Popeye's Return (2026)

 

Subject:  Popeye's Return  (Popeye 2)

Year:  2026

Director:  William Stead

Run Time:  a generous 70 mins

Cast:  Lara Sas, Steven Murphy

Genre:  murderous Popeyes

Skin:  flashback to the first movie count?  Other than that, one massive tease

Blood:  a little

Rating:  1/5

The Story:

Somewhere nearby (in the same damn field all four movies are set) the site of the first movie's bloodbath, Popeye breaks free from some sort of paramilitary thing and goes after a group of camp counselors (and one child) for...some reason.

Nowhere near the Friday the 13th setup you're thinking or we're promised, this one sees a small collection of young adults hunted by the killer in the field and surrounding woods while some military people hunt him.  There's a bit of work in explaining how he came to be what he is - some sort of super soldier experiment - though I doubt anyone came here for that.  

The story is fairly standard slasher fair with some uninteresting backstory thrown in.  Nothing to write home about, and honestly would have been far better served had they not gone with so much Popeye lore and built up the current events a bit more.

Review:

I feel like I'm one of the few people who honestly enjoyed the first movie.  It wasn't any classic, don't get me wrong, but it kept things simple and, for a modern slasher, wasn't that bad.  Would I recommend it?  To certain people, yeah - and not just for the novelty of it being a movie about a murderous Popeye.  This one though...not so much.

Usually when you get to a sequel - especially a horror or slasher movie sequel - you expect things to go up.  More boobs, more blood, more mayhem.  This one though, it seems like we're going backwards.  The old school feel of the first movie (it did have a little) is gone and we're left with what feels like a weekly episodic thing, more interested in telling a story nobody cares about than delivering the carnage the first movie (and the genre in general) promised.  The kills are watered down, what little atmosphere the first had is shot with over-explanation, there's no new nudity, and things just all around feel cheap, rushed, and rehashed.

Maybe that's why you don't do four movies in twelve months...

About the only good thing I can say for this one is the new female lead, Lara Sas, is pretty good.  The guy playing Popeye, Steven Murphy, isn't bad either, but they don't give him much to work with.  Both these actors deserve better and hopefully get it - just far away from William Stead.

For those interested in the lore behind the Popeye monster, this is your movie.  So are parts three and four.  For those looking for a slasher movie, not so much.  Dropping the ball on the few things that made the first movie watchable, this rushjob is probably best avoided.

The bad news?  There are two more.