← Back to Reviews
in
Curse of Chucky
(directed by Don Mancini, 2013)
Curse of Chucky is the sixth installment in the Chucky franchise, which began in 1988 with the film Child's Play. You all should know what the deal is -- a serial killer possesses the body of a doll and goes on a killing spree. After three Child's Play movies where Chucky went after a kid named Andy, the franchise went in a different direction and introduced a girlfriend for Chucky -- in doll form -- named Tiffany (voiced by Jennifer Tilly) -- in 1998's Bride of Chucky, the fourth film in the series. In the fifth film in the series, 2004's Seed of Chucky, they had a gender confused doll child (it didn't know if it was a boy or a girl because its doll body lacked genitals).
There were reports that Curse of Chucky would be a reboot that would ignore the previous sequels, or maybe even a remake. That is not the case, actually. Curse of Chucky IS a sequel to Seed of Chucky, although it will take some time in the movie before you really learn that it is. It doesn't really go into great detail about how it's a sequel, but I was able to figure it out -- might take a little imagination, though.
In Curse of Chucky, the Chucky doll arrives in the mail at the home of a young woman who is paralyzed and in a wheelchair. She lives with her mother. One night, Chucky kills the mother, making her death look like a suicide. The young woman's sister and her family comes to the house for the funeral. They have a young daughter and she takes to the Chucky doll. Slowly, Chucky starts killing them off one by one.
The film has the pacing and tone of the first Child's Play movie. Humor is largely absent in this film and the suspense is knocked up a notch. There's a great scene early in the movie involving the family eating a meal at the dinner table. The first half of the movie is actually kind of scary. The second half, though, gets disappointing. Chucky becomes more active and the I guess the low budget of the movie starts to show -- the special effects are weak, cheesy and ruining. We actually see a CGI Chucky walking around the house (full body shots).
Storywise, the movie is interesting and fun in that silly Chucky way. The movie was written and directed by Don Mancini, the creator of Chucky who has written every movie in the franchise. He seems to really care about his creation and even for a small, direct-to-digital/DVD movie, Curse of Chucky is pretty darn good for what it is. I don't think it was PERFECT, but it's definitely watchable. I hope it's the end for Chucky for good, though, because CGI Chucky is pretty bad. Curse of Chucky also gives us some good closure to the whole franchise (hint: Stay until after the end credits.)
I mean it -- stay until after the end credits. Best part of the whole movie.
(directed by Don Mancini, 2013)
Curse of Chucky is the sixth installment in the Chucky franchise, which began in 1988 with the film Child's Play. You all should know what the deal is -- a serial killer possesses the body of a doll and goes on a killing spree. After three Child's Play movies where Chucky went after a kid named Andy, the franchise went in a different direction and introduced a girlfriend for Chucky -- in doll form -- named Tiffany (voiced by Jennifer Tilly) -- in 1998's Bride of Chucky, the fourth film in the series. In the fifth film in the series, 2004's Seed of Chucky, they had a gender confused doll child (it didn't know if it was a boy or a girl because its doll body lacked genitals).
There were reports that Curse of Chucky would be a reboot that would ignore the previous sequels, or maybe even a remake. That is not the case, actually. Curse of Chucky IS a sequel to Seed of Chucky, although it will take some time in the movie before you really learn that it is. It doesn't really go into great detail about how it's a sequel, but I was able to figure it out -- might take a little imagination, though.
WARNING: "Curse of Chucky" spoilers below
Jennifer Tilly has a cameo in this movie -- Tiffany in Jennifer Tilly's body -- so it takes place after Seed of Chucky.
In Curse of Chucky, the Chucky doll arrives in the mail at the home of a young woman who is paralyzed and in a wheelchair. She lives with her mother. One night, Chucky kills the mother, making her death look like a suicide. The young woman's sister and her family comes to the house for the funeral. They have a young daughter and she takes to the Chucky doll. Slowly, Chucky starts killing them off one by one.
The film has the pacing and tone of the first Child's Play movie. Humor is largely absent in this film and the suspense is knocked up a notch. There's a great scene early in the movie involving the family eating a meal at the dinner table. The first half of the movie is actually kind of scary. The second half, though, gets disappointing. Chucky becomes more active and the I guess the low budget of the movie starts to show -- the special effects are weak, cheesy and ruining. We actually see a CGI Chucky walking around the house (full body shots).
Storywise, the movie is interesting and fun in that silly Chucky way. The movie was written and directed by Don Mancini, the creator of Chucky who has written every movie in the franchise. He seems to really care about his creation and even for a small, direct-to-digital/DVD movie, Curse of Chucky is pretty darn good for what it is. I don't think it was PERFECT, but it's definitely watchable. I hope it's the end for Chucky for good, though, because CGI Chucky is pretty bad. Curse of Chucky also gives us some good closure to the whole franchise (hint: Stay until after the end credits.)
I mean it -- stay until after the end credits. Best part of the whole movie.