Ghoulies 4

Terrible entry in one of the worst horror series of all time deals with cops, a woman in black leather, and some ghoulish drawfs that aren't ghoulies. Attempts for humor, but fails. This also fails to deliever any thrills, chills, or even plot or logic. No redeeming features what-so-ever. There is a good reason why this is in the IMDB bottom 100. Rated R; Violence, Nudity.

Ghoulies IV is one of the most terribly campy sequels ever made. Peter Liapis of the original returns but no Ghoulies are to be found (except in flashbacks to the older films). This really isn't a Ghoulies movie. What it is, is your usual Jim Wynorski flick chock full of stupid antics and half naked chicks. For instance, how did Liapis' character, who was a college student and warlock, become a police detective? It's just too ridiculous. Not that I expected anything else from director Wynorski. He consistently makes campy crap. This is a poor excuse for a Ghoulies film and they're not exactly prizes themselves. They should have just called the movie Little Demon Dudes. Stay far away.

"Look for us in the sequel: Ghoulies IV, Part 2."

This movie didn't compare to the earlier Ghoulies, especially the first one.

In fact, it hardly seemed like a Ghoulies movie.

It was a totally different kind of movie, in which the only interesting character was the villainness.

Despite its departure from prior Ghoulies movies, this one could actually have become a slam-dunk cult classic had they given the villainess a more developed role.

The writers had the right set-up for it -- a contrast between her and the helpless guy she was holding in her clutches.

She's hardly a good actress, but think Rocky Horror Picture Show and it's easy to picture what they could have done.

Then it could have become a cult classic.

Ghoulies IV (1994)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Detective Jonathan Graves (Pete Liapis) is investigating a warehouse robbery and he's convinced that things aren't adding up. It turns out that a dark secret from his past is now taking form. You see, previously he practiced black magic with a girlfriend who is now connected to Faust and she plans on getting Jonathan back into the darkness so that Faust can come to life.

Yes, that plot belongs to GHOULIES IV, although, as you can tell, it almost seems like this was originally meant to be a completely different film but the producers decided to try and cash in on the GHOULIES name. There are a couple ghoulie creatures thrown in but these here are basically just very minor supporting characters who are there for comic relief.

Director Jim Wynorski has created some very fun "B" pictures and for my money I enjoy watching his films because he seems to know what fans want. This here isn't a CITIZEN KANE type of film so one shouldn't be expecting that. What the director does offer up are some funny situations, a decent low-rent story and he at least makes it fun throughout. Yes, this isn't really a GHOULIES movie but I still found plenty to enjoy here.

I thought the whole banter between the Detective and his new partner/former lover was a lot of fun. I thought Liapis and Barbara Alyn Woods had some fun chemistry that added to some entertainment. I also thought the ghoulies themselves were fun here. There are only two of them and they're basically playing an Abbott and Costello like performance where they back talk each other and slap each other around like The Three Stooges. There's even a funny spoof of The Honeymooners with a couple other characters who are only here because it made for a funny homage.

As I said, it's somewhat hard to count this as a GOULIES film but it's certainly better than the previous three movies. The film moves at a nice pace, contains some fun straight-to-VHS type of action and the story is decent enough for this type of movie.

THIS MOVIE SUCKS!Who are these green guys?(wannabes obviously)And who'd waste their time killing the honey mooners?Ghoulies 1 and 2 rocked!But this?Was I ever disappointed!I figured they learn from the error of making part 3.But at least part 3 had Ghoulies in it!All this has is some freaky wizard,Ghoulie wannabes,and a witch who kills for no aparent reason!Skip this one,please!!