2. Child's Play 2
If you visit Rotten Tomatoes, you will discover that Child's Play has a higher rating then Child's Play 2. This is total and complete hogwash. I don't know one person who's seen them both that likes the first one better. While you might say that the first film is a better "film", no one can say that it's more fun. You need a certain level of fun for a good Chucky movie. Child's Play 2 has fun in droves. The reason this film is more fun then its predecessor is the same reason most superhero sequels are better than the originals: getting the introduction of the character out of the way allows for much more freedom the second time around. By the time Child's Play 2 starts, we know who Chucky is and we know what he's about. There's no mystery to protect in Child's Play 2. So, while on the surface the film seems like a total rehash -C hucky stalks Andy in order to possess his body - it actually takes on a completely new tone because, now, we as the audience are in on the act. We get to see what Chucky's like on his own. We get to hear Brad Dourif in all his charismatic glory. We get to see Chucky really enjoying himself. We get to watch him set up his victims. We get to be a part of the plan. Whereas the first film went straight horror almost all the way, the second, thanks to more Chucky exposure, lends itself to a slightly more comedic bent. It never goes so far with it that Chucky seems non-threatening, but it does provide a much needed chuckle to relive some pretty serious tension. And there is quite a bit of tension. The first movie put little Andy in danger, but his mom was still right there to protect and believe him. The second movie puts Andy in the foster home system with no family and no friends. His foster mom seems warm to him, but his foster dad isn't sure at all. His foster sister wants nothing to do with him. Andy is alone and under complete suspicion from the start...and then the quacks at the toy company decide to put Chucky's body back together again. Once Chucky finds Andy, he does everything he can to ruin Andy's life. He gets him in trouble at home. He gets him in trouble at school. He murders and maims all around him. Andy's life is hell. What makes it worse is the characterization of the foster parents. While most horror films like to make the victims so obnoxious and one-dimensional that you find yourself glad when the killer shows up to dispense of them, our main adult victims in Child's Play 2 each have real, fleshed-out characters with believable arcs. It would been so easy to make the skeptical foster dad a complete, unapologetic pr*ck. Instead, his fears regarding Andy are played as totally understandable. He never seems out of line given the information he has and he never seems selfish as his concerns seem stemmed in his love for his wife. While the foster mother is played fairly loving and simple in the beginning, always having Andy's back, it's her reaction to Andy following her husband's death that provides the most substance. Her rejection of Andy in the presence of her dead spouse in spite of how much she genuinely cared for the boy is really heartbreaking. It's a small tease of the anger that Andy would face from the whole world in the next film and it shows how much more effective horror always is when you actually care about the bodies that are piling up. Yet, through all the rough spots, Child's Play 2 really amps up the humor. Chucky's spouting of "How's it hangin', Phil?" while dangling ole foster pappy from the basement steps still cracks me up. And nothing beats Chucky staring at his new-found knife-hand and declaring, "I hate kids." Obviously. "Damn, woman drivers!" "Snap out of it! You act like you've never seen a dead body before!" "Let me out of here, Andy! I promise I won't kill anybody else!" The comedy is plentiful. The fact that they went through the trouble of crafting a little Chucky "middle finger" hand just so he could flip somebody off is marvelous. Did I mention this movie was fun? Of course, you can't talk about Child's Play 2 without talking about the effects which are, for the time, quite top notch. Chucky has to be on screen much more in the second film then he did the first, which means the effects work had to really sell him as a living creature. Thanks to a much more versatile puppet, Chucky is able to fluctuate from angry to funny to calm to scary and back again with ease. Besides the scenes of Chucky alive and moving around, the filmmakers have Chucky doing little things with his eyes in scenes where he has to play still that really drive home the situation at hand. It's a total effects commitment and it really works. Then, finally, in some weird form of therapy, the guys behind the film decide to spend the last third destroying their creation in every way imaginable. Andy and his foster sister end up at the Play Pals warehouse surrounded by doll makings and find about six different ways to totally eff Chucky up. From losing his hand, to getting chopped in half, to being burned with wax, to getting his damn head blown up, Chucky absolutely gets his in this film. The carnage is so extreme that none of the films even attempted to copy it afterwards. There's just no way they could. With better effects, more fleshed-out characters, and a greater focus on what made the first film great, Child's Play 2 is easily the best of the Child's Play series. However, it is not the best Chucky film...