[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw8rBxYC1Dw]

Curse of Chucky

curse-of-chucky-blu-ray-cover-300x377Release Date: September 24, 2013 (VOD); October 8, 2013 (DVD/Blu Ray)
Cast: Brad Dourif, Fiona Dourif, Danielle Bisutti, A Martinez, Brennan Elliott, Chantal Quesnelle
Director: Don Mancini
Studio: Universal Home Entertainment
Genre(s): Horror, Slasher

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Spoilers: Low
IMDB | Rotten Tomatoes | Wikipedia | YouTube VOD

Growing up I loved the first three Child’s Play movies. I think I’ve explained my family’s proclivity towards horror films so you shouldn’t be surprised any more that I was a child watching Child’s Play. Those first three movies, honestly, are the only ones that really matter in my opinion. They were classic. You’ve got a creepy doll possesed by a serial kiler stalking this kid and killing everyone who gets in the way of him trying to take over said kid’s body.

Simple. Clean. You didn’t really need to complicate things. Child’s Play was the story of Andy Barclay’s childhood battle with the evil Chucky Doll and the evil spirit of Charles Lee Ray. Then in the latter two films things got a bit weird and I stopped caring. Honestly, I don’t remember much about Bride of Chucky or Seed of Chucky.

We've replaced little Andy with this adorable little potential vessel for this crazy serial killer's soul.
We’ve replaced little Andy with this adorable little potential vessel for this crazy serial killer’s soul.

Luckily, Curse of Chucky decides to finally go back and revisit the classic sort of storyline that initially made this series great. Okay, great is a bit much but I think you get my drift here. No more of this weird road-tripping killer doll couple or spawning weird plastic offspring or whatever. At it’s core this is a movie that explores some really creepy aspects of Charles Lee Ray’s past while also featuring Chucky going after a small child to make them his own. The best thing about this sort of return to the more classic formula is that they actually make it work in to the whole plot and story they spun out of the previous two films without getting too bogged down with it.

It’s a successful ‘reboot’ that doesn’t really reboot anything. Even though I disliked the last two films, I can really appreciate that. The film makers were smart in that regard.

The movie follows a family whose crazy mother “commits suicide” shortly after a Good Guy doll is inadvertently mailed to the home where she lives with her paraplegic daughter, Nica. Because no one is creeped out by these days, they give it to Nica’s bitchy sister’s young daughter. Of course, this isn’t just any Good Guy doll – it’s the one possessed by Charles Lee Ray’s murderous, crazy soul. In true Child’s Play fashion the doll goes around killing people and anyone who realizes it’s the doll is called crazy. I kind of felt that the tie-in to Charles Lee Ray’s past was a bit out there but, you know, it’s not any more out there than anything else in this series and it was sufficiently creepy in a dark, human way.

It's also sufficiently creepy in a plastic, inhuman way, too.
It’s also sufficiently creepy in a plastic, inhuman way, too.

When they explain how Chucky got to Nica’s home in the first place I was actually pretty appreciative of it and I felt her fate – while unfortunate – was very realistic. It’s similar to that of Andy and his mother in the first film. No one’s going to believe the crazy killer doll story. Speaking of the first film, the cameo at the end after the credits? Let’s just say it brings things full circle. The proper end was pretty sufficiently creepy but fans of the series will really appreciate the added scene.

It was actually nice to see a disabled main character in a horror film – especially one who held her own. The only other two wheelchair bound characters in slasher films that I remember off the top of my head were in one of the Friday the 13th movies and one of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies and neither of them faired well at all. Nica, on the other hand, puts up a real fight. Another thing I liked that they did was having the father place the nanny cam in Chucky. That was actually pretty cool. It was a neat away to sort of see the film and it sadly wasn’t utilized nearly enough. Also, another cool thing? The girl who plays Nica is the actual daughter of the guy who has voiced Chucky over the years!

When putting together Curse of Chucky they folks in charge made a lot of good choices, they told a decent story, and in the end they created a great addition to the series. I really enjoyed watching it. This isn’t a perfect film by any stretch – as I’ve said before, no horror movie is and I’ll remain fairly critical of them forever – but if I list Child’s Play 1, 2, and 3 as my favorites in that order then this one comes in right after them.

Final Thoughts: 
If you’re a fan of the series but you’ve been disappointed by the last couple of movies then I think you’ll appreciate Curse of Chucky. I wouldn’t recommend buying any of these movies except the first three unless you’re desperate to complete a DVD collection – or you want to buy Chucky: The Complete Collection which includes all six films – but I would check it out on VOD or via Redbox in a heart beat. It’s a lot of fun and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. It’s Chucky at his finest. Maybe not better than ever as the DVD case says but it’s definitely what you’re looking for in a Child’s Play sequel.

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