welcome, I just hope Coakley doesn’t get into a rinse-and-repeat situation, because his horror smarts really shined in the first film. It would be a treat if he moved on to another horror genre, perhaps urban zombies, urban demons, or even urban werewolves? Now that would be hot.
