Child’s Play 2
Child’s Play 2 is a decent sequel to a good movie. And I like that it’s a continuation from the first movie and not just it’s own movie like other franchises. A time when Chucky still wants to be human and hasn’t accepted his fate as a plastic doll.
Released: Nov 9, 1990
Runtime: 84 mins
Director: John Lafia
Writer: Don Mancini
Actors: Alex Vincent, Jenny Agutter, Gerrit Graham
MY THOUGHTS
You goddamn woman drivers!--Chucky
There are 7 kills (8 if you count Chucky’s death in the end) in Child’s Play 2. Mattson’s (Greg Germann) suffocation kill is kind of cool. He always plays such slimy characters, it’s always nice seeing him get what he deserves. I think my favorite kill is the factory worker's death towards the end. He has his throat slit and then both eyes gouged out by the machine that puts the plastic doll eyes into the dolls. You even see the doll eyes in his dead body!
I do have to say that I was saddened by Joanne’s (Jenny Agutter) death. She was so nice to Andy and wanted to help him until her husband's death. Her throat is slit and her mouth gagged. It’s an off screen death.
The acting is pretty good. I do have to say this franchise gets a decent amount of good actors for these movies. We get Gerrit Graham (known for TerrorVision, Chopping Mall, and C.H.U.D. II) and Jenny Agutter (An American Werewolf in London) as the foster parents. Christine Elise (1993 Body Snatchers) as his foster sister Kyle.
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Child’s Play 2 takes place two years after the first movie ends. Andy’s mom is in a mental institution because she tried to sue the Good Guy dolls company and the police wouldn’t back up her statement. So she is institutionalized and Andy is put in a foster home. Then you have the guys over at the Good Guy dolls rebuilding Chucky, and inadvertently bringing him back to life. Chucky finds out where Andy is and tries to snatch him to perform the ceremony to transfer his soul into Andy before it’s too late. This time Andy has a foster sister to help him.
Overall, another decent movie in the franchise. I like the opening scene as they are cleaning up and restoring Chucky. I also like his death at the end. We are still in the darker and scary movies in the franchise so that is also a good thing.
Now for the “Did you know…”:
Despite not reprising her role Catherine Hicks was constantly on set for the sequel to see her husband, Kevin Yagher, who operated the animatronic Chucky doll. Chris Sarandon was originally going to reprise his role as Det. Mike Norris from the first film, but his scenes were cut from the film due to budgetary issues.
Opened as the #1 film at the box office.
Jenny Agutter has said this is one of the worst filming experiences she's ever had.
This was composer Graeme Revell's first big symphonic Hollywood film score.
Christine Elise McCarthy was 25 years old when the film was released, although her character Kyle is a teenager.
A VHS copy of the film can be seen on a shelf in Jerry's apartment in Seinfeld (1989)
The murder of Andy's teacher and the final showdown at the toy factory are both elements of Don Mancini's original Child's Play script that failed to make it into the first film.
Have you seen the other Child’s Play movies? Check out my other reviews here: Child’s Play Franchise.
Let’s get into the rankings:
Kills/Blood/Gore: 4/5
Sex/Nudity: 0/5
Scare factor: 3.5/5
Enjoyment factor: 5/5
My Rank: 3.2/5
IMDB: 5.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: critics: 4/10 audience: 4.8/10
Letterboxd: 3.2/5