- Directed by Michael Cooney
- Written by Michael Cooney
- Stars Christopher Allport, Eileen Seeley, Chip Heller
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 33 Minutes
- Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgement Zone
There’s not a snowman’s chance at the beach that this could be any good, but it tries. It takes the humor in the first one and forces it a little too much. It’s decent, but doesn’t match the original.
Synopsis
We begin with Sheriff Sam, now in therapy, talking about Jack Frost. Nobody believes his story, including the therapist. The receptionist, secretary, chef, and telephone repairman listen in and laugh. Sam is a laughingstock now, talking about a mutant killer snowman. He refuses to divulge where they buried the antifreeze in the previous film.
As credits roll, a couple of grave robbers dig up the grave of the antifreeze. Scientists pour all the antifreeze into a tank and start experimenting on it. After the scientists go home, the cleaning guy comes in and accidentally knocks cold coffee into the tank. That was the secret ingredient needed to reanimate liquid Jack. “Things to do, revenge to take,” he says as he goes down the drain.
Meanwhile, Sam and Anne are going on vacation, as per the psychiatrist’s orders. Joe and Marla are going along with them to a tropical resort. It’s been a year, and Sam needs to get out of town.
The Colonel explains all the guest’s purposes and motivations as they get off the truck, just like it was an episode of Fantasy Island(https://www.horrorguys.com/fantasy-island-2020-review/).
A couple of guys are lost at sea, and all they have to eat is a single carrot. Jack Frost kills them both to get the carrot.
The two couples are at the resort, but Sam is still having flashbacks. Captain Fun thinks he can help by cheering him up. They all wear antlers and sing Jingle Bells. Sam does perk up and says he’s over all that; after all, how could a mutant killer snowman possibly be on this tropical beach?
Rose, Ashlea, and Paisley are deciding how to divide up Ben and Dean, two guys from the bar. Ashlea gets a big snow anvil dropped on her head. Paisley and Rose soon follow, one with icicles, the other with tongs to the eyes.
The Colonel finds the bodies of the three girls and calls for his head of security, Agent Manners. Sam recognizes Manners, but Manners has a new face (and actor). Explained by having 15 surgeries to repair his injuries from the last movie. Naturally, they want to cover it up and pretend it didn’t happen to save the resort.
Jack “assists” a photographer and his swimsuit model and then kills them.
Manners explains that Captain Fun is on their side in law enforcement. The captain suggests having a dress-up costume party. Sam thinks he spots Jack at the party; Manners and Captain Fun follow along. Sam beats up the Colonel, who was wearing a snowman costume. Oops.
That night, a girl sneaks out to skinny-dip in the pool. Jack freezes the water over her, and she drowns. Afterward, he freezes some beer and enjoys “a cold one.” He unleashes his full power to winterize the surroundings
The next morning, Sam sees snow outside, on the tropical island. Captain Fun organizes a snowball fight. Somehow, most of the patrons packed long-johns and winter outfits. Jack crashes this party, and mayhem ensues.
Sam walks up to a real snowman and threatens it. Then the real Jack shows up. Manners brings super-soakers filled with antifreeze, and he and Sam go off to do battle. The others figure out that Sam and Jack linked their DNA in the final battle of the previous film, which is how he tracked them down to the island.
Bobby explains to Sam that they have drums of coolant for the generator; that might work like antifreeze. They dig a trap, fill it, and wait. Jack falls in and partially melts, but of course, that can’t kill him. He pukes up a snowball and escapes.
Joe picks up the snowball, but it won’t melt. It hatches into a tiny little snowman that immediately kills Captain Fun. It then chases them all around the room. Anne catches it in a blender and swooooosh! Then it reforms. They try other things, but it just can’t be killed.
Out in the storage shed, Manners is torn apart by dozens of the little snowballs. They act like Gremlins. The rest of the film is basically the cast chasing little fluff balls around the resort while wearing tin foil and pie plates on their legs and colanders on their heads – the best improvised armor they could come up with.
Sam loses his mind entirely, and it’s up to Anne to save the day. Sam’s allergic to bananas, and since the two are linked, Jack and his babies are as well. Now they load the super-soakers with banana juice, and the cute little fluff balls explode in a montage of bloody carnage.
Watching all his children die, Jack decides “It’s killing time.” He’s right: let’s get this travesty over with! Bobby and the Colonel get stabbed, and then Anne ends up in an ice Iron maiden. Sam shoots Jack with an arrow with a banana tied to it. Jack explodes, and Sam finds Anne in the resulting mess.
Commentary
Lots more puns, lots more snow. More gore, more deaths, less fun. It’s a lot more of the same jokes and situations. Most of the (surviving) cast members returned, which does add an interesting element as Sam battles justified-PTSD.
Jack’s gotten a lot more powerful in this one, going from a simple serial killer into a being capable of controlling the weather. And he’s able to reproduce, which is an interesting trick.
Overall though, there’s not enough new here to make it worthwhile. It’s just trying too hard to be funny, and it’s just too much.