BRAHMS: THE BOY II is obviously a sequel worth doing just to apply something close to the RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II titling format to the horror genre. It would be especially cool if Brahms, the creepy doll or (SPOILER for part 1) associated human were recruited by the government for a mission only he could pull off, but this is just an ordinary horror sequel. I figure that’s why everyone seemed to be disappointed at the time, and scared me off from seeing it in the theater: the first one did the creepy doll thing well, then got truly inspired with the twists, and instead of building form there they start over with a new variation on the doll thing, leading to a new twist. Not as good. But watching it now, on a whim, with diminished expectations, I appreciated it for what it is.
Like the first one it benefits from a strong female lead, plucked from television. Katie Holmes (also great in DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK) plays Liza, mother of Jude (Christopher Convery, THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB), wife of Sean (Owain Yeoman, who’s in the also-RAMBO-titled CHROMESKULL: LAID TO REST 2). In the well-staged opening we see how Jude likes to sneak up on his mom and scare her, she thinks that’s what he’s up to when she notices he’s not in bed at night – in fact he’s hiding from home invaders. Mom puts up a good fight, but loses. (read the rest of this shit…)
