The doll in “Brahms: The Boy 2” comes with a mischievous smirk and a set of rules. When his new owners find him in the woods, arms stretched toward the heavens, they discover a list of commandments in the toy’s pocket. “Don’t cover thy face,” is rule number two in a short list of demands that, if broken, will lead to certain death. The horror genre also comes with a short list of demands that must be followed: Build a tense mood, a terrifying atmosphere, and tumultuous characters. “The Boy 2” rejects all of these. Instead, director William Brent Bell settles for a basement full of cliches.
No one claims that “The Boy” (2016) was a good movie. But the doll thriller followed the rules and even had a twist. That’s more than can be said for this cash grab sequel, which is stupid. Considering that no one asked for it, and that Lakeshore produced it because there were memes comparing the doll to Jared Kushner, it’s clear that the film’s production was rushed so that it would come out while people were still talking about the franchise. The result is messier than a ten-year-old’s bedroom. Complete with tantrums, doll parts and terrifyingly poor parenting.
The parents in question are Liza (Katie Holmes) and Sean (Owian Yeoman). They aren’t getting along – dad’s never home. And things get worse after a home invasion leaves Liza traumatized and her son, Jude (Christopher Convery in the only memorable performance), mute. He’s your stereotypical possessed kid: He draws demons in his notebook, makes friends with a doll named Brahms and has a therapist who isn’t any help. What could go wrong, Sean thinks, when moving his family to the guest house of a Gothic mansion. A lot, it turns out. The estate is the same one from the original. Which should mean the chilly atmosphere from “The Boy” is back, right?
Wrong. There isn’t the same sense of isolation this time around. Because the setting is over-lit, and Daniel Pearl is no longer the cinematographer, audiences won’t find themselves lost amidst the jagged trees. They will find themselves lost, though. When Jude’s eyes become increasingly darker, his face increasingly paler, you start to wonder just how dumb his parents can be? Do they not see that their son is possessed? Do they not hear things creak in the night? Have they not heard of child protective services?
Eventually, Sean and Liza come to their senses. In a scene that recalls any number of doll movies, the family is eating dinner with Brahms, and the table mysteriously flips. Finally! Some action around here. Well, not exactly. The rare jump-scare sequences, which lack setup and visual style, give us nothing to jump at. Even the groundskeeper (Ralph Ineson), who should have been malicious fun, spends his screen time wandering around aimlessly.
“Wandering around aimlessly” could be this picture’s motto. Despite an 86 minute run time, things move at such a deadly slow pace that audiences will start nodding off before the haunted house climax even begins. It’s here that Bell gets to riff on everything from “Annabelle” to “Child’s Play,” “The Conjuring” to “Rosemary’s Baby.” With the help of a castle and a tracking camera, he builds an ominous mood that had been missing from the previous hour.
Brahms has trapped Jude inside the mansion. Voices of ghosts beckon Liza to go in and find her son. Through dusty hallways and secret passageways, she tiptoes until she discovers Jude in the basement. Lit by a furnace, he and Brahams stand side by side in matching doll masks. Mom breaks down in tears because she realizes that she can no longer protect her son, and we sit up in our seats because, for the first time, the movie has built a tense mood, a terrifying atmosphere and tumultuous characters. Too bad one scene can’t save this hollow cash grab. [D]
