Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Cult of Chucky


Remembering the first time I saw Child’s Play when it was playing in theaters back in 1988, waiting for that scary reveal when Chucky finally comes to life in front of his victim’s eyes and making everybody scream in their seats, that memory always comes back whenever I pop in any of the films from that franchise.  Not only was that 20-year-old version of me freaked out by the film back then, I was also analyzing how the filmmakers were able to make the doll walk and run and stab and kill…I was mesmerized by the logistics of the scenes and how the special effects worked and here I am, still with that wonderment.  Of course, I know a lot of special effects are achieved with CGI or digital removal of wires and cables, but I’m still drawn back to those times in the 80s when I’d head over with some friends to see the latest slasher.


So, after 29 years, Chucky is still at it in his latest adventure in the seventh outing of the Child’s Play franchise.  To me, Seed of Chucky was the least entertaining of all the films, which took the story into a weird Meta direction, but I love this franchise and always visit it every Halloween season.  Now I have another entry to add to my playlist that I’d purchased sight-unseen.

Was the purchase a win?  Let’s synopsize first…

After being accused of murdering her family, Nica (Fiona Dourif) is sentenced to an asylum and begins to believe—after many therapy sessions and shock treatments—that she was guilty of her family’s demise.  But soon, grizzly deaths start to occur and she then realizes that what her psychiatrist, Dr. Foley (Michael Therriault), convinced her was illusion—that Chucky (Brad Dourif) was a living killer doll—may, in fact, be real after all.

Instead of an entirely different storyline for a sequel or—perish the thought—a reboot of the franchise all together, writer and director Don Mancini gives us something fresh and takes the idea of Chucky in another direction, just as thrilling and fun as the original.  Cult of Chucky follows closely after the events in the previous entry and gives us the rest of the story after the events of the previous film. 

The crux of the story takes place in the asylum with Fiona Dourif reprising her role as Nica, which was nice to see her again and to see what was the result of her incarceration was at the end of the last film.  Added to the mix of this story are five main characters: the psychiatrist—Dr. Foley—who is stationed at the institution, Angela (Marina Stephenson Kerr) is an older patient who thinks she’s dead, Claire (Grace Lynn Kung) another patient with anger issues but looks out for the well-being of her friends there in the asylum, Michael (Adam Hurtig) has a multiple personality disorder and takes a liking to Nica, and Madeleine (Elisabeth Rosen) who is clearly disturbed as she’s confined for smothering her baby to death.  Some of these characters are presented as red herrings to the plot at times, but all add to the plot intrinsically.

Besides the key narrative of the story, we also get a subplot involving a familiar face in the earlier films of the franchise.  In the previous entry, Curse of Chucky, there was an after-credits scene for which some of you might’ve waited.  It was a short scene where we see Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent, reprising his role from the first two movies) grown up and living on his own.  He receives a large parcel which turns out to be Chucky paying a visit to his old friend and trying to tie up loose ends.  Andy, of course, gets the upper hand and ends up blasting Chucky away with a shotgun, knowing full well that the package was in the shape of the Good Guys Doll packaging.  Well, fans of the Child’s Play series loved it, so the filmmakers had to have him return in this sequel to be Chucky’s “Dr. Loomis” as the one who knows how to defeat the doll by planning ahead. 

Back as well is Jennifer Tilly as Tiffany (the logistics of her return is a little confusing, so I’ll let you draw your own conclusions when you watch this) and hasn’t missed a beat as Chucky’s girlfriend.  She’s in this for a glorified cameo, but adds the evil levity for which she brought to the franchise back in Bride of Chucky.

One can’t say that this movie is scary or spooky in any way (although there are a few stirring moments)…the original achieved that and everyone knows the character already as Chucky had become a household name years ago.  But there is a bit of a mystery here and you really don’t know what’s going to happen or where the story is going until later in the film. 

Before I get to my overall thoughts of this movie, I’ve just got to say how amazing it is that this franchise is still going strong and not losing any steam.  Being that Chucky is one of the Titans of Terror—alongside Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kruger, Leatherface, Michael Myers, et al—he’s the only one who hasn’t had a rebooted or remade movie.  Cult of Chucky is actually a continuation of the story set in motion in 1988—that’s amazing!

My final “bit” on Cult of Chucky?

I had a lot of fun with this film, enjoying the dark humor and thrills, along with the inventiveness of the story.  Rather than ignoring the whole voodoo ritual that started this whole franchise, Mancini embraces it and uses it even further.  Brad Dourif still has what it takes to bring the killer doll to life and it always brings a smile to my face when I hear his quips, curse words, and all around rage on the screen.  Again, it’s upsetting to see this sequel get the straight-to-home-media treatment instead of bringing Chucky back onto the big screen, but it is what it is—Universal Studios’ loss.  Though the ending of the film has a lot to desire, and a bit of a letdown (only because I really didn’t see it going that way), it’s still a lot of fun throughout and shouldn’t be missed if you’re an avid Chucky fan.

Thanks for reading!

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