Notable Cast: Nathan Tymoshuk, Alexis Allotta, Natalie
Tran, Chelsey Grant, C.Andrew Kogolenok, Brian Villalobos, Benny Barrett, Tom Ringberg,
Karen Schovajsa
“Time to croak, bitch.”
Despite the surprising amount of world-building that erupted
in the third act of Frogman, I’m not sure I would have expected there to
be a sequel. Yet, the film proved to be something of a massive cult hit, and
when Frogman Returns was initially announced, I was pretty stoked. While
the original certainly used the tropes and style of found-footage horror well,
balancing comedy, horror, and exploitation into one slurpy stew, its third act
went fully off the lily pad and straight into the deep end, with some wild
ideas and wicked body horror. It’s the kind of film that comes with a built-in
cult following.
Frogman Returns follows in those leaps and hops with
an eagerness to extend and deepen the insanity of Frogman’s world.
Powered by some returning cast, a slightly meta approach to the original, and
the pace of the Energizer Bunny on crack (is the Energizer Bunny even still a
thing? Probably in Frogman’s world as a real cryptid), this sequel does
go bigger, badder, and bolder with the ideas planted by its predecessor. And,
don’t worry, the third act goes even more bizarre than expected. It’s insane
and ‘ribbit-ing.’ You know, like riveting but for frogs. Or something. Sorry,
I’ll show myself the door.