This highly disappointing follow-up to 1989's WAXWORK is more of a slapdash rehash than a sequel. The dumb and inexcusable plot sees Galligan and Schnarre going back through time for more of the same, this time to find a piece of evidence to convince a local court that Schnarre wasn't responsible for the murder of her father. Contrived isn't the right work; downright silly would be a better bet. From the first moment that this film opens, you realise the strictly low budget of the production through the poor picture quality and cheap-looking sets. It's certainly not a patch on the lively and entertaining original movie.The first episode is a re-run of the Frankenstein story, with the creature here an unscary straggly-haired beast covered in a prosthetic face. How very '90s. Playing the mad "Baron Von Frankenstein" is none other than Martin Kemp, member of Spandau Ballet and more familiar today as a regular on the TV soap EASTENDERS. Kemp is definitely slumming it in this film, as he did for most of the early '90s, and it's highly amusing to watch him embarrass himself here. He just isn't cut out for the part, and fails to be the least bit frenzied or frightening. The only highlight of this otherwise nondescript episode comes at the schlocky end, when Kemp's eyeballs pop out followed by his brain. The ultra-cheap special effects are reviewed through the "bird's-eye view" of the brain flying through the air, as the stand on which it sits is plainly visible.The second episode is probably the most fun, if only for the presence of comic genius and all-round good guy Bruce Campbell playing Richard Johnson's role in THE HAUNTING. The black and white photography is pleasingly different, if only copied from the first film, and there are some lame-brained yet fun slapstick moments involving Campbell being tortured in a basement. Sadly this is over far too quickly, although eagle-eyed fans may spot Marina Sirtis as the woman playing "Gloria" in the segment.The third story is a dreadful rip-off of ALIEN, with some really bad special effects in the shape of the lame, rubbery aliens. Whoever designed these should be shot outright. Disorientating camera-work means that it's damn near impossible to see here what's going on, so the sooner its over the better. The fourth instalment is by far the longest, and thus the most boring. This time Galligan and his girlfriend are sent back to Britain in the medieval period, where they become trapped in the castle of the cruel lord Scarabis. While the plot here is passable stuff, and there are fine supporting turns from Alexander Godunov (excellently nasty as the villain, as he was in DIE HARD) and John Ireland (as King Arthur, no less) nothing much really happens aside from a few more disappointing prosthetic attempts at monsters.It's at the end of this tale that the film suddenly picks up, and copies SHOCKER again by having two characters fighting as they jump from location to location. Thus, we get to see some fun parodies of GODZILLA, DAWN OF THE DEAD (again) and also, by far the best, one of the original NOSFERATU, which is very funny. Drew Barrymore plays a victim in the bed if you can spot her. Events conclude in a boringly unbelievable anti-climax in which it looks simply like they ran out of money.Linking scenes of Galligan and Schnarre flying through a "time tunnel" look like they've been ripped from EVIL DEAD II, and are quite stupid. The acting from the leads is also below par, with Schnarre just another forgettable 20-something actress who doesn't register at all, and Galligan simply going through the motions of his previous successes. The appearance of many stars in cameo roles (as well as the above people, David Carradine, Patrick Macnee, Joe Don Baker, and George "Buck" Flower also pop up briefly) does give this movie a watchability, as well as some of the brief moments in which the comedy actually works. Otherwise this is a cheap and unnecessary sequel in which even the special effects are pretty bad (ie. splattery and unrealistic-looking). My recommendation is to watch the first and give this one a miss!

I found this flick on a extreme cheap DVD, I guess it was a few cent at a retailer. The title was Spaceshift and I only picked it up due the name Bruce Campbell. The cover looked childish, still I didn't knew what I would get.Plugging it into the player it came clear that the real title was Waxwork II:Lost In Time. And that title says it all.You will be really lost into this weird picture. Looking at the time it was made, 1992, it surely didn't give me that feeling with some cheesy effects. It looked more like a eighties flick. But what a treat it became. The director, Anthony Hickox, surely knew his stuff and looking at his flicks he went further to do Hellraiser 3 next. There are a few big names here to see from the B-genre and they all did appear for a short time. The main lead was done by Zach Galligan (Gremlins) and Monika Schnarre (Beastmaster series). The did well because they really did some space shift. They are moving in history and are seen in the dark ages, in space, in Nosferatu, and I can go on and on. There are so many gory effects and monsters used that this is really one to see. Bob Keen (Hellraiser, Nightbreed, Event Horizon) did the effects and are worth watching. There are even some jokes added towards the gore. Be sure to catch the 'uncensored version', luckily mine was. A must see, even as it is sometimes cheesy (the crawling hand).Gore 2/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 4/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 1,5/5

Like most sequels, Waxwork II is lamer than the first, which is a pity because I liked its predecessor. Their director/writer Anthony Hickox pretty much took what was fun about the first - the entering into different horror realms - and ran amok with it. The leads travel through time (and I guess realities) - much like Sliders - while looking for something or other. Slowly at first, but eventually they wind up barreling through realities as though Hickox had too many references that he wanted to fit into the movie but didn't have enough time to. Some are fun - one S&M one is a tad disturbing - but they've since lost their original charm. Horror-comedy stalwart, Bruce Campbell, does the same overacting schtick from his Evil Dead movies but his all-too-short cameo was the highlight of the movie for me.

"Waxwork II: Lost in Time" is a woefully unimpressive sequel after a great original entry.**SPOILERS**After a murder trial, Mark Loftmore, (Zach Galligan) and Sarah Brightman, (Monika Schnarre) learn that they have inherited a mansion from an old friend. Discovering a time-traveling trinket, they are suddenly whisked away into other dimensions and travel to meet others throughout history. Jumping from universe to universe, and encountering various personas and barely escaping from them finally leads them into the hands of Scarabis, (Alexander Godunov) a ruthless king in a distant past who is using an assortment of black magic to take over the various time dimensions. Learning that they can fight back against his powers, as they have been selected to fight for the side of good over evil in an epic struggle, and once they have accomplished the feat, can go back into their time. Using this, they set out to stop the evil forces out to get them and return back to their time.The Good News: This one here didn't have a whole lot of great parts to it. The fact that it does have a large amount of influences from other films of the past make it rather fun at times. From respectful homages to the classics of the past, including one of a silent film that comes complete with cards indicating dialogue and old-time acting which comes off incredibly well, to one that's done in black-and-white, exactly like the one it's parodying, there's some really great fun to have from the homages in here. Even better is a little part inside a shopping mall overrun with zombies, which will be immediately visible to most out there, and the insertion of the new action into the story comes off like a charm. All of these here are really fun, and get some energy and life into the film. The gore in here also works, and although it's not as messy as the first one, there's enough in here to satisfy. From scenes of people getting their heads blown apart with gunshots, limbs hacked off with swords, there's a great decapitation and a head explosion as well as a fist rammed through the back and comes out the front, as well as much more in here. From the cheesy goodness some of the scenes display, there's some really nice stuff in here that make the film entertaining.The Bad News: This one here was a really underwhelming entry in the series. One of the biggest problems here is that so much of the film is taken up with scenes that just spread the film out, as it's easily ten minutes too long here. From the trial to the extended chase through haunted house segment in here, there's a lot of extra scenes in here which make the film an extra long time. The Mediaeval episode is the film's longest, least connected and most pointless sequence, as it's obvious that it wants to turn the film around into a sword-and-sorcery romp here. There's no horror at all, and from the different homages here, the low amount of scares in here make for some non-horrific viewing here. Mainly this is due to the fact that there's not a whole lot of horror homages in here, and instead it decides to go for more of a fantasy and science-fiction related scenes that don't offer up a lot of scare-potential. That alone is one of the film's bigger flaws, which makes for some even worse times when it's a sequel to the earlier entry which was packed with that amount of stuff. The last flaw is the really confusing and irrational way the plot intercepts each other. Rather than having a clear-cut manner for how the first one went about business, this one decides to do the other manner in an even worse manner by just having them jump around from time period to time period, with no explanation given that it got that way to begin with. It's pretty hard to figure out, and combined with the big flaws in here, comprise this one's biggest problems.The Final Verdict: Without a whole lot of good points and some really big flaws present, this one here is a really woeful sequel after the fun of the first one. If you can get past the flaws, this one can be fun if in the right mood, otherwise then just stick to the original if you think the flaws here would be too much.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language and Brief Nudity