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2007 - 94m.
Canada

The original Decoys was a moderately entertaining low-budget riff on Species and it seems its mix of alien invaders with tentacles sprouting from their bellies and nubile young girls made enough money to warrant a follow-up. Shot on the cheap and sporting the same basic premise as the original movie, Decoys 2: Alien Seduction (or Decoys: The Second Seduction as the DVD box calls it - a much better title) is a somewhat pleasing mix of teen sex comedies and an alien monster movie which works decently for the first two-thirds before it collapses under its own weight in the poor final third.

Director Jeffery Lando establishes this is a more-of-the-same sequel from the get go as a hapless, love struck male ends-up being killed in a moment of passion by his blonde-haired partner when it turns out she's actually a "hot alien chick" of the same breed as the one's that plagued a University campus in the first movie.

Looks like Luke (Corey Sevier) wasn't very successful in eliminating them last time out and they've taken up residence on the campus of Strathorn University, where he just so happens to be the acting teacher's assistant for the school's evolution professor (Saw's Tobin Bell). Luke's in heavy therapy, which gives the makers a chance to pepper in flashbacks to the original to refresh our memories, and is still haunted by memories of the last time. Into the picture comes Sam (Tyler Johnston) who's just become caught-up in a contest with some of his frat boy-like buddies where they decide to see who can bed the most girls on campus, giving out points for their conquests - which need to be proven using the video camera on a cell phone.

This gives our alien leader Constance (Kim Poirer, like Sevier returning from the first), who's posing as the doctor in charge of student health services, many horny victims for her and her cohorts to try and seduce so they can breed with the human race. Of course, like the original they need to be out in the cold during the act for it to work and they still can be killed off by heat which means that Sam, Luke, and his friends (including Kalin See as Stephanie, the girl who's crushing on Sam) must team-up to try and stop these alien bitches before they manage to take over the world with their spawn - and armed with makeshift hair spray flamethrowers and Molotov cocktails they're going to storm their hide-out in the nearby hospital to assure they won't.

Decoys 2 isn't a bad little low-budget sequel and plays pretty well for most of its running time as it's an agreeable mix of goofy humour, a likeable cast of characters and a few moments of low-scale alien attacks (the mix of practical and CG effects could've been better but they're still okay). In fact, a lot of the movie's entertainment value comes from its good-natured mix of T&A comedy with a side of sci-fi. The movie has a goofy sense of humour that works well and it's proven by Sam Easton, who plays Sam's friend Arnold, as a dweeby wannabe ladies man but it also has quick flashes of skin and squirming, sharp-teethed tentacles to remind us this is a horror flick.

To sum the movie up in one line, I'd have to say: first two-thirds fun, last bit ho-hum. I really wanted the movie to keep up its light-hearted tone but when it does finally decide to tip its scale more towards "thrills" than "giggles" it actually stumbles. Plus, screenwriter Miguel Tejada-Flores decides to throw in an awkward love angel between Johnston and See's characters that's just too weak to fly. Top that off with a sequel set-up and the title, "The End... Maybe" and you have a follow-up that just isn't as enjoyable as it could have been. (Chris Hartley, 11/1/07)

Directed By: Jeffery Lando.
Written By: Miguel Tejada-Flores.

Starring: Corey Sevier, Tyler Johnston, Kalin See, Kim Poirier.