Child's Play 2

Child's Play 2 (1990)

Runtime: 84 minutes

Directed by: John Lafia

Starring: Alex Vincent, Christine Elise, Jenny Agutter, Gerrit Graham, and the voice of Brad Dourif

From: Universal

Featuring a SWEET red Ford Taurus wagon.

This is not the ideal place to talk about this but I'll do it anyway: don't expect me to see the Child's Play remake, which from all accounts would have been better off if it hadn't been tied into a franchise that is still ongoing (as they have a lot more not in common than similarities) and a favorite among a small but fervent fanbase. They wouldn't have pissed off series mastermind Don Mancini, had important actors from the films also voice their displeasure, and give this an air of stink among horror fans in general long before it ever came out. I hear it's actually not bad, is far different from the franchise and has some amusing elements which probably would make me laugh. Personally, though... Aubrey Plaza being in it is a good reason for me NOT to ever watch it; I know many love her for being “quirky” and “weird” but to me it's “annoying” and “extraordinarily unappealing.”

Anyhow, Child's Play 2... of course it was silly but this movie was more tongue in cheek than the original so I won't analyze too deeply the explanation for how Chucky was brought back to life, except that it was a nice bit of corporate satire. Charles Lee Ray is still in the doll, finds Andy (now with foster parents as his mom was committed) and still wants to do the voodoo ritual that would allow him to enter the boy's body. This foster home is colorfully weird and full of strange bric-a-brac-no surprise considering that his new parents are Jenny Agutter and Gerrit Graham-and teen girl Kyle also lives there. Once again, nobody believes Andy until it's too late.


The kills that we do get aren't always the most gory but at least they were darkly humorous, and of course it was great hearing Brad Dourif voicing a creepy murderous toy. There were some nods to famous horror movies of the past and the final setpiece was in an interesting setting, in addition to being a lot of fun. Kyle was also an easy character to root for so I'll say that this was a good time even if you don't want to look at the story with a fine-toothed comb made of logic.