I saw the Boy II...

"Brahms: the Boy II" is a sequel (surprise, surprise) to "The Boy" (see May '16 post), and like director William Brent Bell's initial chapter, which oozes a "Psycho", "Magic", "Pin" and (to a lesser, though still evident) "Tourist Trap" angle, "The Boy II" probes its cerebral causes further, along with all the chilling side effects.

In other ways, the sequel is reminiscent of "Dead of Night '45", "The Devil Doll" and Rod Serling's "The Dummy", with a pronounced, supernatural motive. 

This chapter features Katie Holmes' Liza in lieu Lauren Cohan's Greta: the former the concerned mother of the tale's unfortunate antagonist, Jude, played by Christopher Convery. Owain Yeoman is the lad's caring but cynical father, Sean, who's as vexed as Liza over their son's obsession with a dirty doll he comes to call Brahms. Debate regarding the doll's possible cognition ensues, while a series of strange events implies that it's alive. (Ralph Ineson's Joseph helps accentuate the concern, becoming increasingly involved with the family.)

To add fuel to the fire, we learn that Jude was severely jarred by a home invasion, which leaves him mostly mute. It's this sad turn that has led the clan to seek solace within the vicinity of the creepy ol' Heelshire house: nice move! Still, it isn't so much the house's gloomy interiors that haunt the folks, but knowledge of what once roamed them: a wacko who existed in cahoots with Jude's beloved, pale-faced friend. 

Through Brahms' actions are subtle, he does influence the impressionable Jude in an enormous way, making the boy a perfect agent to orchestrate his disturbing games. On this basis, Brahms is a Chucky, Annabelle and Zuni Doll variant, just more patient in achieving his goals. (Perhaps because of his subtleties, one could argue that Brahms comes across as scarier than his more kinetic counterparts.) 

Ultimately, Liza ends up Brahms' object of utter disdain, giving Holmes many scenes to rule (much as she managed in the "Don't be Afraid of the Dark" remake). She's the one we empathize with, the one whose torment tingles our spine the most. (Credit for Liza's identifiable lure goes as well to Bell and Menear, who have a knack for making tension tick.)

On the whole, "The Boy II" is a pretty decent sequel, tipped by a twist that begs exploration. It won't matter if one hasn't seen the first film, and if this sequel is sequelized, it's safe say that it'll perform as the main spark for a full-fledged franchise. (That's generally the way it goes with these set-ups. They start small with an initial, cult entry and then--boom!--a pop-cultural phenomenon is born after the first follow-up.)

As to whether more chapters will, indeed, arrive is pure conjecture, but while the opportunity is at hand, give "The Boy II" a try.  It's weird enough to please most killer-doll/psychotic-killer fans, and for the present, that makes it a veritable success. 

I saw the Boy...

I fancy weird doll/puppet/mannequin stories, whether they're supernatural or psychologically based. My interest piqued in my younger years upon viewing such ventriloquist-dummy movies as “Dead of Night '45”; “Devil Doll '64”; and the "Psycho" structured “Magic”, not to mention such creepy offshoots as "Dead Silence"; “Child’s Play”; “Puppet Master”; "Pin"; "Annabelle"; and “Dolly Dearest." Oh, and then there were all those terrific television shows with their fine variations on the theme, like "Twilight Zone"; “Alfred Hitchock Presents"; "Goosebumps” ; "Mrs. Columbo"; "Boris Karloff's Thriller"; and "American Horror Story".

The latest in this eerie sub-genre, "The Boy" (now available for home viewing), is produced by imagi-movie filmmaker, Tom Rosenberg and directed by "Devil Inside'"s William Brent Bell. It stars Lauren Cohan (yep, dear ol’ Maggie from “The Walking Dead”) as Greta, an American nanny hired by an elderly British couple, the Heelshires (Jim Norton and Diana Hardcastle), to work in a gloomy, old mansion  to tend to...well, this particular doll. 

It’s actually a realistic representation of a boy, thus the film’s title: a kind of uncanny-valley, porcelain-headed thing, which due to its finely sculpted detail, looks almost alive. Greta learns that the eccentric couple lost their son, Brahms, in a fire, and the doll now occupies his spot. In fact, the couple instructs Greta on Brahm's care, ensuring that she treats the fabrication like (in the Pinocchio vein) a real-live boy. That she follow instructions is most important since the couple plans to go away on "holiday". 

The doll actually insinuates behavior, moving from one place to another about the abode when Greta grows lax in her care of it. This prompts her to wonder if the doll isn't, in fact, inhabited by a spirit, and naturally Brahms comes to mind. 

Greta's new boyfriend, Malcolm (Rupert "Man in the High Castle" Evans), enlightens her on the boy's background, which helps explain the Heelshires' ritualistic lament. However, the more Greta tries to come to terms with the situation, the stranger things become, and before long, she finds herself frightened out of her wits by an entity that insists on her love. To complicate matters, Greta's old boyfriend, Cole (Ben Robson) comes to visit, but his need for renewed affection only irritates the odd bond. 

What ultimately develops doesn't quite slip into the territory of a rampaging Chucky or Zuni Doll; but in its own right, "The Boy" does become as relentless as any prior devil-doll incarnation, though with an unnerving, psychological twist, which leaves the conclusion wide open for a sequel. 

Bell makes excellent use of Stacey Menear's haunting script, carefully staging matters so that even when the film borders on familiarity, it still commands one's attention. Though it's hardly a Val Lewton imprint, it also employs enough of the famed filmmaker's shadowy nuances to be a throwback of sorts, raising it above most modern horror fare. 

For Cohan fans, the film will surely satisfy. Like her television persona, Greta remains resourceful throughout and in the home's ominous corridors, wavers between maternal instinct and the desperate need to stay alive. 

The big star of the film, of course, is the doll: an unforgettable entity for all of its simplicity. Daniel Pearl's photography helps much this regard, capturing the prop in such a way to make it look like a catatonic child.

Perhaps, "The Boy" is more an exercise in atmosphere than a cinematic ground breaker, but for those who fancy this sub-genre (and again, I'm one such admirer), this entry will more than hold its own.