3 out of 5

Directed by: John Lafia

It sure looks and sounds like a horror sequel – the over-exposure of the killer; the passing explanation of why a character from the first film won’t be appearing; the recap and re-setup to bring us back to status quo; the ignoring of some established ‘rules;’ and a general ante-up of chaos, resulting in a fairly ridiculous ending sequence – but excepting an overall unevenness in tone, Child’s Play 2 isn’t all that bad of a sequel, nor is it all that bad of a movie, especially coming from director Lafia, who would go on to helm some TV classics like 10.5 and its sequel.  So Chucky is back, somehow, still expertly and evilly voiced by Brad Dourif, and he’s essentially still pursuing his goal from the first film, of placing his serial-killer soul into Alex, who is thankfully still played by Andy Barclay, who brings an amazing awareness and naturalness to what would’ve generally been a movie-ruiner role if played by a less skilled kid.  Once the gears are in motion – Alex is with a foster family, Chucky situates himself in the new home – Lafia can relax and take some notes from film one with building tension, which he actually does surprisingly well, and with less padding shots than Tom Holland in the original.  Don Mancini’s script is again respectful to its characters, giving the foster parents a fairly believable balance of doubting and acceptance, and the other foster kid, Kyle (Christine Elise), would normally be the stereotypical rebel kid in any other horror flick, but here is a pretty realistic blend of foster kid snark and patience.  The effects are a bit stiffer with Chucky than before, but he gets infinitely more screen time, often interacting directly with the cast, so it’s still looks pretty impressive, if a dash less creepy.  When the killing starts in earnest, though, Lafia decides to switch over to goofball style, letting the one-liners and silliness pile up, with a continual one-upmanship of bombast and stupid in the final showdown (yes, of COURSE the exit can only be accessed by going through this death machine…) that betray what kind of flick we’re watching.  Still – you were probably expecting this to be a lot worse, and it’s actually a pretty competent film all around in terms of construction and acting.  And, y’know, enjoyable, for whatever THAT’S worth.