Cult of Chucky

Let me start off by saying that the "Chucky" craze has been around for a long time, "Chucky" has gone through several changes over the years a lot like "Fred Krueger". They both started out as terrifying entities but over time sorta turned into demented blood crazed comedians, but throughout they always had their saving grace as horror icons. That being said, Child's Play 1-3 created a stone cold killer made from plastic, after the original trilogy he became a somewhat parody of himself...until now.

Cult of Chucky returns our favourite killer doll back to his darker roots but still embedded within is the dark humour that us horror fans smile at amidst all his gory glory.

The film opens up with fan favourite (Alex Vincent) as Andy Barclay, who was seen in the end credits of Curse who is now a mature young man still fighting with his daemons. Whilst on a date played by beautiful (Allison Dawn Doiron), things escalate and send us to a brief but fantastically twisted opener. The first eight minutes of this film is one of the best opening sequences since the original classic film.

Once the credits start we fans see a beautifully edited montage of footage from all the 'Child's Play' films that we all grew up with which lead us into the mind's eye of one of the sole survivors of 'Curse' Nica Pierce (played by Fiona Dourif, daughter of "Chucky"). We find her now institutionalized and trying to come to terms with the murders with the help Dr. Foley, (played by Michael Therriault) who convinced she is improving sends her to a minimum security ward which entails a unholy reunion with everybody's favourite serial killer. Still somewhat convinced she was more involved with the murders than "Chucky" she still fights these doubts as the killings start back up again with the arrival of a therapeutic Good Guy Doll.

The visuals are beautifully shot, as is the tension. There are also some nicely placed cameos therein which add to the storyline, more than just fan candy. The death scenes contain some nice throwbacks to some of the brutality of the original films as well as adding some gratuitous gore of the gorehounds that are fans of the series.

There have been mixed reviews mainly due to the change of Good Guy Mythos. These mythos are explained as the film picks up to its shocking finale as well as Director Don Mancini mentioned before that there will be more 'Child's Play' films and these new changes will be a part of the new vision in the franchise.

In short, "Chucky" IS BACK and ready to play!!!!

Cult of Chucky (2017)

** (out of 4)

After the events from the previous film, Nica (Fiona Dourif) is now in a low-risk mental hospital where her doctor decides to really cure her by bringing in a Good Guy doll. This here sets off some strange events and elsewhere Andy (Alex Vincent) is trying to find a plan to defeat Chucky once and for all.

There's no question that the first CHILD'S PLAY was a very good and entertaining horror film. The sequels that followed were all of mixed quality but the last film, CURSE OF CHUCKY, was in my opinion the best of the bunch and it gave me real hope for this one. Sadly, CULT OF CHUCKY comes as a major disappointment as there's really not too much entertainment to be had. They might have added more Chucky dolls but they didn't add much else.

The film started off fairly good as we catch up with Alex and see how Chucky is still having an impact on his life. All is well when we're re-introduced to the Nica character and we see her trying to move on from her "crimes" of the previous film. Once we hit the mental hospital we get a ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST joke and it's pretty much downhill from here. It seems the screenplay was trying to tie too many things together and in the end none of it worked too well. You got the continuation of CURSE OF CHUCKY as well as the connection to the Alex character and the first three films. You've also got Jennifer Tilly showing back up so you've got the connection to BRIDE OF CHUCKY and SEED OF CHUCKY.

You've got all of these connections to previous films but it just makes for a mess of a film. The movie really doesn't know if it wants to be a straight horror film or if it wants to take Chucky back to his comedian days. There are a lot of really lame jokes here that aren't funny and there are also a lot of pop culture references and these here are really lame. The film does go for some extreme gore during its death scenes and if you're watching the unrated version then you'll see some pretty graphic stuff.

I thought Dourif, Vincent, Tilly and Adan Hurtig are all good in their roles. Brad Dourif returns to the role of Chucky's voice and he too is quite good. I'm not going to spoil the ending but it makes me interesting to see where future installments go but lets hope the screenplays are a tad bit more clear and not trying to do so much.

Unlike all other slasher franchises from the 70s and 80s that have rebooted "for a new generation," this one keeps moving forward and manages to stay utterly creative. The Chucky movies are one big, continuing story since 1988. Don Mancini has had a hand in every one of them. He wrote parts 1-4 and then, for parts 5-7, he took over as director as well. His latest, Cult of Chucky, adds something completely new and unexpected to the saga but does not forget the past. Heck, there's even a reference to Kent Military Academy (the location for part 3). I really enjoyed this movie! Brad Dourif returns again as the voice of Chucky and has some fun dialog to spout. His daughter reprises the role of "Nica" and continues to impress. The memorable music is by Joseph Loduca who got his start with The Evil Dead in 1981. Cult of Chucky is fresh but faithful to the franchise.

Then you will love this movie.

I can't say I liked any of the later movies, but this one brought something back that was missing.

I personally enjoyed this movie way more than I thought I would. I grew up on Chucky and iv'e gotta say that It was nice to see Andy and some of the others. (I don't want to spoil it).

If I had a complaint about this movie it would be the ending wasn't very satisfying. It hints towards another movie.

As a full-throated defender of the remake, I never understood why OG fans were against it. While I still love the thematic fun of the remake, I now understand what their issue is. These two straight-to-VOD, Mancini-helmed sequels are so compellingly weird, funny, scary, & bold that the remake felt like it might overshadow this original storyline, a storyline that keeps getting stranger & cooler. Nica is the best character in the whole franchise & one of the great scream queens in slasher history.