Welcome to Day 10 of Tiny Terrors. So far, we have covered a good chunk of each of our franchises. They have already had their ups and some have had their downs. We are beginning the endgame to this series. It's been interesting diving into each of these films and has given me more appreciation for Puppet Master, Child's Play and Leprechaun series.
Join me as today I dive into Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky. Both of these films were a turning point for our favorite pint sized serial killer, Chucky.
It had been seven years since Charles Lee Ray had graced the big screen. For some that is a lifetime, for Chucky it was the time it needed to figure out where to go next. And at this point, Chucky was a bit lonely. He just wanted to find love. And boy did he.
At the beginning of the film, we see the evidence lock up that Chucky has been held in for the past seven years. Chucky has been in good company as there are articles from Freddy, Jason, Michael and Pinhead. This was a great easter egg horror heaven. A cop grabs Chucky and sneaks him out.
Upon reaching his destination, the cop's throat is slashed by Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly), former girlfriend of Charles Lee Ray. This felt like a bit of a retcon but at the same time it did open up more about Chucky's past. Plus she is a bit of a firecracker.
Tiffany patches Chucky back together and then resurrects him. She has been spending the time to find him so then she could make his life miserable. This idea is fantastic as it helps illustrate how terrible Charles was. She also had a fling with a guy named 'Damien' who was going through a goth phase. Chucky has a heart to heart with Damien and sets things right with some pillow talk.
Tiffany dispatches the body with the help of her gullible neighbor, Jesse (Nick Stabile). Eventually, shenanigans (Chucky electrocutes Tiffany then resurrects her in a doll body) and a John Ritter happens that jump kicks the movie into a hostage situation. Ritter does a great job with his performance. I can only imagine how much fun he had filming. We also have a young Katherine Heigl playing Jesse's love interest, Jade. At this moment, I can't recall how Ritter is related to her. But he overprotects and leaves a very creepy vibe with her as he has a mean hate-on for Jesse.
Jesse and Jade take off. Unbeknownst to them, Ritter was killed and locked in a trunk in their van. Tiffany and Chucky also are joining them on this adventure. It's a road trip for the ages with lots of mayhem and murder. With each stop, Chucky and Tiffany finding more victims to take care of. This all culminates in a love scene between the two dolls. Yeah, a love scene. As the word was back when this was released, Chucky finally gets lucky.
The two love birds, Jesse and Jade, have grown increasingly paranoid and fearing one another. It's to the point where they unsure if the other did it or not. They end up meeting back up with their friend, David (Gordon Michael Woolvett giving off Alex Winter vibes). He discovers the truth and becomes shredded meat as he's hit by a vehicle.
Chucky and Tiffany happy that they finally can be themselves take Jade and Jesse captive. I believe by this point they were driving an RV. There's also some investigators that are in pursuit of them. This all ends in a shocking ending in a graveyard. They arrive to Chucky's corpse to retrieve the amulet needed. It's ritual time. Jesse gets hit in the back with a knife at some point. Ultimately Chucky and Tiffany throw down. Jade grabs the investigator's gun and shoots Chucky after Tiffany's stabbed in the heart. The investigator sends Jesse and Jade on their way after declaring them innocent to the police. The film ends with a bang as a sweet baby boy comes flying outta Tiffany at the investigator.
Bride of Chucky is an interesting film. It was done to spice things up to the franchise. And boy did it rev the franchise back to life. Chucky went as far as being nominated for MTV movie award Best Villain that year. Its also a huge love letter to the old classic Universal Monsters. There's no denying the parallels between this and Bride of Frankenstein. I mean come on, Tiffany even recites some lines from that film. But it's a fun popcorn flick. I mentioned with the Conjuring Universe films being comfort films. This definitely joins them as that as well. It's fun to just throw on during a rainy day or a fall day. It's very straightforward and wears it's heart on its sleeve. The shift in tone wasn't that dramatic either. It felt like a natural evolution. The kills were all interesting and inspired. If you haven't seen it, check it out. If you have but haven't in a while, give it another watch.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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The film picks up after Bride of Chucky and focuses on the child, Glen. He has a nightmare where murders a little girl's parents. Immediately, we can see that Glen is different than his deceased parents. He doesn't want to hurt anybody, just live his life. This is definitely a very interesting take.
Glen has been living as a ventriloquist dummy to an abusive owner. It's bad. There were a moment or two that I was hoping Glen would just finally have enough. But he's a very gentle soul. He eventually does escape though and makes his way to Hollywood.
Why Hollywood? Well they are filming a new Chucky film there with rebuilt Chucky and Tiffany dolls. The whole meta angle was something that I dont necessarily gel with. It feels very on the nose and a step too far into ludicrousness. But at this point, it made sense as meta was a bit of the rage at that point. Though, it was beginning to be a thing of the past.
Glen arrives in Hollywood and brings back Chucky and Tiffany. Both are surprised with Glen. Because A) He believes he's their child. B) Glen doesn't show an ounce of that killer instinct Chucky was hoping for in a kid. By this point, we have had Chucky save Tiffany by decapitating a production member of Chucky Goes Psycho that was trying to take her apart. Glen was also a bit mortified by how easy it was for Chucky to just kill.
At this point, Glen questions his parents' murderous ways. He challenges them to try and stop. We know that Tiffany may have a decent attempt at being able to do this. However, Chucky just can't. It's what he loves to do. It's what he's good at. It's what he's known for. What kind of life can Chucky have if he doesn't kill? Well, a family life.
Both Tiffany and Chucky attempt to appease their child to hilarious hijinks. This film feels like a spoof of what fans expect out of a Chucky film. I understand that's probably not the intent. But it's just how it turned out. The further dive into it, the further this shows itself.
Tiffany and Chucky want to be human again. By now, they have set their sights on Jennifer Tilly and Redman. Again, Chucky wants to...nevermind we not gonna dive into what that could mean. There is turkey baster jokes that would have made the Blind Man from Don't Breathe proud.
They end up succeeding in using Chucky's essence to impregnate Jennifer Tilly. What a sentence that is. Their plan is to use the embryo to bring Glen into the world. With all of the craziness going on, Glen's parents are having a hell of an effect on him. It just warps him to the point where he develops two personalities - Glen and Glenda. This whole portion of the story was definitely ahead of it's time. It's now becoming more prominent and relevant to today as it celebrates it's LGBTQ message.
Eventually the story goes crazy and we end up having Tiffany being killed by Chucky and Glen fighting Chucky. All the while, Jennifer Tilly is right in the middle of all the craziness. With both parents dead, Glen/Glenda is left in Jennifer Tilly's care. And ultimately, we see a flashforward five years where Jennifer is taking care of twins (both Glen and Glenda). The only thing is that Glenda has a bit of a mean streak like Chucky.
Seed of Chucky originally left me upset. I wasn't happy with it. It just never clicked. Over the years, I began to have an open mind and reapproached the film. With each viewing, I began to see the multi-layers that make up the film. And more than now, I appreciate the story Mancini wanted to tell.
While it isn't my favorite of the series, I say give it a shot if you want something fun.
Rating 3.5 out of 5.
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