30 Years Later: ‘Child’s Play 2’ is Still a Top-Tier Horror Sequel

November 9, 2020

In the world of horror, finding a sequel that is legitimately better than the original is uncommon. Of course, it’s all subjective. I prefer Day of the Dead to the first two in the Romero series. I prefer A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors to the original. However, there are some that seem like all-around objective improvements on the original, like Evil Dead II and the film celebrating it’s 30th anniversary today, Child’s Play 2.

At the end of Child’s Play (which released 32 years ago, btw), we’re left with the comfort that the soul of Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) was extinguished with the flames that laid Chucky’s charred, beheaded, gunshot-riddled body on the hospital floor to be swept up by some underpaid janitor. Sure, Andy (Alex Vincent) has a long life of intensive therapy ahead of him, but at least the bad guy is dead, right? WRONG! In true Terminator 2 fashion, the Play Pals toy company recovers the remnants of the fiendish Good Guys doll and cleans it up to reassure its investors that hey, maybe calling this a murder-y evil entity is a little extreme. Things go south quickly when a power surge accidentally kills a line worker, once again awakening the soul of Charles Lee Ray. The corporate executive orders his assistant to cover up the death and get rid of the damned doll once and for all. Enter: Child’s Play 2.

Andy is now eight years old and living the glamorous life of being shuffled between foster homes and constantly looking over his shoulder while his mother (Catherine Hicks) has taken residency in an insane asylum. He comes to live with foster parents Phil and Joanne Simpson (Gerrit Graham, Jenny Agutter) and fellow foster kid Kyle (Christine Elise). Chucky knows the only way to become human again is to track down Andy, break the curse, and inhabit Andy’s body for a repeat at life. The story works well, and you can tell that the writer from the first film (John Lafia) took the director reins. Without question, Child’s Play 2 has much more brutal of deaths than the first. Not necessarily gorier, but more agonizing, like tying the Play Pals executive’s hands behind his back and suffocating him with a plastic bag or beating Andy’s teacher to a pulp with a yard stick. The sequel even gives us a new character that we actually care about, with Joanne, played by Jenny Agutter (An American Werewolf in London). Joanne is extremely understanding of Andy’s mental state, and really fights for him for the entire film, until Chucky snaps her husband’s neck like a branch and cuts her throat. None of the characters that bit the dust in the first film had you feeling as blue as this one.

The biggest difference between the two films are the extremely advanced animatronics between the Chucky dolls. Child’s Play 2 has a much more mobile, flexible and expressive doll than its predecessor. The doll truly brings Brad Dourif’s psychopathy as Chucky to life. Every grin, sneer, and eyebrow twitch are shown in detail, and it brings an incredible sense of terror to the character. It’s so much more effective than just seeing a doll swing around lifelessly in the first film.

The finale act of this film is awesome. The ending takes place at the Play Pals factory, chock-filled with mazes made from Good Guys boxes and heavy machinery. Chucky can literally be anywhere, hiding in plain sight. The effects here are the best of the movie, with an already whipped Chucky looking extremely ghoulish from being covered in molten plastic, and extra Good Guy parts fused to his body. The climax gives the audience everything they’d hoped for, with a good ol’ fashioned ’80s-style head explosion. Andy fills Chucky’s head up with high-pressurized air and kaboom! Gooey, meaty bits go everywhere. It’s the exact kind of scene that puts horror movie fan asses in their seats.

If you’ve never seen this film (30 years is past the spoiler cutoff), or you love it, celebrate the 30th birthday of my favorite Chucky movie by giving it a watch. It doesn’t feel dated and is a hell of a lot of fun. What’s your favorite film from the Child’s Play series?