Picking up a year or two after its predecessor, "Child's Play 2" tells a more slapdash, less meticulously sculpted narrative. The strength of two lead performances and a thrilling factory-set third act boasting undeniable showmanship finally impresses, though. While his mom gets treated at a mental facility, Andy (Alex Vincent) is taken in by foster parents Joanne (Jenny Agutter) and Phil Simpson (Gerrit Graham). Hindering Andy's adjustment to his new surroundings is the frightful return of Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif), newly rebuilt and still out to take over the boy's body before his doll frame turns completely human. Directed by John Lafia (later of 1993's "Man's Best Friend"), "Child's Play 2" is a mostly straight-faced shocker, more in the mold of a slasher flick than the original was, that isn't quite as effective because Chucky is front-and-center for so much of it. The mystique might have faded, but the psychopathic Chucky is still an apt threat, indelibly voiced by Brad Dourif. Murder-and-mayhem conventions are obligatory, but the likable turns from Alex Vincent, back as Andy, and Christine Elise (1993's "Body Snatchers"), as caring teenage foster sister Kyle, are possibly the best thing about the film. When Vincent and Elise are onscreen, the death and mayhem around them feels like an afterthought.