I had some finishing thoughts on House II that I didn't get to post...
Something I thought was a cool little nugget while listening
to the audio commentary was that Ethan Wiley helped design Ewok feet, and he
had gained confidence from Cunningham during House (1986) to get the sequel
gig. And a good point made by Wiley, regarding the ironing board bopping Jesse
on the head, where you don’t know whether something funny or scary awaits a
character opening the door to a closet.
“Why didn’t you use the stairs?” Gramps wondering why Jesse
and Charlie crashland in the basement from a giant tree in the prehistoric
dimension!
“Been through this sort of situation before…” Bill talking
about dealing with “alternate dimensions on the other side of walls in houses!
I like what Wiley says in the audio commentary where he
mentions that because he might not get another chance to direct again—this was
his first gig—he wanted to make damn sure to include a dinosaur scene and
swashbuckling action scene (the heroes sword battling Incan tribal warriors). He
was going to make this first time count! The anecdote about a stuffed horse
from Wiley is a nice moment of personal history I think adds a lot of value to
audio commentaries. These movies always have visual gags and items and props
that have more behind them than just working as odd scenery. In regards to stop
motion creatures, Slim’s zombie horse is the shit…what an idea and execution!
“Did you blow his head off? That’s a good boy…”
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