Now, the bad news. There was a huge mistake made in the conception of Hell Squad 2: Fresh Meat, which was the choice to assume viewers had seen the first film. I know it is easy to catch up on, as the original is only 26 minutes long. However, it has recently been confirmed to me that the most crucial element of a slasher is the campfire story that explains the background of the murders. It is the engagement and development of the killer backstory that pumps the blood in slasher movies. Even though there is an amusement attraction planned as well as endless fans, The Legend of Helga Hellman is left out of the narrative. It would have taken nothing to just go back over who Helga is and why there are all these cans of human remains lying around. There also could have been some flashbacks from the first movie as well, easy pickings. Without the legend, there is no salt on the fries.
“…technically adept, but suffers from a case of sequelitis…”
There are other mistakes as well. The Bishop character is a blight on the film and is a slice of cheese too far. He seems like he is from a Disney live-action show rather than a slasher movie. Also, the killer is totally obvious from the get-go. It doesn’t help that some of the red herrings are given clown duty in the picture. So, while technically adept, Hell Squad 2: Fresh Meat suffers from a case of sequelitis. My prescription is in the future third installment, milk The Legend of Helga Hellman like an 18-tit-tied cow so the cream of this franchise can rise to the top again.
"…more than enough to satisfy the core audience of slasher pictures"
