Welcome back to Tiny Terrors! We are almost at the end, my friends. Three franchises. Twenty Five films after I trimmed some of the worst films from two of those franchises. This was honestly a massive undertaking. When I first thought about it, I hadn't realize how big a deal it was. But it definitely has been one. There was a moment or two where I started to question if I was absolutely mad to attempt this. I am super glad that I did this. I got to learn my style of writing from this. Yeah, I have done a few other pieces here and there. But for the most part, this helped craft my writing style. It also helped me prove to myself that I can do this. That has definitely been my largest hurdle this time around. If you have been here since the beginning of Tiny Terrors, thank you. If you have jumped on along for the ride, thank you. I truly appreciate this. Some people may have started wondering what the next retrospective could be. Honestly, I have no idea and that's part of the fun. If you guys have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. Reach out on Facebook, Twitter or even comment on here. So join me as we enter this final week of Tiny Terrors. Three franchises. 5 films left. Let's stick the landing, shall we?
Seed of Chucky. A film that left the franchise shook to the core. A film that was a bit divisive back then. A film that left fans wondering what could you do next with Chucky. Chucky is definitely a character that has been through the ringer. We grew with him throughout the franchise so far. We saw his origin in the original film and him coming to terms with who he is throughout Child's Play 2 and 3. He found love and fell out of love in Bride of Chucky. Seed of Chucky presented a whole new layer as he was now a family man. It is such a bizarre through-line when you think about it. What's next?
Curse of Chucky was released in 2013. It was released straight to DVD, Blu Ray, and on Digital. Once again, it was written and directed by Don Mancini. Don Mancini is the voice of this franchise. So, it's been really cool to see where he took things Post Seed of Chucky.
Curse of Chucky originally was pitched to fans as being a breath of fresh air for the franchise. The first trailer and such even went as far to show a Chucky that did not bear the marks of the previous films. Gone was the infamous markings that were introduced in Bride of Chucky. The horror aspects were brought back to the forefront. It felt like a new beginning. And in a brilliant move, it was.
After the events of Seed of Chucky, Nica, a young woman forced to a wheelchair since birth, has to regroup her sister, Barb and her brother-in-law, Ian for a funeral after the death of her mother. While dealing with Barb, Ian, along with their 5-year-old daughter, Alice; Nica receives an odd package - a creepy doll. After people start showing up dead, the fearless Nica soon suspects that the creepy doll is much more than just a doll.
The story in this film is so simple. It's absolutely brilliant. It is very much a back to basics approach. And that's why it works so so well. Nica is a very likeable character. This is definitely what helps the film succeed as it does hinder on Nica. She's wonderfully played by Fiona Dourif. There is such a vulnerability that she is able to portray and bring to the character. It's so captivating to watch. And yes, she is the daughter of Brad Dourif. However, she is an absolutely wonderful actress in her own right.
Next up, we have Barb (Danielle Bisutti) and her family - Ian (Brennan Elliott) , Alice (Summer H. Howell) and their live-in nanny, Jill (Maitland McConnell). All of the actors and actresses do a wonderful job. It's also interesting to see how they interact as a family unit. It's safe to say that one will wonder why Ian is a bit daft. He's very full of himself and is a bit of a douche. One kinda will find themselves rooting for him to meet his maker. He also seems to have a very presence that he tries lord over his wife, Barb. Also a kinda brilliant twist is that Jill has been having a relationship with Barb. This is definitely interesting as it does spin the typical nanny trope in a more realistic way. And then there's Alice. Alice is a sweet child that we tend to not want to see harm come to her.
The film is very atmospheric. It's super cool that the film ultimately is presented and shot in a way that reminds me of a haunted house type film. Especially with how the shadows are utilized so well. One of the most suspenseful sequences in the film is what I like to call - the Poison Roulette. It's family dinner time and Father Frank (A. Martinez) joins for dinner. They are having a soup of some sorts. However, it's established that Chucky had dropped poison in one of the bowls. So this whole sequence is very tense as try to figure out which character had the bad soup. Unfortunately, it leads to Father Frank's downfall as he has an accident on his way home.
The kills in this film are pretty solid. Compared to previous two films, it's a huge step up. Especially considering that this is a return to more horror roots. Each one is a bit memorable. I think the one that stands out the most is the death of Jill. She's trying to look into articles about Charles Lee Ray and ultimately is fried as Chucky knocks water onto the power cord.
Overall this is a fantastic return to form for Chucky. Curse of Chucky was a welcome breath of fresh air as it took things more serious. The best part was seeing the rug pulled out from under us as Nica uncovers the fake skin that were covering the marks on Chucky's face. This was such a cool way to hide the fact from audiences that this was a sequel. It's also interesting that there was a small retcon by tying Nica's family to Charles Lee Ray. And actually does add a bit more flavor to the backstory of Charles Lee Ray that we know.
Oh yeah, there is also an interesting post credits scene. It shows a package being sent to a grown up Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent). He unpackages it and is one step ahead of everything as he finds Chucky is inside it.
Rating: 5 out of 5.
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If Curse of Chucky was a solid haunted house flick, Cult of Chucky is just Chucky meets One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. That is completely evident as it picks up where the previous film left off.
Nica has been sent to an asylum for her mental health. Nobody believes her story that Chucky is real. Nobody cares to believe that it could even remotely be possible. The only person that she blames is herself for her family's death. The doctor in the asylum brings a Good Guy doll into the asylum. Soon, grisly deaths begin to occur to the other patients. Nica has to uncover what is going on. But she begins to learn that Chucky is real and he's learned some new tricks. He's now able to pass on and possess others with his wickedness. Andy's on the outside and trying to figure out a way of stopping Chucky and discovers Tiffany is also back in the mix.
Actually an interesting comparison to this would be it has a hint of Dream Warriors thrown in the mix. Each of the other patients have their own distinct personalities. However, their names escape me and are not that memorable. There's one patient that Nica has an 'encounter' with that believes he's possessed by other serial killers - one being Charles Lee Ray. Then there was another one that always carried a doll around.
Once again Don Mancini has created a film with a simple story. It also moves at a decent pace. The one issue is the cutting between the outside story (Andy's story) and inside the asylum (Nica's story). It feels like we don't get enough of Alex Vincent as Andy. And personally that's a bit of a shame. We also don't get much of an explanation for why Tiffany is back. In Seed, she had died before she succeeded in passing her soul to Jennifer Tilly. It's also not explained very well just how Chucky came to discover his ability of possessing more than one Good Guy doll. Or that he's able to transfer himself to another body. It may be something that is explained in the commentary, I'll have to check it out.
For the most part, the kills are pretty interesting in the film. It's relatively slasher fare. However, there is one death that is the most memorable out of all of them. There is a patient that is strapped to a gurney in the middle of the room. Chucky manages to throw a small compressed air tank at the skylight. It smashes and the shards of glass decapitates the patient. Now thinking about it, it's a pretty cool homage to Bride of Chucky. There's a bit of gore.
Overall, this was a decent film. It does feel a small step down compared to Curse of Chucky. If they had done a better job explaining the soul splitting, it may have made the concept better. But it is a small interesting idea. The big takeaway from this film though is that it finally goes to absolutely bonkers territory. This is the film where Chucky finally wins. He's able to transfer his soul into Nica's body and able to get away with Tiffany. Poor Andy however is left in the Asylum. And there is a Tiffany doll once again that is sharing a piece of Tiffany's soul. It's absolutely bonkers. And it'll be interesting to see where they take this into the upcoming Chucky tv series.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
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