Child's Play 2.

Review #2287: Child's Play 2.

Cast: 

Alex Vincent (Andy Barclay), Brad Dourif (the voice of Chucky), Christine Elise (Kyle), Jenny Agutter (Joanne Simpson), Gerrit Graham (Phil Simpson), Grace Zabriskie (Grace Poole), Peter Haskell (Haskell Sullivan), Beth Grant (Elizabeth Kettlewell), and Greg Germann (Mattson) Directed by John Lafia.

Review: 

Honestly, I forgot about Chucky. If you remember, the original film came out in 1988 as inspired by the experiences of Don Mancini involving consumer demand for the Cabbage Patch Kids while he was studying film at UCLA. The resulting film had clear influence from stuff such as the TV film Trilogy of Terror, The Twilight Zone, A Nightmare on Elm Street, among others. Of course, it wasn't all Mancini, because there were key re-writes done that resulted in Tom Holland and John Lafia given credit for the screenplay alongside Mancini. Holland was the one who had it involve a doll possessed by a serial killer involving voodoo, as opposed to Mancini's doll manifesting "the id", while Lafia stated his biggest contribution was the backstory of the killer-turned-doll and the name Chucky (inquire further). The eventual result was a hit with audiences that obviously necessitated a sequel. Lafia, the previous director of exactly one film with The Blue Iguana (1988), was chosen to direct (as it turned out, it was the second of three theatrical films he did to go along with work in TV, music, and even the live-action aspects of the video game Corpse Killer prior to his suicide in 2020). The second film was successful enough with audiences to inspire, well, you already know. A third film was rushed out into theaters nine months after the release of the second film with Mancini returning to write (with Jack Bender being tapped to direct) and Dourif being the long returning actor (Justin Whalin replaced Alex Vincent to play an older Andy).

Admittedly, it doesn't have as much staying power that the original had when it comes to sheer audacity in its premise of a killer with the perfect timing to wreak havoc in a particular family atmosphere. But it is solid enough to at least work in some useful enough slasher thrills without straining too much in credibility to work out for those who know what they're getting into. For better or worse, the movie sidesteps the two key adults from the last film (Chris Sarandon and Catherine Hicks), instead focusing right on Vincent and a plot that mostly involves "Chucky did it" after one gets the setup to bringing back the once-burned, multiple-timed shot threat back with a somewhat amusing method: public relations and an electric power surge. I suppose someone must've dozed off watching a Frankenstein movie or two in their days, but there is one more caveat at least: Chucky either needs to get moving on doing his voodoo ritual (which if one remembers has to be done on Andy) or he'll be stuck in the doll forever. The acting is serviceable for what is needed in getting a solid body count setup without being too dull for words, complete with Dourif (whose dialogue was recorded in advance, unlike the first film) being just as effective as he was before when it comes to further craven desires of escape at any cost (Ed Gale does a few moments with in-suit stunt performing as before). Vincent is no slouch for his age of course, because he makes the plight of the once-and-future doll survivor work in worthwhile sympathy and curiosity for the rough surroundings that befall him, with only the offbeat Elise around for useful rapport. Agutter and Graham are fine, but let's face it, the most interesting moment is seeing what happens with skepticism going down the gutter to (film) reality. The slasher sequences carry the movie right through 84 minutes in swift dealing to go along with a climax in a bewitching enough warehouse and a fitting closing that just lets the film end on its own wayward path. Child's Play 2 is a decent enough sequel with a few interesting slasher moments to prove worthwhile in the attempt at making a killer doll return something worth being curious about.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Body Snatchers (1993).

Review #2095: Body Snatchers.

Cast: 

Gabrielle Anwar (Marti Malone), Terry Kinney (Steve Malone), Billy Wirth (Tim Young), Meg Tilly (Carol Malone), Reilly Murphy (Andy Malone), Christine Elise (Jenn Platt), R. Lee Ermey (General Platt), Forest Whitaker (Major Matthew Collins), and Kathleen Doyle (Diana Platt) Directed by Abel Ferrara (#1963 - The Driller Killer)

Review: 

"Body Snatchers was kind of laid on me. It wouldn't have been my choice. If I was going to make that movie from scratch, I would stick to the original from 1956 where the event happened in a town where he grew up in so he kind of knew everyone and realized who was changed and who wasn't. With the military, it's training."

Admittedly, this film has a hard ground to get over in being the third film adaptation of the novel The Body Snatchers (1956) by Jack Finney. You might already know the first version as directed by Don Siegel in 1956, or perhaps the 1978 version as directed by Philip Kaufman (as was the case with the 1978 film, Robert H. Solo served as producer for this film). But here we are with a third film that was directed by Abel Ferrera, fresh off the results of Bad Lieutenant (1992), an NC-17 rated film that is now thought of as a cult classic; this was the first sci-fi film Ferrera did, as I'm sure you can tell from a director considered a cult favorite for those who read into that. But this was a production that was distributed by Warner Bros and made for a budget of $13 million, what could go wrong? Well, Ferrera groused at the fact that he had to film with a setting that is distinct from the previous films, because it takes place on a military base. The screenplay was written by Stuart Gordon, Dennis Paoli, and Nicholas St. John while the story had been done by Raymond Cistheri and Larry Cohen. Anyway, Warner Bros. had planned to release the film in 1992...and then they decided that Innocent Blood would match well in that time when compared to the handful of horror films packed around that time such as Candyman and Bram Stoker's Dracula. So, instead, the film made a run on the festival circuit (such as Cannes, I am serious) and then was dumped. To put it lightly, Warner Bros. should have felt deep shame that they let this film get released to less than a thousand theaters, but, well, here we are. Incidentally, this film was released 15 years after the 1978 version, and the next rendition of the Finney work would come 14 years later with The Invasion (2007).

In a different era, conformity striking its tendrils upon the individual happens all the same just as much as it did in the 1950s or the 1970s. It can't really hold a candle to the previous adaptation when it comes to paranoia or all the gobbledygook that folks say made it better than the original (debatable at the very least), but I enjoyed this one as an embrace of sticking out in violent oddness more than anything. How many films have the stones to have a scene that depicts a kid getting bopped out of a helicopter? The threat present is one that lives among a structure that undoubtedly would have little trouble living undetected: the military structure of rules and order. And, this time around, it also looks upon the family structure (one bit of dialogue relates a feeling of "replaced" when it comes to describing a stepmother) and gives it a nice kick in the stomach with a film that might as well dwell in chaotic order, complete with looking upon the feeling that has to come when seeing a bunch of tendrils upon you and a slowly growing lookalike version lurks nearby. Admittedly, the cast with its lead has hard ground to cover, since one has moved from town doctors and health inspectors to a youth (okay, 20-year-olds playing minors, but still). But Anwar makes a worthy focus because of the vulnerability that comes through in reacting to the conformity that occurs around these strange military man and among the family around her that makes for compelling entertainment in the build of alienation. Kinney and Tilly are two ends of the "ordinary parent pod", which proves interesting for the inevitable confrontation of conformity crashing into chaos, as signified best by the sequence revealing the end of the normal version of the latter complete with decay that looks neat. I'm not too big on Wirth, but then I realize that anybody with a seeming pulse that looks like they care more than the usual guy lackey would seem interesting to Anwar, so that's fine. The most interesting person to probably react to the pod stuff in support is either Elise (edgy looking folks, cool) or Whitaker, although the latter is best spent in their last scene about the reaction to seeing offers of conformity. Ermey is probably underused, but he's a neat presence to see for a bit anyway. In general, I get a kick out of the movie because its 87-minute runtime makes for a generally involving good time of intense interest that rewards viewers that appreciate a good effects show but also a good show about the desolation of authority and family when it comes to pods that want for the thoughts to sound alike. Granted, the ambiguity of the ending is probably not as enduring as the aforementioned last one, but at the end of the day, well, "Where you gonna go?" is still a pretty good one to look upon, as one can't stay up forever nor seemingly trust anyone. It seems strange that Ferrera groused a bit at being wrapped with a military base setting rather than one that honed closer to the 1956 film, because in the end he made an interesting film that is entertaining in its own merit of being more than just a remake. For the folks interested in a degree of horror from a director with a distinct manner for weaving a film in his own way, this is a pretty good one to sift through.

 

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Next up: The Mummy (1959).