Now Available - Hobgoblins 2

[Pak-Man]

Hobgoblins 2

Feature film · 2023

All the familiar characters are back for this sequel! Except they’re played by different actors and don’t seem to remember the events of the first movie.

With Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett

See it on RiffTrax

It's rare that a mere number could be so terrifying, so unsettling, so deeply wrong. But a simple "2" following the word "Hobgoblins" is... well, it's almost more than sanity can bear. Brace yourselves for a doozy, folks: it's real, it's here, it's Hobgoblins 2!

If you've always loved the original Hobgoblins... WHY?? Was it the horny army guy, the horny nerd, the horny dancing girl, or the bookish girlfriend who refuses to be horny? Don't worry about answering that, but good news, they're all back for the sequel! Except, they're played by different actors, and despite being the same characters, they don't seem to remember the events of the first movie. Only one returning character does: McCreedy, the old security guard who kept the Hobgoblins locked up in a film vault. McCreedy's back, but also played by a new actor, who's impressively even more confused than the original, and perhaps not totally aware he's in a movie.

And of course, the real stars of the show are back: the puppets! They're a little older, a little mangier, but still fully able to attack victims as long as said victims grab them and hold them against their own faces. This time, they show up when you say "Hobgoblins" three times. Or, when you're afraid. Or, when you're lusting after the new Internet version of Fantazia. Basically, they're around.

Released twenty years after the original and yet somehow a massive step backwards, take a night off from hanging out at Club Scum and join Mike, Kevin and Bill for Hobgoblins 2!

Written by: Mike Nelson, Conor Lastowka, and Sean Thomason

Contributing writers: Jason Miller and Zach Shatzer

[MrTorso]

Did Sloan force them to take this on in order to get the rights for part 1? 

It is so self aware they use Mike Hobgoblins song from MST! 

Also just how bad is the 25 minutes they cut out??

[Pastor of Muppets]

Come on guys!  Seriously?  This entire movie was riff-bait based on the original MST3K riff of Hobgoblins.  You took the bait?  You guys are better than this.

[eegah]

Come on guys!  Seriously?  This entire movie was riff-bait based on the original MST3K riff of Hobgoblins.  You took the bait?  You guys are better than this.

When I read the trivia that the screenplay for this was written a couple of years after Hobgobins, I thought it could potentially avoid the "self-aware" problem that sequels following a MST3K/Rifftrax episode suffer from. I was wrong. Plus, unlike the original movie, this one had no redeeming value.

[Pastor of Muppets]

Come on guys!  Seriously?  This entire movie was riff-bait based on the original MST3K riff of Hobgoblins.  You took the bait?  You guys are better than this.

When I read the trivia that the screenplay for this was written a couple of years after Hobgobins, I thought it could potentially avoid the "self-aware" problem that sequels following a MST3K/Rifftrax episode suffer from. I was wrong. Plus, unlike the original movie, this one had no redeeming value.

Because setting out to make a cheesy movie, one that is regarded as "so bad it's good" is a cynical practice.  A good cheesy movie comes from trying to make a good movie and failing.

[Pak-Man]

I'm about halfway through, and it's a stinker for sure, but it seems to be on the same level of self-awareness as every other Rick Sloane movie. It feels closer to Blood Theater than Hobgoblins 1, but I think this might actually be what Sloane's sincere attempts at filmmaking end up like. He absolutely wanted to capitalize on the success that MST3K brought to the first movie, but I don't know if this is any more "I'm gonna make a bad movie on purpose" than any of his other movies have been.

[Pastor of Muppets]

I did see this movie, unriffed, many years ago.  I think maybe it was 2008?  It was okay, but like I said, a cynical riffbait attempt and I hate that the guys took the bait.

Note that all my bitching does not mean I won't be buying this.

[Pastor of Muppets]

So I watched this today.  Pretty good riffing.  It was hard to get through because the movie itself was so cringe.  Sloane was trying to make a version of Hobgoblins that used self aware meta-humor, but he even did that poorly.  All the jokes (in the movie) were terrible.  Also, Daphne was so unpleasant to look at.  Normally I think it's a low blow to make fun of somebody's looks, but she wasn't just ugly, she was stupid looking.  That hair, those garish clothes, and the fact that she looks about 50 years old.

Also what was the plot of this?  Was it a sequel?  The old security guard was in a mental hospital for blowing up a studio building, which happened at the end of the first film.  But also, the 5 kids are the same characters and have no memory of anything having to do with Hobgoblins?

[The Lurker]

It's basically a worse Gremlins 2.

[Pak-Man]

But also, the 5 kids are the same characters and have no memory of anything having to do with Hobgoblins?

This is what bugged me most of all. New actors. No memories of anything that happened in the first movie. Why not just make them new characters?