Unnamable II (1993)

The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter
H.P. Lovecraft's The Unnamable Returns
The Unnamable Returns

Cast:

John "Gimli from Lord of the Rings" Rhys-Davies is Professor Warren
Mark Kinsey Stephenson is Randolph Carter
Maria "If you like me naked, this is a good movie" Ford is Alyda Winthrop
David "Been in far too much Star Trek" Warner is Chancellor Thayer
Peter "Don't hold Crawling Hand against me" Breck is Sheriff Hatch

What the box says:

From H.P. Lovecraft, the master of horror who inspired the movies Re-Animator, From Beyond and the original The Unnamable comes The Unnamable II. Randolph Carter is investigating a series of bizarre murders at Miskatonic University. The evidence leads back to a 17th century warlock whose experiments with quatum physics summoned a force from another dimension. Deep in the Earth lies Alyda - half woman, half demon. She wants to return to the mortal plane. Able to warp space and time, she claims a new victim at every turn. With the help of an eccentric professor, Carter uses modern science and ancient ritual to fight this supernatural creature - The Unnamable.

Plot:

The credits roll as we see an ancient book written in ancient Arabic. Firemen and police are retrieving bodies from a run down house. Paramedics are hauling away Howard. Randolph passes a book for him to keep. He tries finding out what Howard saw in the house.

The police searches the house and don’t find a single thing.

A doctor on the scene talks with the Sheriff, thinking this is like the Dunwich affair.

Randolph is taken to the police station.

Later Randolph checks in on Howard at the hospital. Randolph takes the book. The creature is apparently a significant find. He plans to go back to the tunnels.

Randolph is taking notes from the Necronomicon. Barger and hippie check in on him. Barger realizes some of the notes Randolph has taken are some kind of quantum equations. He tries to get Barger to explain quantum mechanics.

Howard is having a nightmare about a demon chasing him. He awakens to find a colonial ghost warning him of what has been unleashed. The ghost can only hold part of the demon possessing his daughter. The demon must be killed before it destroys the world.

Howard calls Randolph.

The chancellor is informed of the dead students.

Randolph pays a visit to the chancellor. He tells how a 300 year old creature killed 4 students. The chancellor things he is a six-pack short of case. Randolph is told basically not to rock the boat. No one would believe such a crazy story. The chancellor apparently knew about the creature. Randolph leaves and refuses to stop.

Randolph finds Professor Warren who is expert on the Winthrop house. Randolph shows him the Necronomicon missing several pages. They piece the story together. Joshua Winthrop, colonial ghost, created the creature. Randolph asks for Professor Warren to go with him to prove the creature is real. Warren is then told of the students that have been killed the night before.

Professor Warren wants the Necronomicon protected so only the truly qualified can study it.

Howard has another nightmare. Randolph asks him to join the expedition to the Winthrop house.

Randolph, Howard, and Professor Warren arrive at the Winthrop house.

A deputy has been kept to keep an eye on the house.

Randolph and Howard open the tunnel entrance. Randolph and Professor Warren go into the tunnel. Howard is left at the entrance.

Randolph and Professor Warren plumb depths that no man should. They hear the creature scream. Randolph convinces Warren to keep going. They find the remains of recent victim. Warren thinks the creature needs fresh flesh.

Above ground, Howard is jumping at every noise.

Back in the tunnels, our intrepid heroes find a chamber with an altar in the language of Cthulu. They keep looking around and find the creature. Shrilling creature ensues.

I am not an Ur-Kai Warren gets a blood sample of the trapped creature.

Howard is told the creature is trapped. The only moment of common sense happens now. Howard calls for the creature to be killed. Randolph thinks the creature is Winthrop’s daughter.

Warren finds human blood cells interacting with demon cells. Quantum mechanic equations are on the altar. The human and demon are occupying the same space. They try to think of a way to force the creature out. Warren will inject the creature with insulin. The creature will sense the human host is dying and leave.

Warren injects the creature with insulin. They realize the demon will leave the body. The creature is beginning to change. The smoke clears and reveals a long haired naked girl. Warren is sure the creature is back in its home dimension. The girl is awakened. Warren finally realizes the creature may still be around.

Howard hasn’t heard anything and is getting worried.

Randolph thinks that Alyda is trapped by some kind of tree spell. It takes several attempts before Warren is able to release Alyda. The demon is in the background.

Alyda asks about her father in fragmented English. Warren realizes they didn’t get a picture of the creature. The next best thing would be to establish Alyda’s biological age. She wouldn’t have the toxin levels that normal people would. Warren is sure the demon is long gone. He’ll pack up all the equipment while Randolph takes Alyda to the surface.

Warren is packing the equipment and then hears a demon growling. He sets a camera up to get a picture of it and readies another dose of insulin.

Howard meets the very naked Alyda. Randolph talks with Warren over the intercom they set up. He wants to get a picture of the creature. Alyda is the key to the demon’s survival. Warren starts rattling off a list of professors that will help them when the creature kills him.

Howard tries convincing Randolph to get more help. Howard and Alyda have to drag Randolph from rushing back into the tunnels.

The cop hears the cries of the demon. He finds the entrance to the tunnel where the demon kills him.

Howard, Randolph, and Alyda get to the car that won’t start. The demon is on hood and is thrown off when the car starts.

They get back to the college. Alyda realizes her father is dead. The plan now is to prove her age. Funny, a movie that needs for a woman to reveal her age…

Howard, Randolph, and Alyda sneak into the dorm. Barger spots Alyda running around as naked as only Maria Ford could. Randolph is sure the demon will be after them soon.

Apparently, Alyda is fond of Randolph. Nerds just need to exorcise 300 year old demons to get hot woman that yearn for them.

Randolph needs to have Alyda examined to see if any demon molecules remain in her. The missing pages of Necronomicon must be retrieved. Afterwards, the police can get involved. Alyda is rolling around on a bed naked.

A deputy finds the one the demon killed earlier.

Barger, Jack, and Mary bring clothes for Alyda. They want to know what is going on. Randolph tries Alyda has been naked for the past 300 years.

We get a comedic scene where Mary tries to get some clothes on Alyda. A naked girl hissing like a cat ensues. Mary is able to get Alyda in the gown she was wearing. That ends the not-so gratuitous naked Maria Ford. No, Sapphic responses to this occur.

Barry and Jack are to round up several professors in the middle of the night. Randolph, Howard, Alyda, and Barger head off. Jack and Mary stay behind.

The Creature is on the prowl.

The group gets on the elevator. Alyda is disturbed by the elevator. She won’t leave Randolph’s presence.

Jack explains to Mary what is going on. She decides to join the intrepid group. The demon arrives and kills Jack. Mary doesn’t last much longer.

The cops arrive on the scene to see a college student thrown out of a window. They rush inside. The thing that killed the deputy earlier is what killed the students. Older cop chases after the creature. His younger partner finds his dead body in a few minutes.

Randolph is trying to explain quantum mechanics to Alyda. They are waiting for the professors to arrive at the student medical center. She senses that the creature is approaching. Randolph learns that Alyda loves him and wants to stay with him. Suckin’ face is interrupted by the arrival of Professor Mendes. However, he is quickly dispatched by the creature. Randolph tries protecting Alyda from the creature.

Alyda and Randolph are on the run.

Barger, Howard, and another professor are about to go in the medical center when stopped by the police. Inside, the professor explains how strong the killer is. Sheriff asks Howard where Randolph is. Suddenly, Howard remembers about the pages in the library.

Randolph and Alyda reach the library. The creature is slowly stalking them. Intense Necronomicon searching ensues. They hear a ruckus. He pours some liquor on the floor to confuse the creature’s sense of smell. Through the dusty tomes, a deliberate game of cat and mouse begins. The creature finds them when Alyda demonstrates her martial arts skills.

Fear my Shaolin Tiger Style...

Randolph hits the creature in the head with a bottle of whiskey. The creature cries out in pain.

The cops get to the library.

Randolph and Alyda are still searching and trying to evade the creature.

The cops and Howard stalk through the book-filled shelves. Randolph is able to warn them to leave.

Randolph and Alyda escape into the vents to avoid the creature.

The cops keep up the search. They are able to open fire on the creature to no avail.

Randolph and Alyda use the vents to head towards the manuscript room. The creature grabs Randolph’s leg. He is able to escape though.

Howard and the Sheriff are still trying to find Randolph.

Randolph and a certain 300 year old chick get into the manuscript room. He will stop the creature unlike her father. Finding the pages, he explains them to Alyda.

Sheriff and Howard are still searching when the creature slashes the Sheriff open. The angry female deputy storms off to kill the creature.

Randolph is trying to read the pages. The creature is heading towards where Alyda is. Apparently, Alyda knows the language of Cthulu. Randolph is ecstatic about that. He has her correct his pronunciation.

The angry deputy opens fire on the Creature.

You will believe Julie Strain can fly. It quickly kills her.

Howard stays with the Sheriff when he dies. He then checks on the other deputy. Both of them find the recently dead angry deputy. They head to the manuscript room.

Randolph has decided to examine Alyda’s tonsils with his tongue. She senses the creature get closer.

Howard and the deputy can’t knock the door open.

The creature manages to break into the room some other way.

Randolph starts reading the incantation from the Necronomicon. The creature isn’t affected anymore. Alyda protects Randolph from the demon. Alyda and the demon have a weird Sapphic vibe

The deputy can’t even shoot the door open.

Alyda and the creature still share a connection.

Form of Electro-sucubus.

Howard and the deputy still can’t get the door open.

Randolph sees that Alyda and the creature are about to merge. He manages to knock her away. The creature is draining the life force from Alyda. Randolph manages to break the connection. The creature is surrounded by smoke.

Howard and the deputy finally get into the room.

Alyda is weakening. Randolph professes his love for her. She begins to age rapidly, making up for 300 years in a matter of a couple of minutes.

Alyda and the demon were bound together.

Later, Randolph is reading the missing pages. Howard pays him a visit. Randolph is thinking about Alyda. One day, he will prove the things happening around Arkham.

What I say:

When people discuss how movies don't do the novels, stories, etc justice, Stephen King is brought up. Most of his novels are almost unfilmable. Granted, we get a few that surprise us Cronenberg's version of the Dead Zone. But, there is another writer whose work truly is unfilmable: H.P. Lovecraft. In fact, the best movies have little to do with Lovecraft's main themes. Do we really want a movie that has the protagonist die horribly or go insane from seeing a being so terrible to describe it will cause insanity? Why Re-Animator worked had more with the fact it didn't have the Elder God mythology and was very black comedy.

Literature is easier to describe say a giant tentacled demon invading our dimension than a movie that has to show it. Books use your imagination to color in the author's details. But, movies are showing you something. The Elder God mythology is just doesn't work in a visual medium. And you are not using the most powerful computer in the world provided you didn't stab it with too many Q-tips or truck keys while cleaning out your ears. It is understandable to want to just sit back, be entertained, and just vegetate for a time.

Lovecraft is most known for his Cthulu stories. His stories have been plagararized for so many years when you read them they sound derivative. Many far less talented writers would throw in the term Cthulu, Arkham, Miskatonic, and a few others and have a Cthulu Mythos story. A lot of Lovecraft's non-Great-Old-One stories have a a very similar vibe to the Tales from the Crypt comic books from the 1950s. I'm sure that Lovecraft inspired them to some degree. Rats in the Walls and Picture in the House are a couple of Lovecraft stories that have the mean spirited humor of the Cryptkeeper. In fact, more decades have passed. Lovecraft has become more widely acclaimed for inspiring everyone from Stephen King to Clive Barker to H.R. Giger.

It is hard to transfer one medium to another. When it is done badly, we get Albert Pyun's Captain America. The Italian Red Skull is what makes me afraid of how things will be changed for the next movie. A good example of a movie made from another medium is harder to come by. Superman or Spiderman would probably be some of the best examples of turning a comic book character into a movie. Comic book adaptations aren't anywhere near H. P. Lovecraft's work. However, the sheer difficulty of trying to change from one medium to another but keep the integral parts are what.

We have so many web posting armchair reviewers that don't take the source into consideration. Should the source be considered when you review the movie? When I watched Blade, I didn't tell my Mom who was with me about it being vaguely based on a comic book until afterwards. Some people will automatically look down on it if they realize it was a comic book, etc...I prefer not to color my judgement of the movie until after I've seen the movie. Movies are hard to make up for what you can imagine.

Recently, I read a review of X2 where they were complaining about how there are too many characters to keep track of, etc... Good thing, they don't read any of the X-books, else they'd really complain about massive casts of charaters. Granted the movie could never have been made just for fans of the comic books. It had to be for a mainstream audience more than the comic fans. Some of the more hardcore comic fans may have thought it was a travesty to sell out characters they love for a large box-office return of people who never cared before to see it until it was in a theater. A true fan would want to promote the comic book, novel, anime, etc whatever it is so a movie could bring more fans to the source. It would be safe to say that the moviegoers don't rush out in droves demanding X-Men comic books. But, you don't make a fan by having one guy by 10 copies and keep them under lock and key. You make fans by lending a book saying "you've got to read this..." Then a year later, you ask for it back. Who ever think anyone would try to compare Lovecraft and X-Men?

This movie is based on Lovecraft’s short story: The Statement of Randolph Carter. The movie The Unnamable 2 doesn’t have much to do with the story that shares the movie's subtitle. Harley Warren and Randolph Carter delve into things best forgotten in the realm of the occult. The story concerns Warren who goes into the tunnel leaving the frail Randolph Carter behind. He tells Carter to leave him and close up the tunnel. The creature is too horrible to describe. Most of the story is Warren trying to get Randolph to go before it is too late. Carter awakens in a hospital unsure of what has happened except knowing Warren was killed. Actually, Randolph Carter was in more than just the aforementioned Lovecraft story. In fact, The Statement of Randolph Carter was mentioned in the Silver Key. Carter might not be as famous as Herbert West but has been in several different stories.

There are several similarities to the story. Warren was killed in the tunnels. The wounded Howard replaced Randolph as the guy who stayed topside. OK, Randolph and Alyda got back up to hear Warren get killed. Most of the movie had nothing to do with the original Lovecraft story. The first part of the movie was dealing with the reprecussions of the last movie. The short story was peppered in between tying this to the original movie. However, the original movie was based on a different Lovecraft story. The movie ends with the a chase featuring the creature as a generic monster is on the loose and is after our intrepid group. They were trying to tie enough of his stories together to try to make Randolph Carter some kind of bookworm capable of battling the forces of darkness. Carter would have become a Herbert West determined to stop the dark forces rather than trying to be a far more successful Dr. Frankenstein.

There is something I don't quite understand about Unnamable II. Where is the first movie? I know they had to make an Unnamable. However, I never have seen a copy of it anywhere. Even the cruddiest horror movies don't vanish as completely as Unnamable did. Halloween 3 is shown on occasionally. How many copies of Albert Pyun's Mean Guns have I found? After the fourth or fifth copies, I eventually broke down and bought it. Some of you may claim that isn't a horror movie. Isn't every Pyun movie a horror?

I first watched Unnamable 2: the Unnamabling on Monstervision. Has Monstervision been off the air that long? Granted, it was editted. With a chick running around in a wig that conceals so much, it isn't hard to realize that the chick is as naked as Lady Godiva without a horse. Somehow, that sounds so much dirtier than when I first wrote it.

The Unnamable 2 follows in the path of Halloween 2 with starting only a few minutes after the first movie ended. Most of the time, sequels do everything in their power to get rid of the previous characters as fast as they can. Friday the 13^th and Nightmare on Elm Street are probably the most famous for doing this. In fact the action quickly shifts to the intrepid and nerdy, Randolph Carter.

The most famous actors are John Rhys-Davies and David Warner. The B-movie fans may be more known of Maria Ford but should recognize Julie Strain. Everyone you might recognize is in the supporting roles. The main stars of this movie pretty much didn’t find very little acting jobs after this movie. I am surprised the Unnamable 2 was able to get such a good supporting cast for a standard monster on the loose movie. I should mention that the Sheriff is played by Peter Breck of Crawling Hand. He doesn't have any real impact on the story. I wouldn't want any of the world's Peter Breck fans to expect too much from this movie.

This may be one of the few movies with Julie Strain where she isn’t naked. For that matter, we don’t see her in anything but the demon costume. Who else are you getting to play a 6’1” tall evil female demon? Julie is probably the definitive b-movie Scream Queen. Well, Linnea Quigley has a good claim for her cemetary dance in Return of the Living Dead. We get the scariest foam rubber nipples this side of Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive or Meet the Feebles on Julie Strain's costume. Neat the end, when Marie Ford is near demon Julie, I started to pick up the vibe they were going to go at like rapid chipmunks. I thought they would try to worm their way into the other's inner circle. Tastefully in soft lighting as a spell of Sapphic exploration ensued, of course. Hey, Julie Strain in a foam monster suit is still Julie Strain.

To make up for the lack of Julie Strain, Marie Ford runs around naked for 20 minutes. No one should complain except it should be longer...She may be wearing the long Lady Godiva wig. However, it reveals and conceals. Most of the mammalian protuberances as Frank Zappa might say may be blocked. Marie Ford doesn’t seem to mind the embarr-ASS-ing shots. I'm not sure why had Marie barely capable of speaking. She could barely speak a single sentence. I don't think the writers were trying to take into the differences of late 20^th Century English with 17^th. Marie Ford seems to have more of a body to leer at than incredible acting skills. The audience at least could look at her rolling around naked on the bed. And, that is a good thing. A very good thing...I could barely keep from laughing when getting a demonstration of Marie's Shaolin fighting style....

Mark Kinsey Stephenson is trying to channel a light Jeffrey Combs or a very non-maniacal Herbert West. He seems to know a lot about the Necronomicon and not concerned about learning the arcane secrets for Cthulu’s sake. Randolph Carter is determined to stop the killings unlike how the city and university want to cover things up. Though, it is hard to believe that his character Randolph would be all over a very naked woman who only has eyes for him?

John Rhys-Davies must have had some serious bills to pay in the late 80s and early 90s. He played the Kingpin in the Incredible Hulk and Daredevil movie, got a small role replaying Sallah in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and far too many cameos. Does the Double O Kid ring a bell? It would take him a few more years to get in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In a way, it is a shame that he had to go through so many b-movies before getting in such a popular series to be recognized.

I‘m not sure how they afforded David Warner for even one scene even if it was the chancellor who knows more than what he reveals. Warner does kick up the acting a notch which isn’t that hard. Warner is the closest we get to any establishment character. Is it a surprise he doesn’t want the truth revealed about Arkham? At least, we don't get the typical Jaws reasoning of it would hurt the local businesses... The reason is no one would believe that demons are preying and killing people.

The movie could have the final chase in the library better paced. It just seemed to drag on and on. The jumping between the multiple characters even made it more difficult to follow. It may have been I just wanted the movie to end by this point. This isn't a bad movie. Several things just didn't jell together. What was the point of introducing the Sheriff and the deputies who disappear after the first five movies to the last fifteen minutes? A better question is why did they all have to be killed so quickly. The creature killed everyone that got in her way. But, she slightly wounds Randolph when given the chance to shred him. H.P. Lovecraft's name may be plastered all over the box. Don't be fooled into thinking it has that distinctive Lovecraft "weird fiction" aura from the man's stories.

Quotable Dialogue
"For there a while there, they thought I might have rabies."
"I'm going to study the Necronomicon and I'm going back into these tunnels."
"I'm questioning the sanity of this."
"Scholarly vanity triumphants over common sense."
"My god, that's a naked woman."
"Carter with a naked woman in his room, that's monumental."
"You speak the language of Cthulu?"
Morals of the Story
It is easy to sneak an ancient book of sorcery with a patient whose chest is shredded.
Miskatonic University is the oldest college in the New World.
English literature professors read ancient Arabic.
Insulin can perform an exorcism.
College guys are oblivious to naked chicks.
Liquor confuses a demon's sense of smell.