WFG RATING: A-

Lionsgate and Grindstone Entertainment presents a Silent Partner production. Directed by Marcel Walz. Produced by Ruediger W. Kummerle, Ivan Bernard Hruska, and Philip B Goldfine. Written by Joe Knetter. Cinematography by Michael Su. Edited by Kai E. Bogatzki. 

Stars Sarah French, Heather Grace Hancock, Devanny Pinn, Jake Red, Andrew Rohrbach, Robert Felsted Jr., Fritzi Marth, Sarah Nicklin, Ben Stobber, Tyler Gallant, Dave Sheridan, Maria Olsen, Robert Rusler, and Jed Rowen. 

Pretty Boy is back as is the “love of his life” in this sequel to Blind that juxtaposes the slasher genre and psychological horror genre with Sarah French once again showcasing why she is an amazing force in front of the cameras. 

On a late night Valentine’s Day, Preston is holding a party for his friends. They consist of aspiring singer-songwriter Rayna, her friend Leigh, the newly single Chelsie, Brad, Gary, Jill, and Mike. While the group is not consisting of couples, that soon changes when some of the partygoers find themselves attracted to each other. Meanwhile, Pretty Boy, a charming masked killer has kidnapped former actress Faye Dayne, who has been rendered blind and looks to head home.

Finding the party, Pretty Boy decides to keep Faye hidden in one of the bedrooms and begins a killing spree amongst the partygoers. As the body count rises, Faye finally learns the horrifying truth. She attempts to escape with the help of whoever is left from the party massacre. Will Faye finally escape from the clutches at the hands of Pretty Boy or will she continue to be the “love of his life” no matter what?

2019’s Blind was a psychological thriller that had minimal slasher tones when it came to a body count of less than five. However, that didn’t take away the fact that leads Sarah French and Jed Rowen churned out some great performances driving the film in the roles of blind actress Faye and the killer known as Pretty Boy. The events of the first film take over this sequel’s opening credit sequence. 

What writer Joe Knetter and director Marcel Walz do this time around is give an even split to the film in terms of tone. The first half consists of the slasher genre, in which we see Pretty Boy, holding Faye as if she is Fay Wray in King Kong and trying to find a place for the two of them, or perhaps his home. However, it is when he comes across the party that we see mostly one-dimensional characters who will be the potential victims. There are two characters you do hope to not become victims and somehow become allies once Pretty Boy leaves Faye in a room and ties her up to begin his killing spree. 

The second delves back into Blind territory, where we see Faye, who has finally learned the horrifying truth about what had happened in the first film, attempt to find a way to escape Pretty Boy. This results in an elderly couple, played with charm and wit by former teen idol Robert Rusler (who played Fuad Ramses in Walz’s 2009 remake of Blood Feast) and the amazingly underrated genre powerhouse Maria Olsen (I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu and Scare Package II: Rad Chad’s Revenge), trying to help Faye. 

The kills once again are supervised by Joe Castro and Kwame Head, who this time amp up the blood factor. One particular kill involves a particular horror trope but done in a more tasteful manner (no nudity) but goes very bloody with another looking to pay homage to a memorable kill in Friday the 13th Part III. 

Pretty Boy is one of those sequels that’s better than the original film. Once again, Sarah French shows why she is one of the best in today’s world of horror, more kills this time around and a powerhouse duo in Robert Rusler and Maria Olsen. 

The film was released this week and is available for Rent/Buy on Digital.