I highly recommend this movie. Such a great comedy/horror and story. Great production value. The actors also do an amazing job. Such a fun movie.

Two years ago, we watched Mandao of the Dead, a film that was a lot of fun. Now the sequel - which was almost called Mandao of the Damned - is here and the good news is that it picks up right where the first one ended.

This time around, Jay Mandao has astral projected back in time to save the life of a B-movie star. Assuredly, that seems like a noble endeavor. But the more Jay and his pals mess around with time, the deeper they go into conspiracy, death and a Hollywood cult. Oh yeah - it's also Christmas.

Writer/director Scott Dunn returns as Jay Mandao, the titular character of this story, along with cousin Andy (Sean Lang, their driver Fez (Gian Gomez Dunn) and nephew Jackson O'Hare (Sean McBride).

This time around, Jay is feeling lost until he's hired by Ted Williams (Jim O'Doherty),an agent to determine how an actress named Aura Garcia (Jenny Lorenzo) in his employ died. While Jay has only been able to communicate with his dead father before, now he learns way too much. He learns information that puts all of his friends in danger.

I get how Mandao feels. He just wants to escape into a world of cereal and slacking, but people keep pulling him into their schemes. I had a blast with this one, just like the original Mandao movie. The filmmakers know a wise fact that even big budget movies neglect: keep people wanting more. This clocks in at 70 minutes, which is the perfect running time for a movie.

After contacting a recently-deceased starlet, the astral-traveler and his friends are soon confronted with the desire to save her from her untimely fate but the more they begin using their skills to help the more they realize they've now started in on a rather dangerous quest.

This was a slightly disappointing follow-up. One of the only factors here is the general lack of comedy in the setup, instead managing to try jokes and comedic situations that really aren't. The idea of the duo possessing each other to pull off a robbery or the hilarity of their plan to present a sacrifice that goes haywire are good enough but the rest of this one isn't that funny. The characters are far more aggravating and annoying than actually funny, resulting in scenes that just go on for quite a while without generating the necessary laughs since it demonstrates the one character as far too stupid to be doing anything like what he's behaving like which wasn't the cast for the original. Another somewhat odd issue is the strange ploy of introducing the main storyline halfway through the film causing it to be quite rushed and missing some minor details, which are all that hold this one back. This one does manage quite a lot to enjoy. Among the better features is the rather engaging and fun atmosphere present, as although none of the interactions are really funny that it was attempted to be so means nothing is really dark or over-the-top. The outrageous premise and goofiness they display trying to continually shift back and forth through time trying to make sure everything happens that they end up causing simply by chance. As well, when it finally goes over the top in the final half where they tend to result in various plans and failed encounters trying to ensure everything goes to plan yet very little of it does require some genuinely creative thinking and some creative concepts for ensuring everything gets fixed. These factors, combined with a decent storyline about their father-and-son relationship that pays off nicely, gives this one some great positives.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.