There’s a current wave of indie horror filmmakers expanding into franchises. Anthony Cousins (Frogman Returns) and Sean Nichols Lynch (This House is Totally Haunted) ride the wave forged by Patrick Brice (Creep), Turner Clay (The Blackwell Ghost), and Dutch Marich (A Horror in the High Desert). Now, you can add Jason Zink to the growing roster of writers/directors who have extended their original film’s shelf-life into a psychopathic universe. Zink’s Looky-Loo Part II, playing this year’s Unnamed Footage Festival, takes what worked so well in the first film and develops an even more gruesome bloodbath. It’s not what you might expect. In fact, the third act just might make you squeal.
The killer (Zink) continues his evil torture and murder of young women. His work finds him stalking and kidnapping unsuspecting victims around the neighborhood. He doesn’t have a type, only that the women he chooses seem to unlock a primal, animalistic sadism. His violent, cruel instincts lead him to commit unthinkable, monstrous acts, akin to Frank (Elijah Wood) in 2012’s Maniac remake. With a knack for body mutilation, Looky Loo leaves very little to the imagination, and that’s the point. He documents his many exploits with ravenous glee. He can’t seem to be satiated, no matter how many people he kills.
When he hunts a woman named Elena Reese (Julie Kashmanian), he attends her costume party and lurks in her home’s many rooms. He’s a lion waiting to pounce on his prey. It just has to be the right moment. As the night wears on, partygoers slowly trickle out until he’s the only one left. Looky Loo confronts Elena and wields his sharp blade in the hope of slicing into her porcelain skin. But here’s where something truly surprising happens. And no, you’re not likely to guess what that is.
With a script written by Nolan Mihail, the film explores the male loneliness epidemic in shocking and schlocky ways. Looky-Loo Part II riffs on films like The Driller Killer, Maniac (1980), and Creep II. Director Jason Zink never wastes a single frame, imprinting the story with his signature flair. He exceeds the work he accomplished with the first film and heightens the sense of icky dread that seems to drip into your eyeballs.
Looky-Loo Part II is a sleazy found footage film perfect for those lonely, paranoid nights when you think you see someone standing in your backyard. You’ll enter the film expecting more of the same, but Zink hides a few real treats up his sleeve. Forget what you think and go along for the very wild ride.
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