The original 'Video Violence' was a campy and trashy, yet somehow likable little horror film. I guess the filmmakers must have had some film stock left over and a bunch of actors with a few days to spare so they decided to come up with this patched together 'sequel'. I suppose they have to be given some credit; the original didn't exactly leave the door open for a sequel, and they could easily have just done something similar to the first one and slapped a '2' on the end of the title. The film is similar to the first film, but it goes off in a completely different direction; and this is both refreshing and works well. The film once again focuses on the two maniacal antagonists from the first film; Howard and Eli. Their violence has won them a lot of fans and this had lead to them getting their own TV show ("The Howard & Eli Show") in which they torture and kill people live on the air. There isn't really a plot to speak of; the film is made up of different segments all revolving around snuff films and the TV show at the centre of the movie.
Staying true to the original, all the action featured in this film is very silly and trashy and the special effects haven't got any better either so the film still looks like it was made for a sum of money in double figures. While this doesn't exactly give it a lot of credibility, it does at least add to the charm. One of the few good things about the original film was its ham-fisted commentary on how film watchers love to see violence. This film once again takes that ball and runs with it but unfortunately this time it's all just too over the top and while the original wasn't very poignant, this one isn't at all. The original film also harked back to the old 'video rental' tradition with the focus being on a video store. This one doesn't have that going for it and the TV show idea isn't as good because (as far as I know) there isn't a show that is anything like this one. Still, the film is at least fun to watch and at just seventy five minutes, it doesn't drag like the original did. Fans of the original will probably enjoy this one too.
