Le Retour de Chucky

Perhaps I just was in an exceptionally optimistic and generous mood when I watched it, but I quite liked the previous installment "Curse of Chucky". Especially after the dreadfully awful "Seed of Chucky" in 2004, "Curse of Chucky" felt like a far more mature and good old- fashioned horrific revival of the franchise with the emphasis on suspense and plot rather than on stupid slapstick one-liners. Unfortunately it was a lucky shot, as this direct sequel is once again a largely ludicrous and inept hash. The slayings are still joyously blood-soaked and the mysteriously captivating Fiona Dourif (daughter of) returns as leading lady, but the screenplay is pure nonsense and Chucky is again a sneering jester instead of a menacing killer. The story continues quite logically, with Nica Pierce submitted to a heavily guarded mental institution after the bloody events of the previous film. Her psychiatrist, Dr. Foley, arranges for Nica to be transferred to a less strict clinic and participate in group therapy. Andy Barclay, Charles Lee Ray original target victim, is also still around and keeps the heavily mutilated leftovers of the possessed Chucky doll in a safe at his house. Meanwhile, a number of Good Guy dolls are being sent to the clinic and they ALL appear to be possessed with Chucky's cheerful persona. The explanation for why all the dolls are simultaneously possessed is cheap, imbecilic and downright preposterous. Don Mancini sort of made his life's work out of the "Child's Play / Chucky" series. He wrote all films since the 1988 original and took over directing them since 2004. He'll probably never make anything else, but maybe he should. I think we've seen enough Chucky movies by now, even though the gore & splatter always remains worthwhile. The seventh installment contains, for example, an ingenious decapitation and a delightful head-crushing.

The old adage that "big things come in small packages" has definitely proved to be true for the "Child's Play" films. Somehow, against all odds, this little guy has legs, becoming the most enduring and consistent horror movie franchise in recent memory, spanning and surviving three decades, without retcons or reboots. A big part of that success lies at the feet of writer turned writer- director, Don Mancini, who has been at the helm since the beginning, ensuring consistency throughout each installment. Also along for the ride since the beginning is the indispensable Brad Dourif as killer turned killer-doll, Chucky. Dourif's manic and often hilarious vocal performance combined with Mancini's "anything goes" sensibility makes each film a true pleasure to watch. All of that fan-pleasing, funny-bone teasing goodness is back for the seventh film, "Cult of Chucky."

Picking up where 2013's "Curse of Chucky" left off, "Cult of Chucky" finds Nica (Fiona Dourif) now committed to a mental institution. Nica has been pummeled by electro-shock therapy into believing she killed her whole family, so it's up to Chucky's original nemesis, Andy (played by a now fully-grown Alex Vincent), to come to her rescue and put childish things away, once and for all. Along the way, he has to contend with Chucky's on-again/off-again lover, Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly), who has now inhabited the body of Jennifer Tilly. Confused? Well, watch the other movies.

Though it's the second film in the series to be sent direct-to- video, the quality has most certainly not dipped with "Cult of Chucky." Mancini returns to the director's chair for the third time, and his visual style is very much informed by his time spent working on NBC's short-lived "Hannibal." Along for the ride is special effects guy Tony Gardner, who turns in some of his most impressive work to date. The film is riddled with practical effects that are not only convincing, but inspiring. If a DTV sequel can have special effects that put similar theatrical releases to shame, maybe there's hope for the future of the genre after all. On the acting front, Fiona Dourif digs deeper into her character and really seems to relish going slowly mad. The elder Dourif, meanwhile, is as crazy and charming as ever as the voice of everyone's killer doll. Vincent's return to the franchise is definite cause for celebration. His performance is a little wooden, but when you consider he gave up acting some 25 years ago, it's easy to cut him some slack. His presence is enough, as far as this fan is concerned. Speaking of presence, Jennifer Tilly is still an absolute bombshell, and her character feels very lived-in and is now an essential component of the franchise.

The film has a few surprises you won't see coming, and you'll definitely want to stay until the very end, friend. Like "Curse" before it, "Cult of Chucky" plays the fan service game without insulting its audience. There's plenty of fresh ideas stirred among the nostalgia, and Mancini's mythology will probably require an extensive road map going forward. The humor is good, the horror is well-done and the film looks and sounds appropriately cold and crisp (shout out to composer Joe Loduca, of "Evil Dead" fame). It's all in good, gory fun. Fans who have made it this far will find this "Cult" worthy of worship.

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!!!!

I don't know what all the complaining's about. I thought this was the best Child's Play in quite some time. Curse was a solid entry in the series, but personally I didn't find its return to the more serious tone of the original movie to be the greatest thing that ever happened to the series, like most people seem to believe.

No, I much preferred Cult, which instead of moving backwards and retreading the original movie, goes forward in an interesting new direction. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say there's a new spin introduced to the classic concept of Chucky that leads to some interesting plot twists and some crazy possibilities for the future.

Yes, there's some pretty silly stuff happening sometimes (though not anywhere near as cheesy as 4 and 5), but this is a long-running horror franchise from the 80's, what do you expect? I thought the balance of seriousness and ridiculousness was just right in this case.

I disagree with the claims that the movie was too slow. Yes, there's not a lot of death in the beginning, but the script is well-written and the cast is solid and they both carry it well as things start gradually ramping up until the complete insanity of the final act. By the time it was over I was so into it that I was sad to see it end already. I really hope that Mancini picks right up where he left off here, because I really want to see where he takes all these strange new developments and Cult of Chucky has left me more excited for the future of this franchise than I have been in decades.

Wow. A lot of people seem hard to please on here. Most series are struggling by the 7th entry (7 stars appropriate) having ruined continuity, rehashed the same formula seen before or by having lost original cast members. A Nightmare on Elm Street had to switch it up to 'it's a movie but not', Halloween had to bring JLC back, Saw was calling it a day, Hellraiser was already screwed and Friday the 13th gave the heroine telekinetic powers to spice things up. It's damn hard to keep a series going and adding new ideas.

I thought this entry had a lot going for it. Whilst only glimpsed post credits in Curse, Cult sees Andy Barclay back and all grown up since the first 2 entries and also with the original actor, Alex Vincent. Thanks to his childhood run-ins with Chucky, Andy is pretty bad ass taking no crap and is out to to stop him (much alike Tommy in Friday the 13th Part 6 which was a bloody good entry).

One reviewer said this was cheap in production. This is what I thought of Curse, of which after 2 attempts of watching it, 4 years later (thanks to Cult) I revisited that film and watched it ignoring the lesser production budget. I was maybe a bit harsh. Cult employs animatronics over CGI at every turn apart from one shot that I could see of. I much more prefer this as animatronics still work the best for this character even in this modern CGI world.

The kills are a throwback to some other films but overall are fantastic for gore with one drill scene which would have had the censors in uproar a couple of decades ago.

I love the continuity for this film as everything in previous entries is in place and hasn't been changed with many a nod to earlier entries. For fans of the series this does show the love Mr Mancini has when writing these later entries. Add to this all the familiar cast are back including Fiona Dourif who turns out to be an excellent piece of casting (being the real life daughter of we know who) when 'expanding' her role later in the film (I'll not give anything away on that).

Lastly, people seem divided on the humour in the series. I personally enjoy it. This entry has the humour lacking from Curse which I found a bit bland without it. This entry has enough without being too OTT like Bride or Seed. It's probably my favourite entry and a while since I've seen it but i recall CP2 having some dark humour so stop moaning those who don't like it.

Overall the entry managed to breath some new life to the series with a new concept that could prove interesting if used minimally (again not saying more)....we are on entry 7 but it ain't telekinesis! The series has moved away from cinema release so the budget is never going to be what it used to be. This can be seen now and then but thankfully not when it comes to the FX for Chucky.

Child's Play/Chucky films are what they are - about a murderous doll who kills people. They are watched by fans who know what they are getting. I look forward to entry 8 and seeing where things go. Make sure you watch after the credits!