Universal must have realized the potential this franchise had and quickly snapped up the rights from MGM after the first movie came out. Writer Don Mancini also must have figured out that his creation of a foul-mouthed killer doll was too good for just one film. The Chucky series would seriously evolve and change over the years but even in this first sequel things are already looking quite different.

Now that the cat is out of the bag and we know that Chucky really is alive and it isn't just Andy's imagination, our killer doll gets much more screen time and his wicked personality has more time to develop. The animatronics have improved and a lot of Chucky's character comes through in his wild facial expressions.

Director John Lafia shoots the film with a bright, playroom color pallet with a higher quality film stock, giving it a more sophisticated sparkle. He's also fully aware of how silly the killer doll concept is and seizes the opportunity for a little bit of that self-aware, sometimes sarcastic humor seen in the later films.

Graeme Revell usually does the most generic horror scores, especially in recent years, but surprisingly he gives Child's Play 2 the best score of the series. With a full orchestra at his disposal, he doesn't hold back on the action cues and even delivers a couple of pretty good themes. So much better than the rotten score to the first film and probably one of the best horror scores of the early 90s.

There isn't much of a story to Child's Play 2 however. It's just the same as the first, with Chucky going after Andy, who is now staying with a foster family, once more. The body count is higher and there are some good kills. I've heard people complain about the 'silly' spanking death of the schoolteacher. Well, this ain't true. Chucky is actually hacking at her. If you look closely you'll see the blood all over the yardstick.

The slick quality and silly nature of CH2 is probably what prompted Universal to stick with the franchise for good and now, two decades later, the franchise is bigger than ever. To think that if MGM held on to the rights, it may never have taken off.

The DVD is in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with a Dolby 2.0 surround soundtrack that actually sounds pretty damn good. Extra features are minimal! It's high time Universal made a Blu Ray for this and the rest of the series.