Child’s Play 2 (1990) Universal/Horror-Thriller RT: 84 minutes Rated R (strong violence, language) Director: John Lafia Screenplay: Don Mancini Music: Graeme Revell Cinematography: Stefan Czapsky Release date: November 9, 1990 (US) Cast: Alex Vincent, Jenny Agutter, Gerrit Graham, Christine Elise, Brad Dourif, Grace Zabriskie, Peter Haskell, Beth Grant, Greg Germann, Raymond Singer, Charles C. Meshack, Adam Wylie. Box Office: $28.5M (US)/$35.7M (World)
Rating: ***
We all know the rule “sequels aren’t equals”. It’s true in most cases; Child’s Play 2 is no exception. I don’t think it’s as good a movie as its predecessor. It’s still pretty good though. It’s better than some horror sequels. Then again, you’re talking to somebody who has a strange fondness for horror sequels good AND bad. The only way I can explain it is by recalling the tagline for Friday the 13th Part 2, “The body count continues”. I love a horror movie with copious gore and a high body count. Seven people (and one innocent Good Guy doll) get their tickets punched in Child’s Play 2; I realize this isn’t a particularly high number, but it’ll do.
Set two years after the first movie, 8YO Andy Barclay (Vincent) is in the foster care system. His mother was committed to a mental hospital for backing her son’s story about his killer doll Chucky (voiced by Dourif). What he doesn’t yet realize is he’s about to have a second encounter with his old “friend to the end”. The head idiots at the Play Pals Company have rebuilt Chucky from scratch in order to prove to their investors there’s nothing wrong with the Good Guy dolls. Sales have dropped precipitously since the Andy Barclay situation. Rebuilding Chucky also brings him back to life which results in the electrocution death of one of guys working on him. The CEO (Haskell) orders his assistant (Germann, Ally McBeal) to cover up the death and get rid of the doll.
Long story short, Chucky escapes after he manages to locate Andy at his new foster home. They have unfinished business (you know, the whole soul replacement thing). Andy is taken in by Phil (Graham, Used Cars) and Joanne Simpson (Agutter, An American Werewolf in London). She immediately falls in love with the boy; he’s worried they’re not capable of properly caring for a troubled child. It isn’t long until Chucky shows up and takes the place of the Good Guy doll left behind by a previous foster child. Chucky starts doing all sorts of bad stuff that Andy gets blamed for like writing “F*** you, bitch!” on one of his school worksheets. Eventually, the killing starts. In the end, the only one protecting Andy is his teenage foster sister Kyle (Elise, 1994’s Body Snatchers).
The animatronic effects in Child’s Play 2 are slightly better here than in the first movie. Chucky’s face is more expressive; his movements seem more fluid. This is the movie where Chucky started establishing his own identity as a horror movie slasher. He gets off some good lines, but for him it’s all in the delivery. No matter what comes out of his mouth (and it’s usually profane), he sounds evil. We have Dourif to thank for that. He’s just great, what more can I say? Vincent is good as Andy. Elise is rather charming in her early 90s punk girl get-up. Both Graham and Agutter are welcome presences. There’s very little in the way of character development and by that I mean none. One gets the idea that Agutter suffered some child-related trauma in the past which is why she became a foster mom. Grace Zabriskie (Twin Peaks) shows up as a foster care manager. She’s always good.
There are a few cool kill scenes. One guy is electrocuted and thrown through a window. A man is tripped down some basement steps by a hook. Somebody gets stabbed to death near a copier which prints out images of her dying visage. A teacher is stabbed with an air pump and beaten to death with a yardstick. A factory worker falls on a conveyor belt and has his eyes stabbed out. The climax is particularly messy with Andy and Kyle trying to take down Chucky. There’s one bit taken from Evil Dead 2 involving a missing hand and a knife blade (instead of a chainsaw). I can’t really think of anything else to say about Child’s Play 2. It’s a little less clever than its predecessor, but it’s still fun. As far as horror sequels go, it’s pretty decent. I can’t really knock it too badly. What would be the point anyway?
