Curse of Chucky

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!

The depressed Sarah (Chantal Quesnelle) lives with her disabled daughter Nica (Fiona Dourif), who is stuck in a wheelchair since she was born, in an isolated old house. Sarah receives a package with the creepy red- haired doll Chucky and she throws it in the garbage. But during the night she is found dead and Chucky is sat on a chair in the living room.

Nica's sister Barb (Danielle Bisutti) attends the funeral with her estranged husband Ian (Brennan Elliott); their little daughter Alice (Summer Howell); the nanny Jill (Maitland McConnell) and her friend Father Frank (A Martinez). Along the night, there are mysterious deaths and Nica discovers that the package was sent from the evidence depositary. She also researches the Internet and suspects that Chucky might be behind the murders.

"Curse of Chucky" is a great return of the franchise with a sinister history of Chucky. The cinematography and the camera work are top-notch and the plot is well developed. Wait until the end of the credits since the movie continues with a long scene; in the end, "play with this"! My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Maldição de Chucky" ("The Curse of Chucky")

From the first couple of minutes it's easy to tell that Don Mancini is treating Curse more as a horror film than the previous couple of entries in the series. The movie is shot and edited to build suspense and is a world apart from the sitcom trappings of Seed.

A girl in a wheelchair (Brad Dourif's hot daughter Fiona) living in a rural home with her troubled mother receives a mysterious package one afternoon. It's Chucky, and he's somehow managed to get himself in the mail again. He's arrived to settle a score, and soon enough he has brainwashed a child into keeping his secret and is sneaking about in the shadows offing unsuspecting victims.

Many people are saying that this movie is a return to form, and that it retcons Bride and Seed out of existence. Er...no, the film very much DOES acknowledge the events of Bride and Seed. Even if you paid the bare minimum of attention it would be hard to not to realize this. But I guess that expecting the movie to go in a different direction only led to further surprises when it eventually did tie in to the previous movies as well as giving us more back-story to Charles Lee Ray.

I was worried that Chucky would be all CGI as Kevin Yagher has not been involved with the series since Bride, and while there IS some CGI, he's anamatronic for the most part. Instead of hogging the camera though he keeps quiet watches the humans interact for about half the movie before unleashing toy terror. Horror composer Joseph LoDuca delivers a pastiche of the Renzetti, Revell, and Donaggio's efforts without giving Curse a signature sound of its own. Not really a complaint, but more of a missed chance.

It's certainly a worthy sequel and a can be viewed as a genuine horror film without any of the guilty pleasure of Seed. Keep watching to the end of the credits for a further surprise that ties the series together even more (though it does contradict the closing scene before the credits actually roll).

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.

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.