Child's Play 2

Starring: Alex Vincent, Jenny Agutter, Brad Dourif (voice), Gerrit Graham, Christine Elise
Directed by: John Lafia
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Thriller
1990

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Andy (Alex Vincent) is still struggling with the horrors of his encounter with Chucky. As he tries to move on with his life, Chucky returns, still bent on transfering his soul into Andy.

Review:

Tim: Child's Play 2 is actually a fairly decent horror sequel. It's not as good as the first film, but it maintains and extends the storyline, giving audiences more of what they liked about the first film. While this movie does represent a slight drop in quality, this movie is probably better than it had any reason to be.

I loved that they brought Alex Vincent back as Andy. I think horror films are better when they can carry a storyline through multiple films, rather than starting from scratch with every film. Andy is familiar to us, and since we're glad he survived the first film, we're already invested in the story and the characters. I do wish Catherine Hicks was in this film- besides Vincent, this film features a cast of completely forgettable actors. The cast certainly leaves a lot to be desired.

This film gives us more thrills in the same vein as the original. Once again, the possessed doll Chucky is back, stalking Andy, trying to transfer his soul out of the doll and into the young boy. This is a sufficiently high-stakes endeavor, which made the movie intense. There's something so chilling about a child's toy coming to life with murderous intentions. It was fun to see this small doll wreck so much havoc in the lives of so many. There are certainly more than a few ridiculous moments throughout the film. The antagonist in this film is a small doll. It's not that hard to escape a small doll- just turn and run. And yet, people stick around and fall prey to him. It really requires a great suspension of disbelief- at times it really asks a lot of the audience.

There's a few good horror sequences throughout the film, although none are especially memorable. The climax at the doll factory features a few good moments, although it generated a few laughable ones as well. Getting lost in a maze of boxes in a factory was one of the weaker aspects of the film (who stacks boxes like that?). For every good scene, there was at least a few really poor ones. It did just enough to hold my interest, but I was never fully engaged in the story.

Child's Play 2 is certainly not a great movie. It is very flawed, but it's also significantly better than it might have been. The very fact that a film about a possessed doll isn't completely ridiculous is a huge achievement. The fact that the sequel was at least decent is impressive as well. I didn't love this film, but it's better than I expected.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Child's Play, Child's Play 3