Brahms: The Boy II is a 2020 horror film directed by William Brent Bell (The Boy, Stay Alive, The Devil Inside, & Wer). It’s a sequel to 2016’s The Boy. It was written by Stacey Menear (The Boy & Mixtape). It was produced by Tom Rosenberg (Phoenix, Sugar Hill, Underworld franchise, & Crank 1/2), Gary Lucchesi (Million Dollar Baby, Primal Fear, The Lincoln Lawyer, & The Boy), & Eric Reid (Gamer, The Midnight Meat Train, Peppermint, & I, Frankenstein). It was released direct to video in Spain. The budget was $10 million & it grossed $20.3 million worldwide at the box office!!!!
A home invasion leaves Liza (played by: Katie Holmes from Batman Begins, Disturbing Behavior, The Gift, & Logan Lucky) with a head injury & her son Jude (played by: Christopher Convery from Gotham, Stranger Things, & The Girl in the Spider’s Web) so traumatized that it leaves him silent for months. Along with her husband Sean (played by: Owain Yeoman from The Mentalist, Generation Kill, Chromeskull: Laid to Rest 2, & Troy), they move across country to the Heelshires’ property. While exploring the woods, Jude finds a porcelain doll buried in a shallow grave in the ground & dusts off the dirt before deciding to take him home. Liza and Sean believe he is using the doll to express his feelings but it becomes more sinister with the doll laying down his rules. Jude becomes withdrawn in his room, carrying the doll with him wherever he goes. The parents soon learn the evil history of the doll with all the killings & suicides. Strange stuff starts happening around the house & Jude gets weirder. Family members start to get hurt while near Jude & Brahm. Liza & Sean try to bring their boy back to normal before it’s too late. Can they overpower the evil Brahm? Or Has their son become the same as the sinister doll????
I thought the original film was better than this but it’s still a solid sequel. It’s slow at the times & it’s one of those movies that really builds up the finale so you have to be patient with it. The script tired together everything leading to the first one which was nice & it had some suspenseful moments towards the 2nd half. All three leads were solid & it’s good to see Katie Holmes in a bigger production again. I loved the look of Brahm, his approach is very different compared to other killer dolls. He’s more psychological & he has more mystery to him because some of stuff he does is off screen. It keeps you guessing & wondering about the Jude character here. It’s a very tame horror film, it’s something you can show to children without worrying about it messing them up or giving them nightmares because it’s not graphic at all. Honestly, I prefer them to be a darker & Rated R because they feel watered down to me but then again the first one was the same way. Brahms: The Boy II is decent but it’s nothing special so you might want to rent or stream this before adding it to your collection. If you were a big fan of The Boy then you will most likely love this sequel, a decent amount of people actually thought it was better but I disagree with that!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Universal! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks great on blu ray. The main location really shines here & it’s creepy. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English: Dobly Digital 5.1, & English: DTS-HD Master Dolby Digital 2.0 on the release. The Boy II has it’s moments when it comes to sound but it could have been better. The dialogue is crystal clear, the music has a nice boost to it, & all the suspense is elevated here. It has English SDH, French, & Spanish subtitles.
Let’s discuss the special features from Universal! It has a little over 8 minute “Alternate Ending”. Wow, I actually preferred this ending to the theatrical version, I wish the would have used this one instead! It has 6 “Deleted and Alternate Scenes” that are almost 10 minutes. I can see why most of this didn’t make the final cut. There’s a few I am surprised didn’t end up in the film considering it’s kinda short as it is. It’s still nice extras to have & definitely better than being a bare bones release. There’s not much here but it’s still a different look for The Boy sequel. It also comes with a slipcover, a digital code, & a DVD copy of the release. It’s available everywhere right now!!!!
