Bride of Chucky

** 1/2 out of ****

There seems to be a similar pattern going around that affects the latest sequels to the most popular slasher series of the 80's. These 90's sequels tend to try out something pretty different from its predecessors, to the point of even negating parts of the series. Such films include Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, New Nightmare, and H2O, of which the former two managed to instill new energy back into their respective series again. In this case, Bride of Chucky is going all-out for laughs, and it's quite successful at doing so, making it easily the best film in this not-so-good series.

The movie's first scenes already let us know just how tongue-in-cheek all of this is. A cop enters an evidence room, which includes such items as Michael Myers' and Jason Voorhees' masks, Freddy Krueger's glove, and Leatherface's chainsaw. The cop picks up one specific object we can't see, though it's obvious it's Chucky, the serial-killer possessed doll. Eventually, the doll gets to the hands of Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly), who actually turns out to be the killer's (when he was a human) former girlfriend. Using the help of a voodoo book, she revives Chucky, and ends up imprisoning him because she's still angry at him for never marrying her.

Chucky escapes, kills Tiffany, and puts her soul into another doll. Naturally, she freaks out when she sees what's happened to her, but Chucky informs her they can still be human again. The only way for them to do that is to use the amulet that was on the human Chucky's body when he died. Thus, they have to get to that specific cemetary in Hackensack, New Jersey, so they enlist the aid of Jessie (Nick Stabile) and Jade (Katherine Heigl) via phone to deliver some dolls with the promise of big cash. The two young lovers agree and decide to get hitched. All seems well for the two, until murders start popping up around them and they begin to suspect each other, all the meantime never noticing that the dolls are the real culprits.

Bride of Chucky is, simply put, a dark comedy that only has the concern of making its viewers laugh. And boy, some of these jokes are absolutely hilarious. My favorite part is probably the scene where Chucky is crawling back to his van when some stoned pothead sees him. Chucky proceeds to give him the finger, resulting in the pothead's hilarious deadpan response, "Rude f***ing doll!" Another one of my favorite lines must be when Jessie asks Chucky how he got to be this way, and he responds by saying, "It's a long story. In fact, if they made a movie, it'd take 3 or 4 sequels to do it justice." If that doesn't get you laughing, then I wouldn't recommend this movie to you.

But for all those who enjoy tongue-in-cheek horror, this is a treat. The scene-stealers are Chucky and Tiffany, spouting a lot of memorable lines without ever getting into the "hip" style that has annoyingly permeated virtually every other slasher film in recent memory. Brad Dourif, of course, voices Chucky and he hasn't lost that same sense of fun over the years the series was in hiatus. Jennifer Tilly is equally as fun as Tiffany, making for an effective foil to Chucky, and is all the more hilarious because of their love/hate relationship that's positively psychotic.

The special effects are among the movie's highlights; the dolls look mostly flawlessly rendered and amazingly lifelike. But how could any review of Bride of Chucky go by without mentioning the doll sex scene. It's probably the reason it got half the money it did at the box office. Let me just say this, you probably won't believe it, but this sex scene is the most tasteful part of the entire movie! That should give you some idea of what to expect from the rest of the film.

The movie's also got the requisite blood and gore, with particularly memorable death scenes. Despite all the violence, this isn't a movie for die-hard horror fans looking for a scary or suspenseful gorefest. The movie doesn't actually kick into thrill ride mode until the last 10 minutes in the cemetary. Even then, you have to ask yourself just how exciting it is to see dolls and humans duking it out.

Now, even as an intentionally goofy horror/comedy, the movie still has some big flaws. There are no rooting interests at all. The dolls, while obviously funny, are pretty damn crazy. As for the humans, they're either annoying or simply display nothing approaching charisma or good acting.

The movie also takes too long to get going, and considering the movie's only 89 minutes, that's certainly a problem. It's not until the half-hour or so mark that Chucky comes to life again and the road trip to Hackensack doesn't begin until the movie's a little over halfway through. This is a flaw that's made forgivable because once the movie gets going, the pace is unflagging.

I enjoyed Ronny Yu's high-energy direction, which is an approach that closely follows all the other most recent slasher sequels (it actually only worked well in Jason Goes to Hell, but New Nightmare was decent in this respect). After the pedestrian work of the other installments, it's nice to see some sturdy direction. This film's final scenes sets itself up for another sequel, and considering it's box office success, I don't see any reason why it won't happen. Bride of Chucky is goofy and certainly lacking in intelligence, but it's got a hell of a lot of entertainment value, and that's all you could really ask for out of it.

From the opening with certain movie killers masks, glove-knife, and chainsaw, to the final scene which looks like it could have been straight from "It's Alive", this movie was camp all the way.

Good point: They didn't bring back Andy. New characters and new "homes" for Chuck and Tiff brought a sense of freshness.

Bad point: John Ritter. Need I say more? (Although he DOES make a pretty good Pinhead)

If you're looking for "The Shining" or the original "Psycjo", spend a couple of bucks and rent them. If you want a good laugh mixed in with some gore, then spend the money here. Just don't take your Siskel & Ebert mindset with you. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the movie for what it is--self-depreciating schlock.

Chucky (the murderous doll from "Child's Play" and 2 crappy sequels) is dead. But his ex-girlfriend Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) gets his remains and (using "Voodoo for Dummies") revives him. Then, through circumstances too convoluted to get into, SHE is killed and has her soul put into another doll! Together they fall in love and kidnap a nice couple (Nick Stabile, Katherine Heigl) to take them to Chuck's coffin to get an amulet to make Chucky and Tiffany real people again...

A lot better than it sounds. After the last two sequels to "Child's Play" (both of which were horrible) I was expecting the worst, but this actually was lots of fun. The movie doesn't take itself seriously for a second (seriously--how could it?) and the lines and situations are actually quite funny. Also there are a few VERY gory murders thrown in to satisfy us horror fans and the film never stops moving. The movie also has a few things usually not found in a horror movie--a gay best friend (Gordon Michael Woolvett) who is intelligent and not played for laughs and a sequence in which Stabile has his shirt off just to show his muscular body. John Ritter has a nice cameo too as a sheriff.

The acting is good--Stabile is young, VERY handsome and likable; Heigl doesn't have much to do but pulls it off and Brad Dourif (the voice of Chucky) and Tilly are hilarious as the murderous dolls. My favorite part is when the dolls have sex (don't ask) and she asks for a rubber and he responds, "But I'm MADE of rubber!" The special effects are good (no lousy CGI here) and this is one of the few horror films to mix humor and violence in an entertaining way. Well worth seeing. I give it a 9.

Clever is the word that comes to mind when I think of the mixture of horror and comedy that makes up a good deal of BRIDE OF CHUCKY, much of the humor due to some good one-liners by Chucky (courtesy of BRAD DOURIF's voice). And JENNIFER TILLY does an exceptional job as a dim-witted, evil partner of the doll eventually turned into a doll herself who is just as manic as her boyfriend.

NICK STABILE and KATHERINE HEIGL are the leads, the unsuspecting victims of much of the mayhem, who have to confront the evil they're dealing with which leads toward a cemetery in Hackensack where the evil dolls hope to retrieve an amulet from a corpse that will restore their original bodies.

It's photographed expertly, well directed by Ronny Yu and there's an unusual amount of range to the expressions on both dolls that make them seem eerily real. The final scene in the cemetery is guaranteed to give you a final startled moment.

JOHN RITTER plays his role as Police Chief Kinkaid with some restraint, but it's not much of a part until his gruesome demise.

Summing up: Not bad as far as these sort of horror capers go.

The soul of Satanic serial killer Charles Lee Ray is, by misfortune, incarcerated in the body of a seemingly innocuous doll. Ray's long time girlfriend, Tiffany (the seductive Jennifer Tilly) has found a book titled "Voodoo for Dummies." Now, she has called on the spirits of Hell to revive this left-for-dead doll...and to make him alive and well again!

When everything is botched in a misconstrued matter...Tiffany imminently finds herself in the body of another plastic doll as well. The two notorious murderers, known for their multiple crimes, fall in love again...and the world needs a prayer...

Yes, Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif) the killer doll is back...and he's out for anyone's blood! Chucky's new bride Tiffany has also found herself enjoying all the twisted, creative murders Chucky has made. Chucky and Tiffany have one goal: to retrieve the "Heart of Omzilla," an amulet that will thus allow both of them to return to their former human selves...

You better watch out! Chucky is no more mister nice guy!

BRIDE OF CHUCKY is a sinister guilty pleasure! The Chucky franchise earns its much desperately needed (and deserved) revision. Thanks to Ronny Yu's (who has directed so many Hong Kong martial arts films) direction and the wizardry of special FX make-up artist Kevin Yagher, Chucky is livelier...and deadlier than ever. Yagher does a great job giving Chucky such human traits and attributes. Chucky is one demonic and realistic character whom I would NOT like to run into in a dark alley! Chucky himself looks especially deformed, with the appropriate stitches on his face and everything. For a pint size villain, he packs one mean attitude! Also, the facial expressions of the killer puppets Chucky and Tiffany are so bizarre, yet wonderfully genuine. One fact for sure, I was impressed by all the elaborate special effects... Hey, you must also adore the cogent and delightfully deviant love-hate relationship between Chucky and Tiffany.

John Ritter (!) is excellent (though unusually cast against type) as an uncompromising Security Chief Officer. Ritter should also earn an award for the best (and most unpredictable) demise. He certainly knows how to be dying in style! Brad Dourif really knows this Chucky character inside out. He delivers the wisecracks with impeccable timing before and after each killing. Alexis Arquette (THE WEDDING SINGER) is in top form as a "Goth" who encounters the devil doll. Jennifer Tilly is one fantastic, nefarious temptress.

There's plenty of bloodletting in this pleasantly entertaining (and sleazy) thriller. Lots of gory murders abound to keep bloodhounds ingratiated. This grotesquely violent and sanguinary film will easily scare away the squeamish. In addition, there are lots of cool (and sometimes subtle) references alluding to other horror flicks. I also learned from this movie that a person should not take love for granted.

BRIDE OF CHUCKY is an imaginative journey into everlasting terror. You will laugh and churn as you witness the brutal slayings as the consequences of this couple's rampage. If you appreciate dark, macabre humor, then this movie is perfect for you! By far the best film in this series. This movie is even better than the original CHILD'S PLAY ...

RATING: **1/2 out of ****.