Good morning everyone! Hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday so far. Our great series that is Tiny Terrors continues. Today, I have the pleasure of talking about Child's Play 2 and 3.
To kick things off, let's begin with Child's Play 2.
After the success of Child's Play, a sequel was something fans were hoping for. United Artists were making the sequel originally, before they were bought out. So, Chucky was in need of a home now. Universal Pictures set out to give Chucky a home and helped set up a franchise.
2 years after the original's release, Child's Play 2 was released in theaters. It was written by Don Mancini and directed by John Lafia.
Fun Fact: While researching this, I discovered that originally the film was to open with a courtroom scene of a jury sentencing Karen Barclay to a mental institution for insisting that Chucky was alive. Catherine Hicks and Chris Sarandon would have reprised their roles. Honestly, while it's sad that this didn't happen - the idea would be repurposed for a later film. And the cutting of that scene due to budget constraints helps explain why the film is so short.
Sypnosis:
Andy Barclay has been placed in a foster home after the tragic events of the first film, since his mother was committed. In an attempt to save their reputation, the manufacturers of Chucky reconstruct the killer doll, to prove to the public that nothing was wrong with it in the first place.
In doing so, they also bring the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray back to life. As Chucky tries to locate Andy, the body count rises. Will Andy be able to escape, or will Chucky succeed in possessing his body?
As I had mentioned before, I have been a fan of the Child's Play franchise since I was very young. I had very fond memories of what I thought was the first film. However, over the years, I have since learned that my memories had combined the first two films together. For some reason, I had always thought Andy's mom had been in the opening and then disappeared. (It was the fire place scene from the first film where she confronts Chucky to show he's not just a doll.)
The idea of the Play Pals corporation restarting their Good Guy dolls line to prove all the hearsay of Chucky wrong. It's a very bold move. It also shows how cutthroat the business world can be. This is expanded upon as one of the workers is electrocuted while working on the line. It serves as two fold - reviving Chucky and also how expendable the company views their workers. And then we have our second kill in the film as Chucky murders the corporate assistant.
We are reintroduced to young Andy. He's now 7 or 8 years old and has been placed in the foster care system. It's been very hard since he was taken away from his Mom. He now founds himself placed with the Simpsons, Phil and Joanne. They are also fostering a teenage girl, Kyle.
Chucky then is able to use the corporate yuppy's car and the phone in it to track down Andy's whereabouts. Chucky then suffocates the yuppy before going on his merry way.
The two worst foster parents continuously find ways to prove that they have earned that title with Andy. They even go out of their way to buy a Good Guy Doll. Seriously, why the hell would you get a kid that was traumatized by one of these things another one?? Well honestly for plot convenience. Chucky infiltrates and takes the place of the other doll. This is where the fun begins...we see multiple attempts of Andy trying to tell people about Chucky. He's literally trying to ask for help. Yet nobody is willing to listen or try to help.
This leaves Chucky able to murder and then hide in plain sight. The most well known murder in this film is the school teacher. Chucky is taken from Andy by his teacher. After school, Chucky beats the teacher to death with a meter stick. It's one of the striking visuals in this film.
Andy later on attempts to sneak into the basement to destroy Chucky. However there's such a large commotion that Phil comes to check out the noises. Chucky ends up causing Phil to trip on the stairs and breaks his neck. The blame falls to Andy as Joanne finds the aftermath.
Immediately Andy is sent back to the foster center. Kyle uncovers the remains of the other Good Guy Doll and realizes Andy was right. She goes to Joanne to help to find Chucky's one step ahead of her. He ambushes Kyle and they go to the foster center.
We end up in the endgame of the film as Chucky forces Andy to take him to the Good Guy factory with Kyle in pursuit. By this point, Chucky has been becoming human once again. The visuals on display are so visually striking. Especially as the battle between Andy and Chucky goes on. It gets to the point where we have Chucky smashing a knife into the stump of where his hand use to be.
Surprisingly, Chucky is very competent in this one. He managed to succeed in completing that damn ritual. However, too little too late. This whole end section is phenomenal. My favorite ending to a Child's Play film by far. There is so much tension. But also the stakes are incredibly high.
This film is one of, if not, my favorite entry in the franchise. It hits all the right notes for a sequel. It continues the story of Andy and able to dive deeper into his character. There is just so much right for me. And I would say that a lot of it goes to Don Mancini's writing. Here he was able be unleashed and able to make do with the whole voodoo angle.
Rating: 5 out of 5.
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Child's Play 3 was released 9 months after the second film. Holy crap! The studio was like (in raspy voice), "We need more that Killa Doll stuff! Make it happen!". There are some more recent franchises that released within a 9 month timeframe, but it's kinda gone away. Whenever I hear that I'm instantly reminded of Elm Street and Friday the 13ths.
Watching the film now after knowing it was released 9 months later, it makes me realize how little time they must have had to script the film. Honestly, that's something that's a bit of a shame with how studios work. And there must have been immense pressure to try and top that second film.
Don Mancini once again wrote the film. I applaud him on the story he was able to craft. This is another of the films that is close to my heart. And Mancini's a huge reason why.
Well, Tyler ends up finding Chucky (who was resurrected again and found a way to be mailed to the academy). By now, we know the drill - Chucky must find a way to perform the ritual to the first person that sees him. Well, this time it ain't Andy. He's along for the ride.
Andy finds Tyler with Chucky. Andy gets in a bunch of trouble trying to help Tyler. Probably because Andy can relate to Tyler a bit. Chucky murders a few people. The one that hits my memory the most is when Chucky gives the Sergeant or Barber a close shave. Andy has to stop Chucky to save Tyler.
The biggest set piece in this film for me is the Paintball Wars battle. Chucky brilliantly replaces all the paint ammo with real ammo. That is something that he will always be remembered for. Then to let the kids out on the field. Yeah, you guessed it - a few kids die before everyone catches on. Well, it may be one kid. A kid that was a douche to Andy. Karma will get ya.
Then there's a junkyard that Tyler ran to. Chucky pursued. And it feels a small part like a retread of Child's Play 2's ending. That's okay. They do a solid job with it. And it ends with one of my favorite visuals in all these films - Chucky with half his face sliced off, or better known as Pizza Face Chucky.
Having Andy not be the primary focus for Chucky. That was a great move. It allows a different perspective of things as Andy is now switched to a similar role to Kyle from 2. Also 16 year old Andy is a bit of a badass. This is probably the film I have watched the most. It's like my go to film when I wanna watch a Chucky film. A warm blanket of nostalgia, if you will.
Mancini originally wanted to have multiple Chucky's in the film. Unfortunately that had to be scrapped at this time for budget purposes. This was the first film where they had Chucky's movements synced up to a computer. Pretty groundbreaking for it's time. However, the multiple Chucky idea would be repurposed for Cult of Chucky. I love that Mancini keeps his ideas and waits for the right time to do them.
Solid flick for the amount of time they had to make it. It's a bit of fun.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
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