Child's Play 2

Universal. Director John Lafia; Producer David Kirschner; Screenplay Don Mancini; Camera Stefan Czapsky; Editor Edward Warschilka; Music Graeme Revell;; Art Director Ivo Cristante

Alex Vincent
Jenny Agutter
Gerrit Graham
Christine Elize
Brad Dourif
Grace Zabriskie

Child's Play 2 is another case of rehashing the few novel elements of an original to the point of utter numbness. The novelty of a smiling doll spouting expletives and crinkling his nose has long since worn off, so the filmmakers simply hammer away at walk-down-the-hallway cliches in an effort to provide the cheapest thrills.

Here, little Andy (Alex Vincent) has separated from his mother, temporarily institutionalized after the original ordeal. He is placed with two drab parents (Jenny Agutter, Gerrit Graham) and a rebellious teen (Christine Elize), ultimately the only person to believe him.

With Chucky (again voiced by Brad Dourif) doing mischief, poor little Andy is blamed for every bad thing that occurs. It's less amusing to note that Andy, this time, is practically the sole focus of Chucky's homicidal rage.

The puppet techniques are finely executed, but it's difficult after a while to take this three-foot-high version of the Terminator seriously. The adults are essentially pincushions, with about as much personality.

(Color) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1990. Running time: 85 MIN.

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