PREDATOR 2 — WANT SOME CANDY?
By Yasmina Ketita, Rue Morgue
That’s the question I’ve posed, in a deep, resonant voice, to many people throughout my life. Those who get it quickly become endearing friends. Those who don’t haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing one of my favorite early ’90s sci-fi/action flicks: Predator 2. Having first rented Stephen Hopkins’ sequel to John McTiernan’s impeccable original with no idea what to expect, I watched it with my sister in our basement. Ever since, we’ve randomly texted each other the line: “Want some candy?” That’s when I realized perfection can come in many forms.
Growing up with an admiration for Arnold Schwarzenegger, I often wondered what a sequel set in Los Angeles—sans the Army—could accomplish. Fortunately, I wasn’t let down in the least. While some ’80s and ’90s action sequels didn’t measure up to their predecessors, many still deserve praise as stand-alone films. The Terminator remains one of the greatest sci-fi films ever made, while Terminator 2: Judgment Day takes the crown for one of the best sequels. Debating which is better makes my brain hurt. Sequels can be masterpieces in their own right, unmatched in unique ways. Dismissing one simply because it isn’t its forerunner limits the room for appreciation, celebration and enjoyment. Case in point: Aliens. I have a deep love for Predator, but I’ve also spent much of my life defending—and glorifying—my worship of Predator 2.
Predator 2 opens by paying homage to the original, panning through a jungle before revealing that said jungle is actually a smoggy 1997 Los Angeles. A portmanteau of copaganda, Yautja lore, horror, sci-fi and sometimes comedy, the film introduces a covert federal task force led by Peter Keyes (Gary Busey), who has been tracking the aliens since the events that occurred ten years prior in the first film. Fresh from directing A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child, Hopkins was chosen by producer Joel Silver to direct the sequel before a script was even completed.
Initially, Patrick Swayze and Steven Seagal were considered for the lead role, with Schwarzenegger even requested to return. But Hopkins was adamant on casting a regular Joe type. Since Silver co-produced Lethal Weapon, he brought in Danny Glover—a casting choice the actor promptly accepted, given how rare it was at the time to see a Black lead fighting a supernatural being. Glover delivers a bold, determined and fearless action hero, and even helped recruit members of the Los Angeles Lakers to play background aliens. Stan Winston made subtle design tweaks to this Predator’s design, adding, among other details, a Xenomorph head to the trophy wall—a tease of an eventual Alien vs. Predator. Kevin Peter Hall adds personality to his Predator portrayal, which is easily recognized in the self-surgery scene. I loved watching the process of him fabricating a solution out of concrete and drywall to cauterize his severed arm and bullet holes. The scream he belts out when injecting himself with a serum (medicine? adrenaline?) still gives me the chills.
This Predator also comes equipped with intricate weapon upgrades: a net that cuts through skin, a retractable spear, and most notably, the smart disc that slices through Keyes in the slaughterhouse. The scene where he scalps a decapitated head and polishes the skull before placing it on the trophy wall has always stood out for the epic sound effects and details of the procedure. The Predator eventually singles out Glover’s Lt. Mike Harrigan as his opponent, taunting him at a cemetery by dangling his partner Danny’s necklace from a tree. I’ve appreciated violence and gore in action films since childhood, but two elements from Predator 2 that made particularly deep impressions on me were that of cocaine and sex. Teri Weigel’s aggressive sex scene sparked my curiosity about what sex even was, and Henry Kingi’s hyperactive cocaine binge cemented him in my memory forever as “the guy who does cocaine in Predator 2.”
Shooting in downtown Los Angeles presented challenges for the crew, like dealing with giant rats and bags of feces being dropped from apartment tenants above. So, I’d like to personally thank the filmmakers for enduring those conditions to bring this movie to life. And also, for casting Maria Conchita Alonso as Detective Leona Cantrell, whose performance as a badass female cop I’ve long admired.
My final note is for the late, great Bill Paxton, gone too soon from this world. Paxton graced many screens across many generations, with unforgettable performances in Weird Science, The Terminator, Aliens, Near Dark, The Dark Backward, and one of my personal favorites, The Vagrant. In Predator 2, his Detective Jerry Lambert is quirky at first, delivering misogynistic jokes and comments, but then his demeanor changes in the subway scene and he exhibits his heroic side. He ushers civilians to safety, including Leona, before facing the Predator alone. Lambert throws everything he has into the fight—even a golf ball—before finding a machete and wielding it with ferocity until his last scream.
I’m a proud fan of Predator 2 and elated that Fright-Rags’ new line is celebrating one of the best sequels in film history. Prey (2022)’s inclusion of the flintlock pistol given to Harrigan by the Elder Predator was a wonderful nod back to this film—an homage well deserved by fans of this underrated sequel.
Post created and provided by Rue Morgue
