6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Chuckie's back as the doll possessed by the soul of a serial killer, butchering all who stand in his way of possessing the body of a boy.
Starring: Alex Vincent, Jenny Agutter, Gerrit Graham, Christine Elise, Brad DourifHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 36% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS 2.0
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Director Don Mancini's Child's Play trilogy and subsequent Chucky sequels aren't exactly unique among fan-favorite horror series. The first installment remains unmatched. Reinvention is the franchise's lifeblood. Camp slowly displaces straight scares. The diabolical baddie becomes more central to the story with each passing film. The human element becomes more and more inconsequential. The kills gorier, the deaths zanier, the body count higher, the satire more pronounced, the entries more niche, and the true series fans that much more ravenous. Like the Friday the 13th, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street sagas before it, the Chucky movies aren't so much about developing a terrifying mythos as they are keeping a franchise alive and kicking. And, like the well-established icons of the genre before it, the series' undying killer has become an indelible fixture in horror, no matter how hit or miss the original Child's Play sequels may be. Chucky has slashed his way through four different decades -- the 1980s (Child's Play), 1990s (Child's Play 2, Child's Play 3, Bride of Chucky), 2000s (Seed of Chucky and 2010s (Curse of Chucky) -- and I suspect this won't be the last.
"Okay, sport. We're gonna have a little game of Chucky Says."
No one will mistake Child's Play 2 for a film shot yesterday. It's grainy, gritty, old school horror grisliness is fully intact, which will no doubt irritate those who enjoy more spit-shine to their catalog titles. However, it's difficult to imagine the sequel's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation looking much better than it does here, with competently saturated colors, strong primaries, inky black levels and some rather striking detail. Grain has been preserved for the most part, chunky as it is (no egregious scrubbing or DNR to report); edges are rather sharp, albeit a tad pronounced; textures are reasonably well-resolved; and the softness that appears traces back to the source. Print damage and encoding issues are also few and far between, and I didn't notice any significant artifacting or banding. The only major eyesore worth mentioning involves a few shots (mainly at the beginning) that suffer from over-cranked contrast, and several more (scattered throughout the film) hindered by unnatural skintones. Otherwise, Child's Play 2 actually impresses.
Child's Play 2 and Child's Play 3 feature comparable DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless stereo tracks. Dialogue is generally clear, intelligible and competently prioritized, and air hiss, muffled lines and other irritations are the exception rather than the rule. The soundscape isn't over-crowded either, with effects and music given plenty of room to breathe. Granted, each film's sound design shows its age, but further remastering work couldn't accomplish much more, unless Universal went back to the original elements and creating new 5.1 remixes. All told, the sequels' lossless tracks are more than serviceable.
The Blu-ray edition of Child's Play 2 includes a standard definition theatrical trailer. Nothing more, nothing less. It doesn't even feature a main menu. It's pop-up menu or bust.
There are certainly worse horror sequels than Child's Play 2, a film whose greatest sins amount to being derivative, predictable and a bit too cheesy. Foster dad neck snaps, anyone? Universal's Blu-ray edition at least features an able bodied video presentation and a solid DTS-HD Master Audio stereo track. There aren't any new extras, or really any extras to speak of (grumble grumble), but as second-parters go, the film itself isn't half bad.
Collector's Edition
1990
Collector's Edition Exclusive Slipcover
1990
Exclusive Slipcover
1990
Collector's Edition
1991
1998
Collector's Edition
2004
Collector's Edition
2013
Collector's Edition
1988
Collector's Edition
2019
2017
1988
Collector's Edition
1988
Collector's Edition
1989
Halloween 8
2002
Collector's Edition
1981
1987
1998
Unrated Producer's Cut | Halloween 6
1995
2003
Collector's Edition
1982
1981
Unrated Collector's Edition
2007
1993