Curse of Chucky

Chucky was always my favorite of the many serial killers that sprouted from the 70's and 80's slasher films. Sure, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Pinhead, Leatherface and Freddy Krueger were all instrumental in my fascination and divulgence into the horror genre - but the possessed Good Guys doll by the name of Chucky was always my favorite of the tentpole franchises.

It is hard to fathom that it was 25 years ago when Chucky was first launched into our pop culture references with Child's Play. Directed to Tom Holland on a story by Don Mancini, the 1988 horror surprised most everyone with a $35 million box office gross against a paltry $9 million budget.

Sequels ensued with Child's Play 2 (1990), Child's Play 3 (1991), Bride of Chucky (1998) and Seed of Chucky (2004). Through each film, the horror seemed lessened by the increasing use of black humor scattered amongst the bloodshed.

This is not to suggest that the Child's Play franchise lost its way, but it did veer off the original path. This deviation was not lost of creator Don Mancini who takes charge behind the camera for Curse of Chucky now available on VOD.

In this sixth edition of the evil doll's murderous exploits, Chucky is shipped from a police evidence lockup to a home of a young woman, Nica, confined to a wheelchair since birth. Chucky's first victim alienates the young woman and when other family and friends arrive at the house to comfort Nica, it allows for a higher body count and a night of mayhem. Nica is able to put the pieces together to eventually figure the doll at the centre of the bloodshed, but her limited mobility will be both a benefit and a hindrance on her ultimate survival.

We've come a long way since 1988 and Mancini has more digital tricks up his sleeve to bring the doll to life. Some might balk at the idea of a CGI motioned doll, but take our word for it, the added computer detail only adds to Chucky's evil looks. There are a few scenes where our villain gets to show real emotion using his rubber face and it is the technology that a lot of horror enthusiasts despise that is at the root of the improvements.

Mancini did go back to the roots with the story that focuses more on the development of the horror rather than the slapstick funduggery that overly consumed Bride and Seed of Chucky. Replacing much of the pop culture referencing in-jokes are some tense moments of horror and some valued kills that value quality over quantity.

Curse of Chucky goes places unexpected for a fifth sequel and it betters any of the films that preceded it in the series. Chucky is meaner, nastier and more patient which allows for better horror. There are some good scares in Curse and Chucky's evil might never have been better punctuated on screen. A solid story – one with flashback ties that support Chucky's choice of family terrorizing and some after the credit scenes that tie in the rest of the series – compliments the action and sets the stage for what we hope is the continuation of the franchise.

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Depending how you liked the previous installments in the "Child's Play" (Chucky) franchise, you will either consider it one of the best … or one of the worst of the series. Personally, I found "Curse of Chucky" the second best out of six movies. That still doesn't mean it's a great horror movie, but most definitely a step up the ladder for Don Mancini & Company and an enjoyable flick. Back in 1988, the original "Child's Play" was a reasonably creepy flick and it deservedly gained a modest classic status. Parts two and three were prototypic sequels, meaning more of the same in order generate quick cash. Ten years after the original, some enlightened spirits decided it would be a great idea to turn the franchise into slapstick with "Bride of Chucky". It was a Hollywood choice, you either love or hate hit. The series hit absolute rock-bottom in 2004 with "Seed of Chucky", a completely unendurable stinker with a lousy film-within-film structure and tasteless humor. Strangely enough, it was Don Mancini himself who ridiculed his own creation, but now – and again nearly a decade later – he corrects his mistake with the more traditional and old-fashioned "Curse of Chucky".

For nearly the entire movie, the script pretends that the previous two movies never existed. Serial killer Charles Lee Ray's persona is trapped in the ginger Good Guys doll named Chucky and he arrives, in a parcel, at the doorstep of the wheelchair-bound Nica and her mother. The next morning, Nica finds her mother dead in a pool of blood and Chucky inexplicably pops up at various places around the house. While Nica's family gathers together, and her young niece Alice falls in love with the Chucky doll, we slowly discover Charles Lee Ray's connection to these people and his diabolical plan to return in human shape. "Curse of Chucky" is never really innovative or even surprising, but that doesn't matter because it's efficient. In spite of being a straight-to-video production, it's much more suspenseful and atmospheric than any of its predecessors. Chucky spits out a lot less comical monologues (but more often reverts to this classic Good Guys quotes like "I like to be hugged" and "I'll be your friend till the end") and the murders are more brutal and horrific than before. The script is quite incoherent near the end, but it was definitely courageous and satisfying (for the fans of the very first film) to clear up a few enigmas around Charles Lee Ray's persona. And plus, it was the ideal occasion to bring Brad Dourif back on the screen entirely rather than just his voice. Moreover, the film also stars his talented and ravishing daughter Fiona in one of her first lead roles. Chucky is a horror symbol again, so even if imperfect, I recommend this flick!

This was a movie that I'll be honest; I didn't have high hopes for when I took it home as a pre-street from Family Video. I grew up mostly on the third movie in the series as it was always on the movie challenges. I also liked the second one quite a bit. Outside of that, Bride of Chucky was interesting in its way, but Seed I've seen once and didn't care for it. This one worked for me though after that first viewing. The synopsis here is after her mother's mysterious death, Nica (Fiona Dourif) begins to suspect that the talking, red-haired doll her visiting niece has been playing with may be the key to recent bloodshed and chaos.

We start this movie off getting to meet Sarah (Chantel Quesnelle) who is the mother to Nica. Nica is wheelchair bound and it seems to be from birth. Nica was going to college but dropped out and her mother is protecting her. She isn't very nice about it though. A package is delivered and it is addressed to Sarah. She opens it to find a Good Guy doll. That night, a scream wakes up Nica and she goes to check to find her mother murdered.

To help out with the funeral, Nica's sister shows up with her family. The sister is Barb (Danielle Bisutti). She is married to Ian (Brennan Elliott), who is struggling work wise currently. There is also their live-in nanny of Jill (Maitland McConnell). Ian can't seem to keep his eyes off her. There is also their daughter of Alice (Summer H. Howell). Joining them is Father Frank (A Martinez). We learn that Sarah and Nica left the church some time ago, but Frank is there if she needs him.

It is around this time that Nica notices that the Good Guy doll is missing. Alice finds it and where she does is a cause of confusion for Nica. Alice learns his name is Chucky. We soon see that Chucky is alive. He poisons one of the bowls of chili for dinner and that is just the beginning of the mayhem.

That is where I'm going to leave my recap for this movie and what I find enjoyable about this movie is that it is getting back to form of the Child's Play series. What is interesting is that this plays like a reboot for a good part of it. We know this is a sequel from research that Nica does that confirms events of the past happened. This movie plays with the idea that only Nica and Alice know the doll is alive. It takes the former a bit to realize it and Alice being a kid, no one will believe her. This is taking it back more to the slasher roots as well.

Something I found interesting is how many of the characters are unlikeable. The movie also plays with troupes of this as well. Nica is handicapped but doesn't want to be treated that way. Barb is convinced that her sister cannot do anything to help herself and wants her to move into an assisted living facility. This is in part that her family is struggling monetarily so she wants to sell the house. She is mean to her husband, so it makes you think that he's interested in Jill. I'll say, this young woman is attractive. There was an interesting reveal there that makes a lot of sense as well.

I want to shift the focus next to Chucky. Now the last two films we saw him, he has the stitched-up face. This movie here has a more traditional look, which made me think reboot. I did like a reveal later in this movie to in fact confirm, every movie leading up to this happened. There is a shift in Chucky as well that he might not necessarily being trying to get out of the body and embracing what being inside of the doll means. Having seen the next movie in line, I know something there that I won't spoil, but we get a bit of that here. Chucky is quite brutal with some things that happen in the unrated cut here.

Since I've delved into the character, I'll go next to the acting. Brad Dourif is back as the voice of Chucky. He's a great actor in general and he owns this character for me. That isn't to say the remake isn't good, but it is hard to top an actor who has taken it on for as long as he has. I liked that his real-life daughter of Fiona taking on the role of Nica here. She does a good job and it is this movie that I find her the most attractive. Bisutti, Elliott and McConnell are all solid. They are flawed. Bisutti doesn't have any redeemable qualities, but the other two show a bit. McConnell is also quite attractive. I'd say the acting on the whole is solid.

Then the last thing that I wanted to go into here would be the effects. It looks to be like they did as much with Chucky as they could practically. There are a few times where there is something off about the face and I'm assuming it was because they were going to have it move in a certain way. That took me out of the movie, I'll be honest. Aside from that, I think most of the kills look good. There is a bit of CGI that didn't hold up, but not as much as I thought. There is some solid cinematography here as well.

So then in conclusion, this movie surprised me the first time I saw it and I think it is still solid. I like them going back more to their roots from where the series was going. The voice acting of Dourif as Chucky is on point. Fiona Dourif is solid as our lead and the rest of the cast is solid. I'm middle of the road when it comes to the effects while the soundtrack fit for what was needed. There are some decisions made in this movie that don't make sense. Some of it can be chalked up to a slasher movie, but I want a bit more from this series. For me, this is movie is over average, but just coming up short to go higher.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Curse of Chucky is better than most horror movies that get a theatrical run. The staging is rather small, with a small unknown cast and a limited location, but they make the absolute best of everything they have. Brad Dourif, the original director, and another important cast member from parts 4 and 5 appear; and this movie actually seems like a return to the formula of the original movies, using some of the surprise and humor of the last two. A woman caring for a disabled daughter, and living in a lovely Gothic mansion, receives the Chucky doll anonymously. After being quickly dispatched, the rest of the family arrives to take over the estate from the daughter. Among them is a little girl, who adopts the Chucky doll. The parents of the girl seem to have ulterior motives and a strange relationship with their babysitter, which is later revealed as a pleasant and humorous twist. Chucky begins killing off the victims, using the creepy mansion as a great backdrop. The camera work is great. The suspense is good. There are some great kills. This movie does not look cheap. Its only VOD concession seems to be that it sticks to the same location over the same night, and changes settings only rarely. The last entry seems to largely avoid parts 4 and 5, although it does not erase them completely. Often, horror movies that deviate from formula come out disastrous, but Chucky reinvented itself as a series with Bride and Seed of. Fans of those movies may be disappointed this doesn't pick right up where they left off. Still, it's a nice surprise to go back to the pure cheesy formula horror of the first three movies. The ending, of course, leaves room for a sequel that could play off the theme of the movie, and revisit dangling threads from the earlier series. Well worth renting, streaming, buying.

A family gather together for a funeral, only a killer doll has an old score to settle; and blood & mayhem ensue.

Opening in a creepy large house (with its own Diamonds are Forever type lift), a mysterious death occurs in the first few minutes after a revamped 'Good Guy' doll is delivered. From the outset there's an updated excellently designed Chucky doll and Joseph Loduca's melodic eerie music score which sets the tone.

There's plenty of atmosphere in this installment from series veteran Don Mancini, with Curse sharing much with the Psycho films in design and pace. Brad Dourif again voices Chucky. The great one liners are fewer, a bit more poignant and cutting. There's a few relationship surprises and story twists. Web-cam moment, stitches reveal and closing are particularly memorable, also there's a great scene after the credits.

Some of the cast are debatably too polished, nevertheless, the horror elements are there and include the original mix of Nanny, young child and a killer doll. The child actor Summer H. Howell is strong and wheelchair bound Fiona Douif (daughter of Brad) is notable as Nica.

Many scenes are effective with inbuilt tension and jump scares, notably the shower encounter and dinner gathering. With lingering camera movements and interesting angles, Mancini also leaves plenty to the imagination as some of the set ups take place off screen, that said there are lots of effects, blood and gore on display - decapitation, an electrocution, an empty eyeball socket and an axe attack to name a few.

There are lots of nice touches that are fitting to the modern Chucky doll, that mirror today's toys, making him all the more menacing when he comes to 'life'. Pupils dilate, his eyes are bloodshot, walking and running - Chucky is back better, creepier and badder than before. For die hard Child's Play fans Dourif appears briefly in his serial killer Charles Lee Ray guise, some old photos and newspaper clippings feature Andy and scene's link direct to the first outing.

What the production has saved on the lack of locations, to it's credit, the money has been put into the excellent special effects. Mancini returns it to its Child's Play roots while making references to the rest of the series including a great cameo from one of it's most colourful characters.

It delivers with its back to horror basics approach, updated effects, Mancini's Hitchcockian execution and links to its previous counterparts. With this in mind Curse of Chucky is less likely to date than some of its predecessors. Recommended.