Reviews (1) 
the first deserves 5, the sequel 3
The original is written and directed by Michael Cohn, clearly inspired by The Silence of the Lambs, with a heroine (Ally Walker) being an outsider brought in to a resentful police team to track a serial killer, with some touches added from Psycho. The title of course refers to the children's lullaby Rock a Bye Baby which is appropriate since the story involves a killer of children with an odd fetish for their hands. The fact that this profiler from Texas' Criminal Division makes the case breakthroughs is reason enough to practically dismiss Martin Sheen and his Houston detectives from the investigation. And like Clarice Starling, she gets a solo confrontation with the killer. What makes the narrative so intriguing is the connection Walker makes with a mute child in an asylum, who is used the same way Clarice used Hannibal Lector. Cohn directs superbly, with minimal use of music, and provides 2 noteworthy edits - one from the mention of a psychiatric hospital to a tooting train, and the other from a police mug shot to a face in a door hole viewer. Walker gives her character an appealing oddness, speaking softly, and she doesn't play too much with her hair, and though Sheen isn't around much, his presence is welcome. In the sequel, Walker is replaced by Kelly McGillis, and Cohn has also left. Whilst it is pleasing to see a sequel which adds to character rather than simply give the same character another killer to track, ironically it is this focus that lessens the film. And whilst this development provides an explaination for Ally Walker's character behaviour in the first film, having it spelled out changes eccentricity to a disappointingly clinical diagnosis. The profiler is now working for the Texas Rangers, but she has been suspended because of a perceived psychological breakdown, seemingly unrelated to the incidents of the first film. The treatment then makes a connection between McGillis' past and a new serial killer, this one leaving his victims sitting in doll-like poses. This investigation seems have days where nothing is done except McGillis reflecting on the photos she has pasted on her hotel room walls. Once again the detectives are resentful of her being brought in, but as a result of this inactivity, (it takes forever for them to work out something obvious to the audience from the beginning) we get another victim. Unlike the first film however, here the identity of the killer is given, which actually works for David Keith who plays him, in one of the best performances I have seen him give. Although McGillis' mental condition is relevant, a romance subplot reads as padding, and though she is good at nervous anger McGillis overdoes the pouting. Once again the heroine is given a Clarice Starling face-off to recall Silence of the Lambs again and also the original film. Director Howard McCain lacks Michael Cohn's skill, even if he occasionally provides a nice edit - the throwing of a pack of cards onto a table and a cut to lights coming on in a morgue. Doing Martin Sheen this time is Bruce Dern who brings depth to his small role, and in spite of the empathy Joely Fisher has from her TV Ellen appearances, she is wasted here.
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Its been cut!
great movie