If you’ve seen the first film then chances are you’re curious about the sequel. However, Brahms: The Boy II isn’t necessarily a film that requires you to have seen the first film. That’s because the film changes the narrative of what happened in the first film. This isn’t the inner workings of a deranged man living in the walls of the house. Instead, something more supernatural is going on. So the film is a self-contained film instead of a sequel. You know the history of Brahms in the last film and nothing is expanded on.
Unfortunately, Brahms isn’t that scary either. The film relies too heavily on jump scares and not on the creepiness of the creepy-looking doll. There’s no buildup nor anticipation. It just goes through the paces of telling the story with random scares sprinkled in-between.
Not to mention, the story is incredibly predictable and follows some of the same tropes in those kinds of films. So if you’ve seen one possessed doll horror film then you’ve seen this one too. Also, much of the film relies on your feelings towards Jude and his family. But the traumatic events that befall the family doesn’t entirely work here. A lot of that is because everything happens too quickly into the film. So you never care for Jude once he starts going crazy.
It also doesn’t help that Katie Holmes doesn’t seem to give it her all in the heroine role. Her performance doesn’t add to the urgency or scares—it’s such a wooden performance.
Overall, Brahms: The Boy II is a very generic sequel that never really delivers on the scares. However, if jump scares are your thing then you’ll likely be mildly entertained by this film—whether you enjoyed the first film or not. But if you’re like me and prefer more depth in a horror film then you might want to skip this one.
Movie Rating: 2.5/5 atoms
Video
Brahms: The Boy II hits Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG-AVC with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The picture has a strong contrast which provides the picture with some depth. The brightness gives a bright white during the daytime scenes. However, during the darker scenes, the brightness of the picture goes significantly down to the point of major crush in the dark shadow areas. While this does help with the anxiety of what looms in the dark, there are a ton of areas in the picture where it’s seemingly a solid black shape. When it comes to colors, the colors have a natural-looking saturation to them. The picture is also incredibly clear—something you can see in the dirt and forest texture. Overall, this is a decent video transfer despite the black level issues.
Video Rating: 4/5 atoms
Audio
Brahms: The Boy II hits Blu-ray with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. Unfortunately, the mix isn’t too dynamic nor immersive. It’s mostly a static mix meaning that there isn’t a ton of sound that incites your fears or anxiety. That being said some scenes completely immerses you—such as the scene where Liza is going through the old Heelshires house. However, those moments are few and far between. Most of the sound that envelops the soundstage comes from the large boom that comes from the various jump scares. Also, you’ll notice that the scary-sounding sound effects are made louder to make each jump scare scarier. At the same time, Brett Detar’s creepy score dynamically plays its instruments across the soundstage and the dialogue is really clear. Overall, this is a decent sounding mix.
Audio Rating: 4/5 atoms
Special Features
Brahms: The Boy II‘s Blu-ray disc has the following special features on Blu-ray disc:
- Alternate Ending
- Deleted and Alternate Scenes
- Extended Nightmare
- Brahms Watches TV
- Mould Number
- You Don’t Understand
- Jude’s Drawings
- Doll Maker
For the most part, the alternate ending stays relatively the same as the theatrical cut. The only major difference comes when Brahms comes back to life. Instead of a burnt face, it’s creepier but also something that has some very noticeable green screen work on the face of the doll. At the same time, the alternate and deleted scenes never provide anything substantial to the theatrical cut of the film. Also, they’re not very interesting either.
Special Features Rating: 1/5 atoms
Overall, Brahms: The Boy II is a film that doesn’t quite know what to do with itself. It’s a sequel that doesn’t expand the story of Brahms and it also tries to backtrack on the interesting ending of the first film. The video transfer looks decent and the audio mix is a bit dull as well. To top it all off, the special features are also severely lacking.
Overall Rating: 3/5 atoms
This Blu-ray was reviewed using a retail/advance copy/unit provided by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
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