In 2016’s The Boy, writer Stacey Menear and director William Brent Bell subverted the killer doll mold with a horror movie that dared not to have a killer doll at all. Throughout, the film teased the possibility of one, possessed by its former owner, Brahms, only to reveal that it was a mere distraction from a more bizarre truth. Brahms never died in the first place; he merely retreated into the walls of the sprawling mansion until his parents could hand deliver a chosen companion. With the shocking twist laid bare and Brahms’ story at its conclusion, how do you keep an audience engaged for a sequel? Not very well, it turns out.

The setup is simple; a home invasion that leaves a family reeling from trauma prompts them to move to the countryside to recoup. Son Jude (Christopher Convery) remains mute, mom Liza (Katie Holmes) suffers from headaches and nightmares, and dad Sean (Owain Yeoman) has no clue how to help – he was away on business when the attack occurred. It turns out that their new cottage home is on the outskirts of the former Heelshire mansion, and Jude stumbles upon the Brahms doll in the nearby woods. Brahms wastes no time implementing his rules, and Jude’s behavior grows increasingly worrisome.

While The Boy chose to explore a creepy doll movie with no actual creepy doll, Brahms: The Boy II decides to revert to generic spooky doll fare. The jig is already up with Brahms’ original puppeteer, but instead of letting ambiguity build mystery or tension, Menear and Bell get straight to the clichés of supernatural hauntings. Whispered voices lure Jude to the exact location of the doll in the woods. Movement out of the corner of the eye that’s just subtle enough to suggest the eye is playing tricks. Then subtlety and finesse go straight out the window; the doll runs amok in the house. Furniture movement, shifting doll eyes, the cliched music stings, and the jump scares that accompany haunted dolls all play out predictably.

There’s no real suspense or stakes, either. It’s clear where this is headed, and there’s no sense of danger or new takes on tried and true tropes to refresh this familiar tale. The only character that offers any sense of mystery is Ralph Ineson as the estate’s caretaker Joseph. At first, it seems the character’s sole purpose is to relay exposition until a scene that arrives far too late gives him much needed scenery to chew. The climax does attempt to provide us with a shocking visual reveal to match the bonkers entrance of Brahms in the first film, but it’s not as well-executed nor does it go full throttle on the horror. It’s more a half-hearted tease of what the film should have been doing all along.

Ultimately, Brahms: The Boy II gives plenty of exposition that allows it to work as a standalone; if you haven’t seen the original you’ll still be fine. It even tries to contradict a lot of what made The Boy work, to its detriment. This sequel succeeds in making Brahms less playful, and much more threatening. But the way the horror operates here makes those threats feel empty. The plot beats and scares all feel stale. The horror plays much too safe. The idea of giving audiences exactly what they thought they were getting in the first film seems smart on paper, but this sequel is too afraid to take any real risks. Brahms might have made for a fun playdate before, but his game has become all too predictable.