The Cannon Cruisers

Child's Play 3 (1991) - Slasher Horror

Hey Cannon Cruisers fans! Randy here! Child's Play 3 (1991), directed by Jack Bender and written by Don Mancini, jumps eight years ahead as Andy Barclay is sent to a military academy. When Chucky returns, Andy's attempt at putting the past behind him gets complicated fast. Brad Dourif is back as the voice of Chucky.JD and I continue our trip through the Child's Play series and talk about what happens when the same basic setup reaches a third movie. The unusually short turnaround becomes part of the conversation, especially once we start comparing it with Child's Play 2. From there, we get into how the military-school setting changes the formula and whether this really feels like the end of one version of the series.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of horror violence and real-world violence involving children.

Music by Oleg Fedak from Pixabay

Child's Play 2 (1990) - Slasher Horror

Hey Cannon Cruisers fans! Randy here! Child's Play 2 (1990), directed by John Lafia and written by Don Mancini, picks up after the first film with Andy Barclay placed in foster care. Unfortunately for Andy, Chucky has been rebuilt and is ready to continue what he started. Alex Vincent returns as Andy, with Brad Dourif once again providing Chucky's voice.JD and I continue our trip through the Child's Play series and see what happens when Chucky gets a second outing. We get into how the sequel follows the original, the increasingly elaborate effects work, and some of the choices that start pushing the series in a new direction. There's also that Good Guy factory waiting for us at the end.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of horror violence and gore.

Music by Oleg Fedak from Pixabay

Hey Cannon Cruisers fans! Randy here! This week, JD and I kick off October with Tom Holland's Child's Play (1988), featuring Brad Dourif as the voice of Chucky. After serial killer Charles Lee Ray transfers his soul into a Good Guy doll, young Andy Barclay becomes the only person who knows his new toy is alive while the adults around him try to explain the increasingly strange events that follow.

JD and I talk about how long the film keeps Chucky in the background and what that does to the mystery surrounding Andy. We spend some time on the practical effects and on director Tom Holland, no, not that Tom Holland, whose work has crossed paths with Cannon Cruisers before. From there, we get into the unusual rights history that eventually allowed the 2019 remake to exist alongside Don Mancini's continuing Chucky series, before setting up our October run through the first four films in the Child's Play franchise.

Recording Note: This episode was recorded remotely over Discord. The audio has been cleaned up, but it may still sound a little different from the usual in-person recordings.

Content Warning: This episode contains strong language and discussion of horror violence.

Music by Oleg Fedak from Pixabay

Hey Cannon Cruisers fans, Randy here! This week, JD and I checked out The Dirt Bike Kid (1985), a family fantasy comedy directed by Hoite C. Caston. Written by David Brandes and Lewis Colick from a story by Julie Corman, the film stars Peter Billingsley (Ralphie from A Christmas Story) as Jack Simmons, a dirt-bike-obsessed kid who spends his mother's grocery money on a dirt bike that has a mind of its own.

So, as it turns out, the movie is basically a retelling of the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk. Instead of magic beans, we get a magical dirt bike that behaves more like a mischievous animal than a normal motor vehicle. Obviously, this sends JD and me down the Corman and Concorde rabbit hole as we notice... some... similarities and interesting connections between this film and Cannon Cruisers "favourites" The Skateboard Kid and The Skateboard Kid 2. But mostly, we spend the episode wondering why the magic bike is such a jerk.

Recording Note: This episode was recorded remotely over Discord. The audio has been cleaned up, but it may still sound a little different from the usual in-person recordings.

Content Warning: This episode contains mature language and discussion of mature themes.

Hey Cannon Cruisers fans! This week we're checking out Bingo (1991), a family comedy adventure directed by Matthew Robbins and written by Jim Strain. Robert J. Steinmiller Jr. plays Chuckie, a boy who befriends a runaway circus dog shortly before his family moves across the country. When Bingo is left behind, he sets off after Chuckie, with Cindy Williams and David Rasche playing Chuckie's parents.

The episode spends a lot of time trying to work out how a simple boy-and-his-dog movie keeps drifting into live-action cartoon logic. That brings Mouse Hunt back into the conversation, while North becomes an unexpectedly useful comparison for just how strange a family comedy can get. JD and Randy also circle back to a simpler question: is Bingo actually a cult classic, or does everyone just remember the poster?

Recording Note: This episode was recorded remotely over Discord, so you may notice occasional pauses and differences in audio quality.

Content Warning: This episode contains mature language and discussion of mature themes.

Hey Cannon Cruisers fans! This week we're checking out The Sheep Detectives (2026), a family mystery comedy directed by Kyle Balda. Craig Mazin adapted the film from Leonie Swann's novel Three Bags Full. Hugh Jackman stars as George Hardy, a shepherd who spends his evenings reading murder mysteries to his flock. When George dies under suspicious circumstances, the sheep decide they've heard enough detective stories to solve the case themselves, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, and Chris O'Dowd among the voices bringing the flock to life.

The conversation gets into how a movie about talking sheep manages to play surprisingly straight as a cozy mystery, while still feeling like the kind of family film that might have appeared in the 1990s. Some of the smallest background jokes end up getting a lot of attention, including Randy's growing confusion over why one tiny town has so many neon signs. The episode also wanders into the movie's more thoughtful side and the question of how something this silly managed to hit Randy in the feels.

Hey Cannon Cruisers fans! This week we're checking out Mouse Hunt (1997), Gore Verbinski's feature directorial debut and one of DreamWorks' earliest releases. Written by Adam Rifkin and starring Nathan Lane, Lee Evans, Maury Chaykin, and Christopher Walken, the film follows two brothers who inherit a valuable old mansion and discover that one very determined mouse has no intention of letting them sell it.

Much of the conversation comes back to just how completely Mouse Hunt commits to being a live-action cartoon. JD and Randy compare its slapstick to Tom and Jerry and older comedy teams, while spending some time on how Verbinski and the effects crew make that approach work in live action. There's also some discussion of why this particular kind of family movie seemed to disappear after the 1990s. Most importantly, Randy stayed awake for the whole thing.

Hey Cannon Cruisers fans! This week we're covering North (1994), Rob Reiner's family comedy adventure based on the novel by Alan Zweibel. Elijah Wood stars as a twelve-year-old who divorces his parents and travels the world looking for replacements, with a huge supporting cast that includes Bruce Willis, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Dan Aykroyd, Kathy Bates, Reba McEntire, John Ritter, and Scarlett Johansson.

JD and Randy revisit one of the most infamous failures of the 1990s and quickly discover that the strange part isn't how badly made North is. It isn't badly made at all. The acting, direction, music, and cinematography only make the confused story and increasingly uncomfortable stereotypes harder to understand. An 87-minute movie somehow feels closer to three hours, and by the time they reach the ratings, even the thunderstorm outside seems ready for the episode to end.

Content Warning: This episode includes discussion of racist stereotypes and other mature themes.

Hey Cannon Cruisers fans! This week we're finishing the series with Class of 1999 II: The Substitute (1994), a direct-to-video sci-fi action horror sequel directed by Spiro Razatos from a story by Mark L. Lester. Sasha Mitchell stars as John Bolen, a mysterious substitute teacher who arrives at another violent high school two years after the events of Class of 1999. Caitlin Dulany and Nick Cassavetes also star as the series shifts from killer robot teachers to a slasher-like spin on the same battle between students and authority.

JD and Randy agree that the third movie works better than they expected, especially once the action gets moving and Razatos' stunt background takes over. JD's real enemy is the title, which he spends the episode arguing should have remained Class of 2001, while Randy is amused that the killer-teacher movie he half-jokingly pitched during the previous episode is pretty close to what they actually got. Most importantly, Randy managed to stay awake this time.

Content Warning: This episode contains mature language and discussion of mature themes.

Hey Cannon Cruisers fans! This week we're covering Class of 1999 (1990), Mark L. Lester's dystopian sci-fi action film and spiritual sequel to Class of 1984. Starring Bradley Gregg, Traci Lind, Pam Grier, John P. Ryan, Stacy Keach, and Malcolm McDowell, the film imagines a future where violent high schools turn to military androids as teachers. Their solution to juvenile delinquency soon becomes a bigger problem than the students themselves.

JD and Randy compare it with Class of 1984 and find a movie that barely resembles its predecessor beyond the basic idea. This time Mark L. Lester seems more interested in RoboCop, The Terminator, and the action chops he picked up making Commando. The teenage acting splits them, with JD finding its school-play quality charming while Randy is considerably less forgiving. What they do agree on is how much fun the veteran cast is having and how well the practical effects still work. Randy may have liked it more than Class of 1984, but apparently not enough to stay awake.

Content Warning: This episode contains mature language and discussion of mature themes.