We all have certain movies we love. Movies we respect without question because of either tradition, childhood love, or because they’ve always been classics. However, as time keeps ticking, do those classics still hold up? Do they remain must-see? So…the point of this column is to determine how a film holds up for a modern horror audience, to see if it stands the Test of Time.
DIRECTED BY JOHN LAFIA
STARRING BRAD DOURIF, ALEX VINCENT, CHRISTINE ELISE, JENNY AGUTTER, GERRIT GRAHAM
Man oh man, what a major bummer it was to learn of horror filmmaker John Lafia’s truly tragic death by suicide late last month. Indeed, the writer/director of such beloved and iconic genre joints as THE BLUE IGUANA, CHILD’S PLAY 2, MAN’S BEST FRIEND, not to mention a slew of slept on TV episodes in stuff like Freddy’s Nightmares, Babylon 5, The Dead Zone and others, will be sorely missed by those familiar with his entertaining resume. That said, the work will endure and serve to ensure the man’s lasting legacy. One more time from all of us here at AITH, Rest in Peace Mr. John Lafia!
Speaking of time, let’s lighten this sucker up with a heartfelt celebration, shall we? After all, Lafia’s CHILD’S PLAY 2, arguably his finest film, turns 30 years old this calendar year. The film may have been panned by critics at the time as an ersatz sequel compared to the mortifying novelty of the OG, but in retrospect, has garnered a cult-following among rabid Chucky fanatics. And even among casual filmgoers, the film has become recognized as the best sequel in a lasting franchise that, over time, lost its way en route to becoming a campy, farcical cartoon of self-parodic lunacy. But we’re not here to compare it to the rest of the franchise entries. No, we’re about to find out how well or poorly CHILD’S PLAY 2 has aged over the past 30 years. Let’s go, it’s the Chuckster vs. The Test of Time below!
THE STORY: It’s worth noting up front that, while Don Mancini is rightly credited for the creation of The CHILD’S PLAY franchise, Mancini co-wrote the first film with John Lafia and director Tom Holland. However, when it came time to making CHILD’S PLAY 2, Lafia stepped into the director’s chair while Mancini took sole screenwriting credit. As for the original script for part 2, the film was supposed to open with a courtroom scene involving Catherine Hicks in a reprised role as Andy’s mother, Karen. The scene was nixed but partially recycled in CURSE OF CHUCKY an unlucky 13 years later. Still, Hicks hung around the set during production to keep her husband Kevin Yagher company, the man in charge of the animatronic Chucky doll. Mancini has also expressed that an early draft for the sequel was set during Christmastime, which is why so many Good Guy Dolls are produced in the factory at the end of the film.
Plot-wise, the story finds Andy under the care of a foster family following the tragic events of the first film. He lives with apathetic foster parents Joanne (Jenny Agutter) and Phil Simpson (Gerrit Graham), who have no interest in the little boy’s scarifying PTSD. The only person who cares for Andy in the entire film is his foster sister, Kyle (Christine Elise), a cool and carefree hipster chick with her own unique fashion sense. Meanwhile, the merciless black soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray (the great Brad Dourif), still confined to a charred hunk of plastic, is brought back to life via lightning bolt inside the Good Guy Doll assembly factory. Once Chucky regains sentience, not to mention his obscene sense of humor, he immediately sets out to find Andy and transfer his soul into the little boy’s body before being trapped inside the plastic doll forever. Along the way, a whole lot of mother*cking blood is shed!
WHAT HOLDS-UP: With a jaunty 84-minute runtime, CHILD’S PLAY 2 is not only the shortest film in the franchise, but it’s also the leanest, meanest, and most economical. Very little fat needs trimming from the plot, meaning there are very few scenes that drag on too long, feel superfluous, or do not function to move the plot forward. Even in 2020, the movie flies by at a consistently absorbing clip. The rhythm and tempo keep things engaging throughout, but what really holds up are the superb practical FX work with the animatronic Chucky doll, the concomitant performance by Brad Dourif, the array of unique murder weaponry, artful photography, the slew of jolting jump-scares, and of course, the epic conveyor-belt finale.
The practical FX work in CHILD’S PLAY 2 remains highly convincing even 30 years after it was made. Much of this has to do with the doll being before us in a physical, tangible space rather than generated on a computer somewhere and projected against a green-screen with binary digitations. F*ck that shite! And to not discredit Lafia, but because the animatronic doll failed to work on set so often, primary FX man Kevin Yagher (HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE) reportedly ended up directing several of the complicated scenes with the doll himself. And they all still kick mucho f*cking backside! One of the reasons they work so well is the way in which they designed Chucky’s facial movements. Lafia had all of Brad Dourif’s dialog recorded in advance so they could simply match the doll’s face to the words, rather than vice versa. This allows for seamless lip-synch which further bolsters the credibility of the entire conceit.
The genuine chills in CHILD’S PLAY 2 that remain effective today include several jump-scares. Many of them feature Chucky suddenly entering the frame from above or below, and Lafia does a good job of framing the action tightly so that the abrupt entrance comes as jarring as possible. Moreover, these alarming blasts of pop-out terror come right before a grisly murder, making each scene twice as terrifying. We’ll get into the lasting lethalities below, but the first mention must be made of the scariest non-deadly jump-scare, which is arguably the most suspenseful scene of the entire film as well.
After Andy is taken away by police and brought back to the foster home following Chucky’s attack on Phil, Kyle picks up Chucky and throws him in a garbage can outside. She has a smoke on the swing, where her feet unearth the Tommy Good Guy Doll (reportedly named after Tom Holland). Kyle then slowly walks back to the garbage can in the dark, where brilliant use of light and shadow is on full display by DP Stefan Czapsky (EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, ED WOOD, BATMAN RETURNS), who imbues the entire veneer of the film with iconic horror imagery that continues to frighten. Just like the heart-stopping scene in the original where Karen check’s Chucky’s empty battery pack, when Kyle discovers an empty garbage can, we damn near scat in our shorts!
Now on to the death scenes, most to all of which still retain their grisly potency 30 years later. What remains fresh about the mortalities, in addition to the solid FX work, is the vicious variety of murder weapons at Chucky’s disposal. The foul-mouthed little f*cker wastes little time vitiating his first victim with a large plastic bag swaddled over his face while driving, kicking things off with breathless suffocation. Chucky then outdoes himself with one of the most memorable scenes of the entire franchise. At school, Chucky fools Mrs. Kettlewell (Beth Grant) into thinking Andy misbehaves. Andy gets detention as a result, but not before the teacher locks Chucky in a classroom closet. Upon returning, Kettlewell searches the closet for Andy in a tension-filled sequence of suspense, ending with her catching a ball-pump needle through the neck before being bludgeoned to death with a Good Guys ruler. The array of different facial expressions Chucky shows in the scene alone remains incredibly believable, even when longer shots show Chucky’s clunky and plodding steps as he lunges forward. It’s no surprise that the schoolroom scene was part of the original 1988 script.
The other standout sequence discarded from the script for the original includes the epic factory finale, in which Chucky is reduced to a smoldering pile of eviscerated glop. What an inspired idea to have the place where the Chucky doll was created by the same locale that Charles Lee Ray’s possessive soul is destroyed at the end of CHILD’S PLAY 2! Not only is the setting itself creepily unsettling, a labyrinthine warehouse full of thousands of ominous Good Guy Dolls that Andy and Kyle get lost inside, but the terror is extended through Chucky’s continuous death spree. He plugs two plastic eyeballs into the sockets of an unsuspecting factory worker, for instance, adding graphic carnage candy to the suspenseful stalk-and-slash template the plot operates upon. When Chucky finally jumps out and lands on Andy, the collision of tension and terror strikes down with optimal violent force.
WHAT BLOWS NOW: No pleasure is awarded in saying this, but Alex Vincent’s performance as Andy Barclay eats more loads than a busted washing machine. The kid is way too soft, sensitive, and sappy to even root for, much less believe can defend himself against Chucky’s indefatigable assault. Worse yet, during the climactic showdown inside the Good Guy factory, look at Andy’s facial expression. Not a shred of terror, discomfort, or concern registers on his face as he’s left to climb his way up a conveyor belt for safety. No, the biggest problem with the film is that our sympathies align far greater with Kyle, the disaffected hipster-chick who becomes Andy’s de facto guardian.
THE VERDICT: 30 years and the fact remains devoid of opinion: CHILD’S PLAY 2 is still the best goddamn Chucky-sequel of the entire three-decade franchise! The late John Lafia is responsible for such, creating a genuinely arresting horror sequel that, for one so dependent on practical FX and early animatronics, pushes the original forward in ways many of its successors simply could not. CHILD’S PLAY 2 is short and to the sharpened point, excelling in its splendid FX work, rich cinematography, gorily original death modes, and pitch-perfect finale. With one final shout-out to Brad Dourif’s hilarious and horrifying voiceover, CHILD’S PLAY 2 has so far defied the last 30 years in its Test of Time. Bring on another 30!