Horrorfest 2021 Presents: Child’s Play 2 (1990, John Lafia)

Child’s Play 2 is one of those sequels that even though it doesn’t surpass the original it still manages to be a good follow up. The first flick is a classic, yet the sequel works in it’s own right, with the evil Chucky being revived, of course. Poor Andy gets transferred to a foster family while still knowing that Chucky will come for him. Horror movies are really good at making normal items such as dolls be really creepy, although I don’t find either flick to be that scary.

However the factory part of the movie is pure nightmare fuel, and the movie has some good kills. Even though Child’s Play 2 isn’t very remarkable, I enjoyed the movie anyways. Alex Vincent is excellent as Andy and Christine Elise is very likable as his foster sister. Also hey any movie with Gerrit Graham and Jenny Agutter as foster parents can’t be all bad. I’ll continue with the rest of the series although I’ve seen most of the third one, Curse of Chucky and the 2019 film that is largely a stand alone flick.

Horrorfest 2016 Presents: Curse of Chucky (2013, Don Mancini)

This movie kind of sucked. It’s a low budget mess that focuses more on hilarious kills than storyline or good acting. It’s shot in a manner that suggests the filmmakers could not afford a decent cinematographer. Curse of Chucky has its moments yet it pales in comparison to the original classic. I’ve only viewed the first one and parts of two and three. What I’ve seen so far is much better than this latest entry in a long running horror franchise. 

Poor Nica is wheelchair bound and trapped in a house with Chucky, who mysterious shows up at her home and starts killing people again. The film has some moments yet overall I was left disappointed, even though I liked the ending and I thought the movie ties in well with the original series. I’ve seen worse films than this one, and it’s availability on Netflix is why I watched it in the first place. 

Horrorfest 2014 Presents: Child’s Play (1988, Holland)

While I still have yet to view the rest of the series I doubt any of the entries measure up to the original Child’s Play, directed by famous horror filmmaker Tom Holland. Despite the ridiculous nature of the film’s premise Holland never lets the material get out of hand or stop being really creepy. Everyone knows who Chucky is by now so the surprise of him being the killer is long gone, however this film was well directed and executed to the point where that didn’t matter. I’m reminded of Friday the 13th (1980) where in the modern era you know who the killer is and yet the film is suspenseful enough that having prior knowledge is mostly irrelevant to the film’s success. Also Brad Dourif brings Chucky to villainous life in a manner that only a good actor can do-after all, playing a doll is tough work. The film also benefits from the Chicago setting, which is utilized properly and adds to the film’s eerie atmosphere.

Plus this film has a great cast: Chris Sarandon in a rare good guy role, Catherine Hicks as Andy’s troubled mom, and of course Dourif plus Alex Vincent, who is one of those child actors that isn’t annoying in a horror movie. Even though killer doll movies aren’t the most scariest in the world, Child’s Play manages to be a really spooky and entertaining horror film with a chilling finale. I look forward to viewing the rest of the series even if my expectations will be lower-I have heard that the second one is rather underrated. The 80s has some really quality horror films and I think that Child’s Play is certainly one of those, even if it falls short of being a truly great horror film.