Chucky 3

Set eights years after Child's Play 2, this sequel sees Andy Barclay attending Military School and getting bullied by the drill sergeant ("poor man's Christian Slater" Travis Fine, who never really became as popular as he should have been). Meanwhile, the Play Pals company has reopened the Good Guy factory and is starting production of the doll once more. But when clearing away Chucky's grisly remains, some of his blood spills into a vat of molten plastic and he is born once more in a new body.

After a good old strangulation to get the circulation going he locates Andy at his military school and somehow figures out a way to mail himself there. However, once the package gets there it is promptly snatched by a very annoying, morbidly juvenile, and highly wimpy little kid called Tyler who has the same face as has-been 'singer' Craig David, only more annoying (if that is even possible). Since he has a new body Chucky reveals his birth name once more, hoping to get a fast and easy ticket out of his plastic shell. As before there are too many distractions.

And as before the film spends way too much time with boring humans who spend too much time lurking in the dark wondering why a doll seems to appear and reappear and not enough time with Chucky. He IS the star of the show and he should OWN this movie. Alias and Lost director Jack Bender never really gives him the chance. Which is a shame since the animatronics had improved over Child's Play 2 and Chucky was beginning to look nastily cute. And more and more like Brad Dourif if you look hard enough. Bender's direction is slick but lacks edge, invention or humor. He seems to be ignorant of the potential Chucky has and treats the film like another mechanical TV series with no spark or signature. I remember when I first watched the VHS tape as a kid I immediately noticed how darker and gloomier this movie is, which ultimately leads to an overwhelming downbeat, depressing atmosphere, that sort of does and sort of doesn't work.

The score is a major downer though. Greame Revell's wonderful orchestral adventure of Child's Play 2 has been replaced with a horrid synthesized, death-metal score filled with tacky and unimaginative stingers. Revell, fortunately, returned for Bride of Chucky.

Child's Play 3 is no more than a competent sequel. Writer Don Mancini said he wasn't even ready to do a 3rd movie but Universal forced him to before the second was even released. As he was out of ideas he claims this film to be his least favorite of them all. If a better director were involved it could still have been a good film instead of being a merely an above average (by a tiny, tiny bit) one.

Gripping drama? Hell no.

Hilarious comedy? Nope.

Oscar Calaber Acting? Heh... yeah right.

But, really, this movie did not deserve to be slammed into the 3s. The movie had everything a mediocre early 90s horror movie should have - a plot you can follow without going cross-eyed, a few really gory death scenes and a pinch of humor. This movie won't make you roll on the ground laughing, but it will get your a chuckle here and there at Chucky's antics.

The young actors also pull performances that's beyond tolerable - it's flat out acceptable.

Absolutely great movie? No.

Absolutely horrible movie? No.

I was entertained and got exactly what I was looking for... thus it earns a 7 from me. You want a horrible horror movie that deserves its three - check out Leprachaun 4.

Okay, so placing it eight years in the future and dumping Alex Vincent for attractive Justin Whalin may have turned people off. I kinda wondered how Chucky managed to wrap and address the package when he was in the box, but whatever. This is my favourite of the series and also the best comic moments until Bride of Chucky came along. I did hear that Alex had no desire to appear in this movie which is probably why it was set up the way it was. It is an interesting take on the series, but if anyone else noticed the blood dripping into a vat of boiling plastic, wouldn't there be more dolls affected?? My rating is 1) Child's Play 3 2) Bride of Chucky 3) Child's Play 4) Child's Play 2 5) Seed of Chucky. BTW Curse of Chucky is not worth watching.

Just when you MIGHT have thought - after watching an excruciatingly long death sequence in Child's Play 2 - that Chucky was no more - he's back(and with the cliché) with a vengeance. How is he resurrected? Well, apparently when eight years have passed the toy company reopens their Good Guy doll factory, removes the cobwebs off of all the old stock, pick the mutilated, dead Chucky doll up and pop him in a vat of boiling plastics. The springs of Lourdes never had so much healing power! This revives Chucky, and he instantly becomes his mean, killing machine of old and wants to find Andy Barclay to take his soul. Andy, played by Justin Whalin, is an older teenager now and enrolled at a military academy. Well, not to get too bogged down in a script that doesn't really merit such an intense analysis - Chucky finds Andy and continues to basically do what he did in the two earlier films. Lots of killing. Lots of wisecracks and that cackling laugh. Lots of the same. I did like this film more though than the second installment. First of all, the director did NOT repeat the problem of an overly long, seemingly never-ending death scene. The military school makes for an interesting backdrop to the story. The young actors do credible jobs. There are some interesting , quirky characterizations from the rest of the cast with Andrew Robinson stealing his scenes as a barber who really enjoys shaving the heads of the cadets. In fact I loved the little ponytails hung on the walls of his salon. A neat little addition. The story is nothing special though, and the film is very formulaic. It is entertaining if you - like me - have limited expectations.

I'm going to comment hell for this one. This comment will most likely receive a very low "useful" rating, but I'm OK with that. This movie was quite possibly my favorite of the Child's Play series. And although you will probably not agree, you will see what I mean:

This movie takes place 8 years after the previous. Andy is now a teen and has been sent to a military academy. And guess what: Chucky decided to tag along. This makes for a great story. Chucky really shows his true colors and sick, twisted sense of humor here. We also have an interesting group of characters here, who are actually worth mentioning. We have Andy of course, we have Tyler, a young cadet who catches Chucky's eye as a replacement of Andy; there's DeSilva, a tough girl who has a soft spot for Andy; we have Whitehurst, an outspoken, nerdy type who quickly befriends Andy; we have Shelton, a military-loving, tough, intimidating young man who has it in for Andy; and we have Botnik, an older guy, the barber who loves his job just a little too much. Together with these great characters is a great setting. There are some very interesting kills here which I have not even thought of or seen in any previous film. I do not understand why this movie is so underrated. Is it because of the time lapse? Maybe because Andy's not a kid? New setting? No matter what the reason, this movie deserves much more than a 4.1 rating (as of 3/7/08). I say it gets 9/10. Fans of the first 2 films will not want to miss this.