Black Scorpion II: Aftershock is set in the City of Angels where ordinary cop Darcy Walker (Joan Severance) becomes latex clad superhero the Black Scorpion to fight crime, a series of earthquake's & aftershocks have hit the City of Angels & unrest & looting is rife. Scientist Professor Ursula Undershaft (Sherrie Rose) has invented a machine to neutralise earthquakes & aftershocks but after it's sabotaged by greedy politicians she is blamed for a huge quake which devastates the city. The Professor becomes red latex clad villain Afteshock & breaks the Gangster Prankster (Stoney Jackson) out of the county jail in order to deal with the Black Scorpion so she can destroy the city with a gigantic earthquake unopposed...Directed by Jonathan Winfrey & also known as Black Scorpion II: Ground Zero this was the sequel to Black Scorpion (1995) which rode the whole fetishistic styled superhero comic book film craze, this sequel reunites all the major players with Severance returning as the Black Scorpion, Winfrey as director, Craig Nevius is on script duties again while Roger Corman acts as a producer & even though the first Black Scorpion wasn't exactly a masterpiece this sequel is distinctly inferior. After a brief recap of the original the film plods along more concerned with the moral conflicts going on between Darcy & her new partner/lover which is also taken directly from the original, this time there are two villains but they are both poor & Aftershock in particular is a crap villain with no motivation & how does she know the mayor sabotaged her machine? The Black Scorpion herself hardly appears, she's like in three scenes, one at the start, one where she rescues Rick from the Gangster Prankster & the end where she doesn't even get to fight anyone as merely by taking her mask off she convinces Aftershock to commit suicide & stop her machine from destroying the city. There are various sub-plots like the Black Scorpions car getting stolen & the bickering between the cops at the station but these just feel like they are dragging a poor film out even more. With virtually no coherent plot that makes any sort of sense, a lack of Black Scorpion action & weak villains Black Scorpion II: Aftershock is even worse than the original & isn't even any fun on a camp level.As with the first this looks cheap, the car chase is rubbish with very tight angles to hide the surroundings. The action is poor, the opening car chase is basically the same as seen in the original, the Black Scorpion hardly fights anyone here & the violence levels are toned down & while the original had a fair bit of nudity this has none that I can remember. The Black Scorpion costume is basically the same & the special effects of her car changing shape are taken directly from the original. Aftershock looks silly with a red latex outfit & a daft face mask that resembles a Rugby mask while the Gangster Prankster is obviously a rip-off of The Joker & Two Face from Batman.Probably shot on an even lower budget than the original this looks cheap from start to finish. The acting is poor, Stoney Jackson as the Gangster Prankster is highly annoying while Joan Severance looks uninterested.Black Scorpion II: Aftershock is a rubbish superhero film that doesn't even have any camp value, it's just bad on all fronts really & even worse than original. Followed by a Black Scorpion (2001) TV series which ran for twenty two episodes.

If you've seen or are planning to see this film, chances are you've already seen the first. If not, I suggest you go see that, even if you only have the chance to see one of them. It's better and it basically lays the foundation for this film. This has more silliness and less style than the first, and one will be hard pressed to find someone, somewhere who wouldn't rather have seen the first, if given the choice(if the popularity-based ratings are anything to go by, at least). The plot is, much like the first, very simplistic and formulaic. It's pretty much ripped straight out of a 60's superhero comic book. The characters, most of them returning from the first film, continue to be comic relief and clichés, and a few of them, as little development as they have(in the first) actually go backwards as far as that goes. The villains both lack the originality of the one of the first film; both are rather obviously rip-offs of famous superhero villains(or super-villains, for short). The humor goes more towards the silly and campy, something the first one started nicely on. Fewer one-liners, unfortunately. The action is decent enough... it's slightly larger in scale than that of the first, but its uninspired filming costs a lot of intensity. There is more direct T&A in this installment, to appease the young males in the audience. Most of it is just there, for no actual reason, making it stand out embarrassingly. The dialog is poor, both as far as writing and delivery goes. The script has its share of clichés, but judging from the overall tone(and my experience with films that Roger Corman is involved in making), I would wager that it's fully intentional. All in all, an entertaining and fairly worthy followup to Black Scorpion. I recommend this to fans of the first and of comic book movies in general. I urge anyone to watch the first before trying their luck with this, though, and if you don't like what you see in that one, don't bother with this one. It's just more of the same. 5/10

This cheesy B movie is fun stuff! You'll either love it or hate it. I adored it. Fans of B movies and Roger Corman movies might enjoy it the most. I've shared my Black Scorpion DVDs with friends and we've all enjoyed them. The two films and the TV show are a blast! The Gangsta Pranksta has to be seen to be believed folks! Joan Severance is lovely as Darcy Walker/ The Black Scorpion. There's also a promo on this DVD hosted by Adam West that takes an inside look at the Black Scorpion TV show. This is a fun DVD. I LOVED IT! Pop some corn and settle back. This is great popcorn fun! Ms Severance: You really know how to wear a mask! The way you smoke a cigar takes my breath away! GREAT JOB!

This movie has some good elements and some bad elements.The good: Watching Joan Severance.The bad: Everything else.If it's 3:30am and you can't sleep, and there's nothing else on but infomercials, this movie still isn't really worth watching. The plot is lame, the characters are absurd and barely 2 dimensional, the situation is absurd, and the writing is adolescent. The main villian gave a new definition and dimension to the concept of "stupid". To say it was "comic-book-like" would be an insult to comic books. The only good thing about it was watching Joan, and even then I prefered her when she was in street clothes, her black scorpian outfit was one of the least flattering female "super hero" costumes I've ever seen. She has great eyes and the mask covered those. Even her dialog was cliched and silly. Watch only if it's late, you can't sleep, and there's *nothing* else on. Turn the sound off. Watch until you experience unconsciousness. 1 out of 10.