Child's Play 2 (1990) review

10. Child’s Play 2 (1990)

Directed by: John Lafia

Produced by: David Kirschner

Screenplay by: Don Mancini

Starring: Alex Vincent, Jenny Agutter, Gerrit Graham, Christine Elise, Grace Zabriskie

Chucky the Good Guy Doll (Brad Dourif) has seen a monumental resurgence in recent years; we’ve even seen the release of his own television show, now into its second season. So I figure now’s as good a time as any to review all the classic “Child’s Play” movies; in a time where just about every slasher franchise has seen a remake, retcon or reboot, this stands out as maintaining its original continuity, despite getting its own remake treatment that failed to make an impact. For a long time, it wasn’t something that inspired much replay value with me, although I still found some of the movies entertaining; but I’ve gained more of an appreciation over the years, perhaps bolstered by the fact that they seem to have become more confident and unique with each new installment. I still consider the original “Child’s Play” a victim of having too many cooks in the kitchen, creating a sloppy and muddled story, but it still works due to its performances and overall suspense. “Child’s Play 2,” released two years later, adds a few new wrinkles into the mix, and though there are still cliché elements, I find the characters likeable and the horror scenes containing plenty of welcome variety.

The film opens with young Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) now being placed with foster parents, with his mother undergoing psychiatric care after backing up his story about his Chucky doll, a.k.a. Charles Lee Ray, going on a killing spree. He now lives with Phil and Joanne Simpson (Gerrit Graham & Jenny Agutter), who also foster a cynical, street smart teenage girl named Kyle (Christine Elise). Meanwhile, Play Pals Corporation, who produces the Good Guy dolls, reassembles Chucky’s charred remains, attempting to recover from the bad publicity around the mysterious murders. But a power surge resurrects Chucky, and he tracks down Andy at the Simpson house, still hoping to transfer his soul into Andy’s body before he’s stuck being a doll permanently. He replaces an already-present Good Guy doll, and starts causing trouble around the house, leaving Andy to take the blame until he gets him alone to finish his spell; with his mother out of the picture, who can Andy count on to help protect him?

Much like in “Halloween 4,” the beating heart of the movie is the relationship between its foster siblings; Alex Vincent and Christine Elise have a very natural and evolutionary rapport as Andy and Kyle. She’s initially annoyed by him in the way that older siblings can be by younger siblings, but we see her throughout the movie giving him words of wisdom, and gradually becoming concerned for his safety when Chucky reveals himself. You can tell there’s a kindred bond over the fact that they both feel alone in this unforgiving world. However, I think the performances could’ve been directed better; there are times when it feels like there should be more urgency in the body language during chase scenes. But this is an easy duo to care for, and I’m not just saying that because I’ve met them both in person and consider them lovely people (‘sup, guys?); they actually host a podcast called “Chucky Talks,” if you haven’t heard of it. Aside from them, there’s Jenny Gutter—nurse Alex from “An American Werewolf in London”—as the sweet, forgiving Joanne, and Gerrit Graham as Phil, who in my opinion is so lacking in patience or understanding, I don’t know how they have a supposedly stellar foster reputation.

The special effects around Chucky in the first movie are solid, but there are a few scenes with awkward lip movement that kind of take you out of it. In this one, Brad Dourif recorded all his dialogue prior to filming, which gave the puppeteers and technicians much more of an advantage in matching Chucky’s facial movements. Again done by Kevin Yagher, these effects are much improved, giving Chucky a satisfyingly demented myriad of expressions; he’s just such a wonderfully sadistic character. One of my favorite scenes, though, is actually the opening, where he’s being reassembled; the line workers, use of electricity, and general cinematography make it an interesting homage to classic monster movies like “Frankenstein,” and the fact that it’s Universal who picked up distribution rights from MGM makes it kind of a perfect marriage. Chucky isn’t terribly efficient in his plans, however; there are times where he has Andy alone, and it seems he has plenty of time to do his voodoo chant, but he just kind of waits around instead. It’s not too distracting, but I feel like the paranoia and fear should be more palpable.

That’s not to say the movie doesn’t know how to be scary; granted, the suspense isn’t as effective as in the first movie, but the music, settings and scenery help give the movie a good visual identity. The look of the first movie was grimy and urban, while this kind of leans into the idea of having a sick sense of humor, and that reflects in some of the kills and interactions. The climax takes place inside a Play Pals factory, so it’s basically Andy and Kyle running away from Chucky through a literal maze of boxed Good Guy Dolls; there’s a lot of creativity with some of these ideas. The kills themselves are mostly off-screen, which is lame; I think the most graphic is Tommy, the Good Guy Doll Chucky replaces, although the sight of toy eyeballs being stamped on a factory worker is pretty funny, and any horror scene that includes a copy machine seems to make me laugh. With that said, there are some mildly creepy moments, like when Kyle is looking for Chucky through the Simpson house, with no sound except for the clicking of Joanne’s sewing machine; some of these actions seem familiar, like Andy not being believed about Chucky, but that’s just kind of what you’re going to get with this franchise.

Most fans of the series seem to cite “Child’s Play 2” as their personal favorite, and I can definitely see where they’re coming from. It’s funny because the plot is extremely basic, with the villain just trying to track down the same hero; but the effects are improved, the characters feel genuine if not especially developed, and it has a solid sense of what tone it’s going for, campy but still a little bit edgy. I think some of the later sequels have more interesting stories, and we’ll get to them soon enough, but for a movie that could’ve been totally bland and forgettable, it ends up pretty intriguing and heartfelt. I know logistically there are problems, but for what works, I’m mostly forgiving towards it; now “Child’s Play 3,” on the other hand…well, join me tomorrow for that.

My rating: 7.5/10