Blu-ray Review: House II - The Second Story

Release Details Country: United States Original Title: House 2 – The Second Story Director: Ethan Wiley Screenplay: Ethan Wiley Cast: Arye Gross, Jonathan Stark, Royal Dano Distributor: ESC Films Runtime: 1h28 Genre: Horror, Comedy Theatrical Release Date: November 18, 1987 DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: July 8, 2026

The story follows a new owner of a sinister house who discovers it is inhabited by reanimated corpses and demons in search of a magical Aztec skull.

The Film

Rating: 4/5

Some films shift direction with the stealth of a cat sneaking across a living room, but House II: The Second Story bursts in with a resurrected ancestor in one arm and a baby pterodactyl in the other. Departing from the psychological wounds and haunted shadows that gave the original House its melancholic depth, Ethan Wiley opts for a much brighter path this time, where horror willingly gives way to adventure and unabashed fantasy. This shift may surprise those expecting the same balance of thrills and dark humor, yet House II boasts enough personality to stand apart from its predecessor, embracing a more playful tone that suggests treasure maps are far more entertaining than therapy sessions.

Ultimately, House II: The Second Story belongs to that brief, blessed period of the late 80s when Hollywood believed that a fantasy film could do absolutely anything. A haunted house, a mystical crystal skull, a cowboy from another era, forgotten temples, miniature dinosaurs, and parallel dimensions—why choose when everything can be crammed into the same narrative? Remarkably, this accumulation never feels like an overwhelming hodgepodge. Wiley crafts his story like a stroll through a carnival, where each door opens to a new visual delight. Echoes of The Goonies can occasionally be felt in the corridors of House II, while certain moments hint at the cartoonish madness of Big Trouble in Little China or the eccentricities of Beetlejuice, all with a joyous conviction that fantasy is most enchanting when it becomes a vast playground.

What continues to amaze today is how House II: The Second Story transforms its special effects into genuine supporting characters. The creatures designed by Chris Walas and his team never aim to mimic reality; they proudly showcase their materials, latex, mechanisms, and imperfections. With animatronics, makeup, stop-motion, matte paintings, and optical effects, the film presents a handcrafted score where each frame exudes the joy of creating the impossible with glue-covered hands and imagination. In an era where many contemporary productions spend fortunes on digital images that quickly fade from memory, House II reminds us that a cute slug-dog can possess more soul than an entire army of perfectly aligned pixels. There’s a timeless charm in the artifice, as if the tricks themselves have discovered the secret to eternal youth.

The film's standout feature, however, is its humor, which is ever-present without veering into forced grimaces. While many contemporary fantasy productions highlight every joke with fluorescent markers, Ethan Wiley allows the absurdity of situations and the unwavering seriousness with which characters confront the inconceivable to generate laughter. Watching a Wild West adventurer share the screen with a baby pterodactyl, an electrician/adventurer, or a resurrected great-grandfather embodies a delightful madness that the film embraces with disarming sincerity. This constant lightness may seem trivial, but it ultimately conveys something quite touching: imagination doesn’t always need to summon trauma to exist. It can also become a refuge, a cabin built with three planks, a flashlight, and an imagination that refuses to sit still for more than thirty seconds.

This philosophy also permeates the direction of House II: The Second Story. The camera movements remain simple, clear, and almost modest, as if Wiley understands that the true stars are the sets, creatures, and visual discoveries scattered throughout the house. The film never seeks to impress with flashy effects; instead, it cultivates a form of artisanal wonder where each new set resembles a pop-up book that opens with a smile. This approach lends the feature an astonishing timelessness. Technologies evolve, trends come and go, but there’s always something irresistibly alive in a solidly constructed set, a latex makeup, or a stop-motion puppet. House II ultimately resembles an old trunk found in an attic: it creaks a bit, smells of dusty memories, but each item it holds tells a story that today’s formulaic productions often struggle to convey.

Finally, it’s impossible to close the door on House II: The Second Story without acknowledging its cast, who perfectly grasp the unique tone of the project. Arye Gross portrays a likable hero whose charm shines, while Jonathan Stark provides a delightfully opportunistic foil, creating an endearing yet improbable duo. Opposite them, Royal Dano frequently steals scenes as the grandfather returned from the dead, an irresistible blend of cowboy attitude and deadpan humor. The rest of the cast, including Lar Park Lincoln and Bill Maher in a deliciously hammy villain role, contribute with contagious enthusiasm to this grand fantastical playground. While it may not reach the singularity of Steve Miner’s original film, House II: The Second Story succeeds in a feat that many sequels fail: it never attempts to recreate the same act. Instead, it opens another door in the house, revealing a universe that is funnier, more family-friendly, and more whimsical—and frankly, it would have been a shame not to take a peek.

The Blu-ray

Rating: 4/5

At ESC Films, certain releases immediately convey that the distributor understands its audience. This is certainly the case with this superb collector's box set that includes House and House II: The Second Story, two films that are currently only available on Blu-ray in France as part of this edition. The presentation is hard to resist: a sturdy numbered slipcase containing both Blu-rays, an exclusive 52-page booklet, and two collector posters. This is the kind of item that fans of 80s fantasy cinema find as enjoyable to browse as to display in their video library. The care taken in the packaging is matched by a convincing technical performance. Once the Blu-ray of House II: The Second Story is launched, the enjoyment quickly reaffirms itself. The image showcases a very convincing level of definition, respecting the original photography without artificially smoothing the grain. The colors regain a vibrant quality, particularly in the numerous fantastical sequences where Chris Walas’s makeup, animatronic creatures, and optical effects benefit fully from this restoration. Some shots retain slight limitations inherent to the optical special effects of the time, but these belong more to the original material than to the transfer itself, adding to the deeply artisanal charm of House II: The Second Story, where every composite and matte painting recalls the craftsmanship of a generation of special effects artisans.

In terms of sound, as with the first installment, ESC Films offers a French version in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 alongside an English version available in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. The French version is particularly enjoyable, especially if you discovered the film as a child, with perfectly intelligible dialogue, a nice dynamic range, and a warm rendition of Harry Manfredini’s music, which playfully accompanies the many tonal shifts in the narrative. The English version mixed in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 naturally expands the sound space, providing a broader scene and some additional ambient effects during the numerous fantastical incursions. However, the difference remains modest, and the English version in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, closer to the original mix, retains its appeal. In all three cases, sound effects, creature roars, and musical compositions benefit from clean and balanced reproduction, without unnecessary harshness. The overall technical presentation is solid, perfectly suited to the film's spirit, allowing viewers to rediscover the rich soundscape of a work where humor and wonder also stem from particularly inventive sound design and musical accompaniment.

The supplements are undoubtedly one of the main selling points of this beautiful ESC Films edition of House and House II: The Second Story. The centerpiece of the second disc is undoubtedly the retrospective making-of (58 minutes), a particularly rich documentary featuring Ethan Wiley, Sean S. Cunningham, Arye Gross, Jonathan Stark, Lar Park Lincoln, Devin DeVasquez, composer Harry Manfredini, makeup and creature effects supervisors Chris Walas and Mike Smithson, visual effects supervisor Hoyt Yeatman, and stunt coordinator Kane Hodder (who also makes a small appearance in the film). The interest of this retrospective lies in both its length and its balance: each participant shares insights into the behind-the-scenes of the shoot while reflecting on the creative freedom that still surrounded such productions at the end of the 80s. The anecdotes flow naturally, whether discussing creature design, budget constraints, mechanical special effects, or the deliberate choice to take a radically different direction from the first film. The documentary also emphasizes how House II: The Second Story was constructed almost as an autonomous film, paving the way for a fantastical adventure that is both whimsical and heartfelt.