HallowScream - Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred (2011)

    Hey guys, Chuck here. You may recall that back in August, I reviewed Fred: The Movie, and it was honestly the worst movie I've ever reviewed. Well, in October of 2011, Nickelodeon released a sequel. Yeah, that's right a sequel. And since I pretty much confirmed that I'd review this one as part of HallowScream, here's my review of Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred. 

    The movie opens with Fred Figglehorn, played by Lucas Cruikshank, who is freaking out over something that is apparently terrifying. Fred then fills us in on his and Judy's break-up (which explains why Pixie Lott doesn't return for this one), the disappearance of his favorite teacher at school: Mrs. Felson, who is replaced by the odd and mysterious Mr. Devlin, played by Seth Morris. Meanwhile, Fred is followed home by a girl, played by Ariel Winter, which unnerves Fred, at which point he returns home to learn that Devlin moved in next door to the Figglehorn house. All of these events, except for the Judy thing, are what led us to seeing Fred so terrified. We also see Fred confiding in his best friend, Bertha, who is played this time by Victorious star Daniella Monet (yeah, apparently Jennette McCurdy had better things to do than slum it in another Fred movie), and learns that the new girl that he's been followed by, Talia, lives in his neighborhood, and just started attending Fred's school. Meanwhile, Fred's rival Kevin, played once again by Jake Weary, is honing his piano skills under Devlin's instruction, as do many other kids in Fred's class, all of whom are encouraged by Devlin to "join the world with music." At home, Fred and his mon, played again by Siobhan Fallon Hogan, are invited to a party for Devlin by Kevin's mom, played by Stephanie Courtney (aka Flo from the Progressive commercials). Fred, unsure if he wants to go, is encouraged to check out the party by John Cena. Yeah, I know he's supposed to be Fred's dad, but let's be honest, he's just being John Cena. Heck he even says his famous line: "You can't see me!" 

    So, at the party. Fred's mom and Devlin really start to hit it off, and Fred learns that Talia is Kevin's sister. His suspicions of Devlin growing even stronger, Fred initially believes that Devlin is from an alien world, but later brushes that off as being too ridiculous. However, after seeing a vampire on a cereal box, Fred comes under the belief that Devlin is a vampire. Fred, trying to find proof of this, follows Devlin around, dreams himself in a wrestling match alongside Cena, with the two of them going up against Devlin and Kevin in the worst WWE plug I've ever seen (although having Devlin and Kevin enter the arena to The Brood's entrance music is a nice touch), and gathers items he thinks will help him defeat Devlin. Unfortunately, this backfires, and Fred is painted to be a crazy person (which most of us all knew anyway). Devlin invites Fred over for dinner at his house, where Fred intends to prove his vampire theory once and for all, live streaming the entire ordeal. However, the feed cuts out when Fred drops his phone in a pot of oil. So, while Kevin and others watching the stream don't see what happens after, thus making them believe Fred's vampire theory, Fred (and us, the viewers) learns that Devlin was part of a military family, and spent a lot of time in Korea, which gave him a fascination for Korean culture and cuisine. Fred and Deviln finally become friends, but too late, as Fred's stream went viral, and Devlin is out of a job. Fred, along with Bertha and Talia, make a plan to take suspicion away from Devlin, and make everyone think that FRED is the vampire. Scaring Kevin and his friends, Fred, Bertha, and Talia succeed in their plan. However, Devlin reveals the next day that he's simply moving on, but he commends Fred for correcting his mistake. However, when Devlin and Kevin's mom go out for the last time, Fred sees that Devlin doesn't cast a reflection, proving that he really IS a vampire, ending the movie. 

    Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred is an improvement over Fred: The Movie, but not much of one. The big improvement is in the area of plot and storytelling. Director John Fortenberry, who is most known for directing the SNL movie Night at the Roxbury, did a really good job with the plot, and it's neat that the movie came out at the time when the Twilight series was still popular. However, the movie is still marred by pointless, and often stupid, jokes, an unnecessary WWE plug, and Fred is still annoying as hell. New additions like Daniella Monet, Seth Morris, and Ariel Winter were fine, but again it's Fred's movie, and with that said, I'm giving Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred a rating of 1.5/5. Seriously, while it's an improvement over the first Fred movie, it still sucks. Okay, so for my next review of HallowScream, I'll be looking at the 2004 horror film Saw.