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[tab title="Movie Review"]

Brahms: The Boy II

It's the sequel no one wanted.  Go in knowing this.

The opening few minutes of Brahms: The Boy II are this film’s best.  Shocking and thrilling, an unsuspected home invasion rocks the idyllic world of Liza (Katie Holmes, Dawson’s Creek) and her son Jude (Christopher Convery, The Girl in the Spider’s Web).  It’s a truly terrifying moment in a film that works incredibly too hard to provide even more shocks thanks to a porcelain mask worn by a troubled youngster.  

"sloppy, boring, and definitely not worth sticking through"


 

Soon, Liza, Jude, and Sean (Owain Yeoman, The Belko Experiment) are moving.  It makes sense that they would surrender city life for a spell in the country.  Jude, as a result of the attack, refuses to talk and months of therapy aren’t doing much for him, nor does Liza feel safe anymore, still dreaming about the attack.

Enter Brahms’ backyard.  Remember him?  The supposedly unmoving porcelain doll from the 2016 film is back and Jude’s family are his targets.  The family, absolutely enthralled with a new property located BEHIND the creepy house in the original film, moves in quickly and, surrounded by healthy-looking 12-gauges, feel immediately at home.{googleads}

Except for one thing: Jude has discovered, in a shallow grave, a familiar porcelain doll and his entire wardrobe.  The two are fast friends and, as Liza catches flashes of movement from the doll but quickly dismisses them, life for the young boy returns to normal.  He’s actually talking to Brahms!

The family is convinced the doll must stay.  In spite of its creepiness and the nights of terror brought about by Brahms just sitting there in the chair next to Jude’s bed, the family decides to welcome the doll with open arms.

Big mistake.  Unfortunately, logic does not follow, nor do the same rules abided by in the original film come into play as Liza becomes the only family member to think that Brahms is behind their sudden scares and uneasiness in the house.  The film  - complete with bugs flying out of the doll’s mouth as its big shocker - is one big disappointment, undermining itself and what worked so well in the first film.Brahms: The Boy II

From an exhaustive use of jump scares to a rotating doll’s head, Brahms: The Boy II is a problematic misstep that even Holmes, upon the discovery of her own son’s demented journal, can’t make stay afloat.  What follows in director William Brent Bell’s sequel to his own film is a mess of horror shtick antics and movie madness that completely undermines what worked in the original outing.  Strange, too, because the film was even written by the same screenwriter, Stacey Menear, but here, with this narrative, no one can pull it off.

Brahms: The Boy II is sloppy, boring, and definitely not worth sticking through - even if Ralph Ineson (The Witch) co-stars in it as the concerned groundskeeper.  Abandon ship.

1/5 beers

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Brahms: The Boy II

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Universal
Available on Blu-ray
- May 19, 2020
Screen Formats: 2.39:1
Subtitles
: English SDH, French, Spanish
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set; DVD copy
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

Unaware of the terrifying history of Heelshire Mansion, a young family moves into a guest house on the estate where their young son soon makes an unsettling new friend, an eerily lifelike doll he calls Brahms. Katie Holmes stars as a mother who increasingly becomes uneasy and terrorized by her son's new supernatural "friend."   This release from Universal includes a Blu-ray, DVD and a digital copy of Brahms: The Boy II.

Video:

Presented on blu-ray courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, the 1080P MPEG-4 AVC encoded video with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio is every bit as detailed as it should be. Staying true to its genre are the black levels that are inky and surprisingly deep. The wardrobes are textured and the home itself is loaded with specificity that the transfer beautifully captures. Skin tones and color elements – while stylistically muted – are good throughout. 

Audio: 

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround audio track is full of atmosphere and kicks in with good scares from time to time.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • None

Special Features:

Last time, purchasers of The Boy got nothing.  This time we get a collection of deleted scenes and an alternate ending.  Nothing of any real value, though.

  • Alternate Ending
  • Deleted/Alternate Scenes

Blu-ray Rating:

  Movie 1/5 stars
  Video  3/5 stars
  Audio 3/5 stars
  Extras 1/5 stars

Overall Blu-ray Experience

2/5 stars

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[tab title="Film Details"]

Brahms: The Boy II

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for terror, violence, disturbing images and thematic elements.
Runtime:
86 mins
Director
: William Brent Bell
Writer:
Stacey Menear
Cast:
Katie Holmes, Owain Yeoman, Christopher Convery
Genre
: Horror
Tagline: H
e's Made a Friend.
Memorable Movie Quote: "I think we're gonna like it here Brahms... as long as they follow the rules"
Theatrical Distributor:
STX Entertainment
Official Site: https://www.theboy.movie/
Release Date:
February 21, 2020.
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
May 19, 2020.
Synopsis: Unaware of the terrifying history of Heelshire Mansion, a young family moves into a guest house on the estate where their young son soon makes an unsettling new friend, an eerily lifelike doll he calls Brahms. Katie Holmes stars as a mother who increasingly becomes uneasy and terrorized by her son's new supernatural "friend."

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[tab title="Art"]

Brahms: The Boy II

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