film #3 of hooptober part vii: the new blood as loved as it is among the horror community, the original child's play doesn't quite get the mainstream appreciation that it deserves. the 1988 killer doll movie is a ridiculous amount of fun and does some great things with one of the conceptually goofiest serial killers of the horror genre. like any successful film, it had to have a sequel of course -- and if it did, then it got the best one it could have in child's play 2. back to write the script for this one as well, don mancini avoids the well-worn path of most slasher sequels in abandoning the characters of the first film or killing off the protagonist in the first scene. instead, we follow alex vincent as andy barclay on another adventure dealing with the possessed doll chucky, and it's again quite a bit of fun. there are certainly flaws to this film. notably, vincent is still not a great actor by this point and his attempts to sell the scenes don't always work. the film takes a few narrative shortcuts here and there that undersell the scares too. but this film also has the adorable relationship between andy and fellow foster kid kyle, played by christine elise as a juvenile delinquent with a ton of heart. add in some savvy performances by jenny agutter and gerrit graham as the foster parents and beth grant as the horrible teacher miss kettlewell, and you have plenty to keep this film going. and, of course, brad dourif kills it (pun intended) as chucky. the animatronic work is stellar and, not having to toy with whether chucky's actually evil or not like the first film, this one can go wild with the concept. and of course, that final act in the factory is a delight. child's play may be a marginally better film, but its successor is no slouch by any measure.