La Malédiction de Chucky

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.

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")

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.

Having been on a roll watching and reviewing gradually over time films belonging in horror film franchises, the Chucky/'Child's Play' films were the most recent to get this treatment. Part of my want to see them was my fascination to see if killer doll Chucky deserved his horror icon status. My conclusion seeing the films is that he does deserve it and a hugely entertaining and creepy character, that is quite a bit better than the films.

The 'Child's Play'/Chucky films vary in quality, some decent to good, others not so good. Don't consider any of them unwatchable though. 'Curse of Chucky' is one of the good ones despite its faults, not a film that blew me away and will never be a favourite but it both scared and entertained me, as the main objective for the franchise that is a very good thing. As far as the 'Child's Play'/Chucky films go, the best will always be the first one. 'Curse of Chucky', for me and quite a number of others, is though one of the best of the series. Would go as far to say that it beats 'Bride of Chucky' as the best since the first and it vastly improves on the disappointing 'Seed of Chucky' which along with 'Child's Play 3' is my least favourite.

Really appreciated that 'Curse of Chucky' returned to its roots and the closest of the sequels to capture the tone of the first film. Although there may not be an awful lot of surprises in the surprises, this return gave the sense that the franchise had been revived and been brought new overdue life. There is far more of a reliance on horror, and genuinely scary and suspenseful horror film, than the comedic approach adopted by most of the sequels, which varied greatly. The opening sequence is truly foreboding and the kills are imaginative, gloriously gory and freaky, without veering on being too tasteless.

Yet 'Curse of Chucky' doesn't take itself too seriously as a result, the wickedly funny one-liners and dialogue remain still. Chucky is as frightening and entertaining as ever, plus used much more and better than he was in 'Seed of Chucky' and Nica is a likeable protagonist that one roots for. Brad Dourif continues to voice Chucky with relish and his daughter Fiona is both cute and spirited. The film looks great, very stylish and haunting with terrific effects, even in the lesser films the production values were always among the good things. The music is suitably eerie and the direction is skilful.

Not that 'Curse of Chucky' is perfect, but the good things far outweigh the cons. The rest of the cast are on the bland side. There are pacing issues here and there, momentum does sag.

The ending felt anti-climactic and rushed.

Otherwise, pretty good and one of the best in the series. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Often pushed to a second tier among other iconic horror franchises like Friday the 13th, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street, the murderous misadventures of Charles Lee "Chucky" Ray have been just as persistent and influential as those other game changing series. But Chucky, so too like Jason, Freddy and Michael, these characters have had their fare share of missteps in terms of quality, and in many cases saw their franchises descend into unintentional self parody.

The Child's Play saga has seen a similar trajectory, with the 1988 original still standing as a horror classic, it's immediate predecessor coming off as passable but more or less a carbon copy and the third as a junky, bland mess. After a seven year hiatus, the surprisingly satirical Bride of Chucky arrived along with a perfect Jennifer Tilly as Chucky's partner in slaughter. Things again took a turn for the worse in Seed of Chucky which aimed to amp up the camp of Bride but it came off as a grating and, ironically, childish.

Almost 25 years on we now get Curse of Chucky, a direct to home video instalment – a rather unceremonious release which certainly did not instil confidence in this horror fan. Well, you can consider my mouth shut as this is not only a strong, well crafted fright flick, it's easily among the franchise's best entries. Curse of Chucky takes the more gruesome elements that worked so well early on, some of the parodic flare of Bride and then even goes on to subvert horror norms and cliché. This is a film that knows firmly where it stands and the expectations of its audience and uses those preconceived notions to surprise in a number of ways.

The biggest and most pleasant realization I made from the onset is how well crafted Curse of Chucky is, from the art direction that brings life to your typical isolated home (at which our bloody events can transpire) the composition of shots which expertly use every angle in the book to bring complexity to the carnage and its generally polished look. It certainly doesn't bare any resemblance to most home video fare that looks as if it were shot in somebody's basement. But the accomplished aesthetics only serve as the launching point for some clever prods at the genre, some fun kills and a thorough grasp on its own franchise roots.

One of the things Curse of Chucky is finally able to figure out is how to present an adult protagonist that would believably be in peril when facing off with a pint sized doll. Our heroine comes in the form of Fiona Dourif, daughter of Chucky's voice, the iconic Brad Dourif (whose cackling laugh still brings a weird smile to my face after all these years). Daughter Dourif's Nica you see is confined to a wheelchair, putting her quite literally on even ground when the climax rolls around. There is a young girl about, who serves as the vessel through which Chucky's evil rumblings are heard, but this is more about Nica, and it all works rather well. In the end, it really comes as no surprise that this entry is penned and directed by Don Mancini who has written every entry in the Child's Play franchise. Even though he is so close to the series and its central character, he has clearly taken the time to step back and re-approach his baby in new ways. It's not something you see too often from someone who has been involved with something for so long.

Then we get the funny, subversive elements to the story which plays against our expectations, such as the role of a promiscuous nanny, who gets the knife and when and fake-out scares and potential deaths. Constructed in the way it is, Curse of Chucky should easily please fans of the franchise but also win over general fans of horror who are tired of seeing cookie cutter productions. There are certainly conventional elements at play, but it's all pulled off with a great deal of flare.

As for Dourif's Chucky, he's as vulgar, funny and creepy as ever, and even when delivering more simplistic lines reminds us why the character has persisted. There will certainly be some who will overlook the more clever elements of Curse of Chucky and hone in on what remains ordinary, but for me it was time well spent and easily introduces a new spark to the franchise and shows there is life yet in everyone's favourite killer doll.