Tiny Terrors Day 13: Curse of Chucky & Cult of Chucky

 

   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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Tiny Terrors Day 10: Bride of Chucky & Seed of Chucky

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. 

Bride of Chucky was released in 1998. It was a Universal Pictures production written once again by Don Mancini and directed by Ronny Yu. 

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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A few years later, Don Mancini returned once again. This time, he was ready to handle the writing and directing duties with Seed of Chucky.

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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Tiny Terrors Day 7: Child's Play 2 (1990) and Child's Play 3 (1991)

Good morning everyone! Hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday so far. Our great series that is Tiny Terrors continues. Today, I have the pleasure of talking about Child's Play 2 and 3. 

To kick things off, let's begin with Child's Play 2. 

After the success of Child's Play, a sequel was something fans were hoping for. United Artists were making the sequel originally, before they were bought out. So, Chucky was in need of a home now. Universal Pictures set out to give Chucky a home and helped set up a franchise. 

2 years after the original's release, Child's Play 2 was released in theaters. It was written by Don Mancini and directed by John Lafia. 

Fun Fact: While researching this, I discovered that originally the film was to open with a courtroom scene of a jury sentencing Karen Barclay to a mental institution for insisting that Chucky was alive. Catherine Hicks and Chris Sarandon would have reprised their roles. Honestly, while it's sad that this didn't happen - the idea would be repurposed for a later film. And the cutting of that scene due to budget constraints helps explain why the film is so short. 

Sypnosis:

Andy Barclay has been placed in a foster home after the tragic events of the first film, since his mother was committed. In an attempt to save their reputation, the manufacturers of Chucky reconstruct the killer doll, to prove to the public that nothing was wrong with it in the first place. 

In doing so, they also bring the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray back to life. As Chucky tries to locate Andy, the body count rises. Will Andy be able to escape, or will Chucky succeed in possessing his body?

As I had mentioned before, I have been a fan of the Child's Play franchise since I was very young. I had very fond memories of what I thought was the first film. However, over the years, I have since learned that my memories had combined the first two films together. For some reason, I had always thought Andy's mom had been in the opening and then disappeared. (It was the fire place scene from the first film where she confronts Chucky to show he's not just a doll.)

The idea of the Play Pals corporation restarting their Good Guy dolls line to prove all the hearsay of Chucky wrong. It's a very bold move. It also shows how cutthroat the business world can be. This is expanded upon as one of the workers is electrocuted while working on the line. It serves as two fold - reviving Chucky and also how expendable the company views their workers. And then we have our second kill in the film as Chucky murders the corporate assistant. 

We are reintroduced to young Andy. He's now 7 or 8 years old and has been placed in the foster care system. It's been very hard since he was taken away from his Mom. He now founds himself placed with the Simpsons, Phil and Joanne. They are also fostering a teenage girl, Kyle. 

Chucky then is able to use the corporate yuppy's car and the phone in it to track down Andy's whereabouts. Chucky then suffocates the yuppy before going on his merry way.

The two worst foster parents continuously find ways to prove that they have earned that title with Andy. They even go out of their way to buy a Good Guy Doll. Seriously, why the hell would you get a kid that was traumatized by one of these things another one?? Well honestly for plot convenience. Chucky infiltrates and takes the place of the other doll. This is where the fun begins...we see multiple attempts of Andy trying to tell people about Chucky. He's literally trying to ask for help. Yet nobody is willing to listen or try to help.

This leaves Chucky able to murder and then hide in plain sight. The most well known murder in this film is the school teacher. Chucky is taken from Andy by his teacher. After school, Chucky beats the teacher to death with a meter stick. It's one of the striking visuals in this film. 

Andy later on attempts to sneak into the basement to destroy Chucky. However there's such a large commotion that Phil comes to check out the noises. Chucky ends up causing Phil to trip on the stairs and breaks his neck. The blame falls to Andy as Joanne finds the aftermath. 

Immediately Andy is sent back to the foster center. Kyle uncovers the remains of the other Good Guy Doll and realizes Andy was right. She goes to Joanne to help to find Chucky's one step ahead of her. He ambushes Kyle and they go to the foster center.

We end up in the endgame of the film as Chucky forces Andy to take him to the Good Guy factory with Kyle in pursuit. By this point, Chucky has been becoming human once again. The visuals on display are so visually striking. Especially as the battle between Andy and Chucky goes on. It gets to the point where we have Chucky smashing a knife into the stump of where his hand use to be.

Surprisingly, Chucky is very competent in this one. He managed to succeed in completing that damn ritual. However, too little too late. This whole end section is phenomenal. My favorite ending to a Child's Play film by far. There is so much tension. But also the stakes are incredibly high. 

This film is one of, if not, my favorite entry in the franchise. It hits all the right notes for a sequel. It continues the story of Andy and able to dive deeper into his character. There is just so much right for me. And I would say that a lot of it goes to Don Mancini's writing. Here he was able be unleashed and able to make do with the whole voodoo angle. 

Rating: 5 out of 5. 

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Child's Play 3 was released 9 months after the second film. Holy crap! The studio was like (in raspy voice), "We need more that Killa Doll stuff! Make it happen!". There are some more recent franchises that released within a 9 month timeframe, but it's kinda gone away. Whenever I hear that I'm instantly reminded of Elm Street and Friday the 13ths.

Watching the film now after knowing it was released 9 months later, it makes me realize how little time they must have had to script the film. Honestly, that's something that's a bit of a shame with how studios work. And there must have been immense pressure to try and top that second film.

Don Mancini once again wrote the film. I applaud him on the story he was able to craft. This is another of the films that is close to my heart. And Mancini's a huge reason why. 

So, Child's Play 3 is the one where Chucky goes to military school. That is such a solid idea. Yeah, it also follows on with Andy's storyline from 2. Big downside is that there wasn't time for Alex Vincent to grow up, so we get a recasted Andy.  Andy makes friends with another kid named Tyler. Tyler is a bit of an army brat and was dropped into the academy by his Dad. Andy also meets Kristen DeSilva. Good for you, Andy! Finding time to make eyes at a girl while Chucky runs amok the academy. 

Well, Tyler ends up finding Chucky (who was resurrected again and found a way to be mailed to the academy). By now, we know the drill - Chucky must find a way to perform the ritual to the first person that sees him. Well, this time it ain't Andy. He's along for the ride. 

Andy finds Tyler with Chucky. Andy gets in a bunch of trouble trying to help Tyler. Probably because Andy can relate to Tyler a bit. Chucky murders a few people. The one that hits my memory the most is when Chucky gives the Sergeant or Barber a close shave. Andy has to stop Chucky to save Tyler. 

The biggest set piece in this film for me is the Paintball Wars battle. Chucky brilliantly replaces all the paint ammo with real ammo. That is something that he will always be remembered for. Then to let the kids out on the field. Yeah, you guessed it - a few kids die before everyone catches on. Well, it may be one kid. A kid that was a douche to Andy. Karma will get ya. 

Then there's a junkyard that Tyler ran to. Chucky pursued. And it feels a small part like a retread of Child's Play 2's ending. That's okay. They do a solid job with it. And it ends with one of my favorite visuals in all these films - Chucky with half his face sliced off, or better known as Pizza Face Chucky.

Having Andy not be the primary focus for Chucky. That was a great move. It allows a different perspective of things as Andy is now switched to a similar role to Kyle from 2. Also 16 year old Andy is a bit of a badass. This is probably the film I have watched the most. It's like my go to film when I wanna watch a Chucky film. A warm blanket of nostalgia, if you will. 

Mancini originally wanted to have multiple Chucky's in the film. Unfortunately that had to be scrapped at this time for budget purposes. This was the first film where they had Chucky's movements synced up to a computer. Pretty groundbreaking for it's time. However, the multiple Chucky idea would be repurposed for Cult of Chucky. I love that Mancini keeps his ideas and waits for the right time to do them. 

Solid flick for the amount of time they had to make it. It's a bit of fun. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5. 

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Tiny Terrors Day 4: Child's Play (1988)

Growing up, I watched the Child's Play films a lot. There was something about the idea of Chucky the Killer Doll that I tended to gravitate towards. It was probably that it was a little less serious than the Elm Streets, Friday the 13ths or Halloweens. It was more over the top. This was something that definitely couldn't happen in real life. However, with my look at the remake last week - that was more plausible. 

Now, Child's Play came out on November 9, 1988. It was written by Don Mancini and then by Tom Holland, who also directed the film. It starred Catherine Hicks as Karen, Alex Vincent as Andy, Chris Sarandon as Detective Mike and Brad Dourif as Charles Lee Ray/Chucky. 

The story was a simple one. Charles Lee Ray had a heist go bad. His getaway driver leaves him behind to be pursued by Detective Mike and a gun fight ensues. Mike continues to pursue Charles to a local toy store. At death's door, Charles has no way out - with the knowledge of a voodoo spell, he transfers himself into the body of a Good Guy Doll. 

After that setup, we are introduced to young Andy - he's celebrating his birthday by making breakfast in bed for his mother. However, being 6 years old, Andy's focus is on the tv where he sees a Good Guy series. Waking his mother up, they open up his presents but Andy doesn't see what he was hoping for - a Good Guy Doll. 

During her shift, Karen's friend/coworker Maggie informs Karen that there's a Good Guy Doll being sold by a man out back in the alley. Oh man, how could that go wrong? That's some serious sketchy shit. Determined to appease her ungrateful son (I mean come on, his mom works many shifts to take care of him), she buys it for him.  

Upon returning home, Karen gives Andy his last birthday gift - the Good Guy Doll. Excitedly, he takes it out of the package and it begins working. He shows his Mom how it works and we learn that the doll's name is Chucky. Maggie takes the time to watch Andy while Karen has to finish working a double at her job. 

When it's time for bed, however, things begin to happen. Chucky turns on the tv to watch the local news. However, Maggie has had enough and wants Andy and Chucky to go to bed. I mean, who can blame her? She got out of work to help her friend out. It doesn't seem like she's had some time to unwind from her day yet. 

Investigating the apartment after hearing some spooky noises, Maggie finds herself flung out the window to the pavement below. As Karen returns home, she discovers the police and finds Detective Mike questioning Andy. The main clue to what happened being small child sized footprints in the flour on the floor of the kitchen. Smart thinking, Detective Mike. Andy keeps saying it was Chucky that did it.

The next day, Karen takes Andy and Chucky to school. However this is a short trip for them, as soon as Karen is out of eyesight - they leave school. Somehow, they take the train to a bad part of the neighborhood where the getaway driver is residing. Andy steps away for two seconds to go pee somewhere (Really? That's breaking the law. Also why has nobody stopped Andy before this point?). Chucky steathily enters the house of the getaway driver and starts the gas of the oven. The getaway driver (I forgot his name, okay.) ends up shooting into the kitchen sending the house into an explosion like no other. Andy luckily wasn't too close to the house while he was looking for Chucky outside. 

Karen is called down to the station and finds Andy. He's being talked to by the police. They would like to keep Andy overnight at a hospital. Karen goes home and has a heart to heart with Chucky. As she is about to fling the doll into the fireplace, Chucky comes alive and bites her arm before taking off. She later goes to Detective Mike and shows the bite. She explains the batteries for the doll were still in the box and Chucky is alive. Detective "I play the part of skeptic" Mike refuses to believe her. They separate their ways while she goes to investigate more about where the toy came from.

It leads her back to the man that sold it to her. He tries to take advantage of her and have a good ol' time before being interrupted by Mike. They find themselves on their way to Dr. Death, the man who taught Charles voodoo. However, Chucky pays Dr. Death a visit. Oh, by this point, Mike believes Karen's story after being assaulted by Chucky too. 

Dr. Death informs Charles that he will be turning human and he needs to transfer himself into the first person he shared his secret with. There was honestly no other way I could phrase that without it sounding dirty and wrong. Chucky kills Dr. Death with a voodoo doll.

Mike and Karen then realize they need to protect Andy. Chucky infiltrates the hospital and kills the psychiatrist that was being a douche to Andy. Andy escapes and returns home. All points lead to everybody returning home. Chucky and Karen fight after Mike got knocked out. Chucky thrown into fireplace and set aflame. It's all riveting stuff here, folks. 

Andy discovers Chucky's burnt remains as he's still alive. Andy fights Chucky. And it all comes down to Detective Mike saving the day by shooting Chucky's head. 

Hooray, everyone's safe and sound. A happy ending. 

After watching the franchise so many times growing up, this revisit hit me differently. I wasn't as engaged with things. The charm that had made me love the film was fading. Then it hit me, I don't enjoy the original Child's Play that much anymore. It's because I'm able to see the little details that irritate me about the film. It's still a good film, mind you. I just realized that all the scenes that I loved and thought were in the first film. Well, they actually are in the second. 

The characters are okay. Chucky is the standout and star. That's to be expected. Brad Dourif really put all he had into this character and it shows. It's also why it's so hard to think there could be a Chucky without him. Though, Mark Hamill did a nice spin on things in the remake. The adult characters felt a bit daft. And again, that's understandable. That's supposed to be that way. Its what provides so much tension as Andy finds himself alone with nobody believing him till it's too late. And Alex Vincent did an incredible job with his performance. He really helps sell that it's all happening. Detective Mike feels a bit 80s copish. A bit shallow. And again, he fits that stereotype so well of cops in films. It's only after learning the truth that we see Chris Sarandon open up his acting skills. Before that, it's all by the book and no nonsense. 

I also recently remember hearing about how Don Mancini had a very different take on the film. It was a pitch that had sold the film. The pitch being that Chucky had synthetic blood and didn't come alive till Andy shared his blood in a blood brothers ceremony. So before then, Chucky was a regular doll and then Andy made him come alive. And through that, it was Andy's subconscious acting out cause he wasn't seeing his mom as much. And his parents had just gotten divorced. So he was trying to process everything and just wanted it to be him and his mother. So then, Andy was the murderer in the end. This whole pitch was fantastic. It was so good. To think how differently things would play out if that had happened. Part of me wishes this would have been the way that the reboot had gone. Though, I did enjoy the reboot a bit. 

Overall, this film is good. It's a decent start to the franchise. I mean, things have to start somewhere. And this helped lay the foundation upon which this franchise flourished with. I mean come on, how many franchises get a tv series? This is a bit of a big franchise now.

If you haven't seen it and want to see where things started, check it out. If you're new to the franchise, check it out. 

Rating: 3 out of 5. (Decent start)

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Come join us on Wednesday as we talk about the original Puppet Master (1989). 

Tiny Terrors Day 1: Child's Play (2019)

Hello everyone, welcome to the first day of our new series - Tiny Terrors. I am super excited to be doing this. With this series, we will be covering the Child's Play/Chucky, Puppet Master and Leprechaun franchises. 

While today was initially supposed to be Puppet Master Mondays, it seemed like our favorite Buddi couldn't let that be. So we are now seeing Child's Play Mondays, Leprechaun Wednesdays and Puppet Master Fridays. 

When I first thought about this series, I didn't realize that each of these three franchises had a reboot. I think it's fair to say that all three of them receive some bad words. I figured the best way to start is by covering these right off the bat. 

When it was first announced, the idea of a Child's Play reboot felt very unnecessary. I mean Don Mancini, himself, already had saved the franchise with his recent outings with Chucky. So why would a reboot be necessary?

One could say that the idea in the studio's eyes was the money. Take advantage of the success that Mancini had with the brand. The rights are something of an interesting point. MGM had the rights to the original Child's Play, while Universal and Don Mancini have the rights for everything following.

The film also received a huge amount of backlash because the studio chose to make this without any involvement of Don Mancini and Brad Dourif. Was this a bit of a harsh move by the studio? Yes, I believe it was. It was revealed that Don Mancini turned down an executive producer credit for this film as well.

Child's Play (2019) was directed by Lars Klevberg and written by Tyler Burron Smith. It was also produced by Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg. 

It follows Andy and his mother, Karen. Karen is a single mother that is doing absolutely everything she can to give her teenage son a good life after moving to a new apartment. One day, Karen gives Andy an early birthday present - a Buddi doll. Then chaos ensues slowly. 

This all sounds like old hat to us fans of the franchise. However, Psycho 1998 is this not. This is a solid modernization of that initial story.

One of the things I loved about this version are the characters. Well, most of them - not you Shane (David Lewis). 

Here we have an Andy Barclay (Gabriel Bateman) that is now a teenager. He is someone that can take care of himself. In the beginning, he's more on the outs of being social. He's a new kid that would rather be on his phone then trying to make new friends. During the course of the film, He does make some friends, specifically Pugg (Ty Consiglios) and Falyn (Beatrice Kitsos). These three deliver great performances all around. And by the end, we see them come to Andy's defense at the drop of a hat. 

Detective Mike (Brian Tyree Henry) is fantastic as well. For Mike, it's nice seeing more depth to his character with him visiting his mother, Doreen, who lives down the hall from Andy. He's a son that is doing his best to try to keep an eye on his mom. He makes bad jokes at inappropriate times when he's nervous. (See the first interaction between Mike and Karen.) Altogether this version of Mike is a very likeable character. He is someone that I feel Andy could have trusted more perhaps. 

Karen Barclay (Aubrey Plaza) is great. She's holding it together as best she can for her and Andy. Sure, she has some bad taste in men (see Shane). But she's trying - even if it means she's taking as many hours at work as she can. Or ya know blackmailing her boss into letting her take home a Buddi for her son's birthday. There's only so much a single mom can do.

Now, there is Chucky. That's the big elephant in the room. Is it still Chucky when you change him so much? The answer is yes. While we are so accustomed to Brad Dourif being the heart and soul to Chucky, Mark Hamill does a solid job. 

At first, I was not sold on the idea of Chucky being a learning toy for kids. However, this time around - it hit differently for me. As a parent, the very idea of a toy learning habits from your children is terrifying. My son loves the toys that do just that. He just got an owl that you have to try to teach it how to fly. So with that, the reason this hits more is because how relatable it can be. 

Chucky is definitely a character. He's not just some AI toy. He has feelings to an extent. He wants to be there for Andy and be his best friend. Yeah, a worker changed his settings on his programming chip. This, to me, works just as well as having it be a VooDoo wielding serial killer. Albeit it's a bit more grounded. 

To see the evolution with Chucky's learning was very interesting. Though, Andy shoulda seen that red flag when Chucky tried to choke out the cat for scratching Andy. But at first, Chucky expressed remorse for that. Then Chucky thinks kids enjoy seeing people get hurt after watching bits of Texas Chainsaw Massacre II with the three kids. This leads Chucky to wielding his knife and accidentally cutting Andy. It left Chucky in Andy's room alone in the dark while Andy saw with his friends. Seeing this isolation, it made me feel bad for him. Its not his fault that having no programming has him viewing the world in a child's mindset. 

As things progressed, Chucky's character evolved because of his actions. To the point where Chucky is attacking everyone close to Andy. 

Overall, this is still Chucky. It's just a more modern approach. As to which Chucky I like, it's a tie. I love Brad Dourif Chucky - have spent 7 films and going to be a tv series with him. However, this one definitely is on par. Especially with Chucky from the original film. 

The gore and kills in the film. There are some kills. For the most part, I look at it as the gore for the kills are used most effectively on the characters that deserve it (Shane and the Janitor). As for Andy's cat A) doesn't deserve it  and B) it's an animal. So it wasn't going to be over the top. It had to be effective which that one is. I was uncomfortable with the image of Chucky choking out the cat at first. But then I started thinking about it and it felt appropriate. Because it was Chucky's way of acting out of anger. Doreen, Mike's Mom, didn't deserve it. She was a kind old lady. She just wanted to play BINGO. Yet, this death is effective with the time we spent with the character. And then to see how it effects Mike is powerful too. Shane and the Janitor deserve it. They are both 100 percent douches. The Janitor may just be more creepier. But Shane is a douche cause he mistreats him..plus there's the whole 'I have a wife and two daughters' thing. Though, him getting his face skinned to be displayed on a watermelon is a touch of Texas Chainsaw II. 

This film was a bit tame compared to other horror films. But that's okay. Not everything needs to be blood flying to the walls with everything. 

In regards to Andy's hearing aid, this was an aspect that I didn't mind. It helped add tension at the end of the film. Do I wish this would have been utilized more? Yeah. Same goes for the concept of using the Buddi app to see through Chucky's eyes. Both of these felt a little underutilized.

In the end, this felt like a solid beginning story for a new branch of a Child's Play franchise. It was  interesting seeing Chucky have to learn throughout the film. It added a whole new layer to the story. And there's a lot of different ways you could take the story next. 

For me, I hope we get to see more with the Kaslan Corporation. They were a bit light handed with representation in the film. I mean we get Tim Matheson as the head honcho. Come on use him more. There are definitely ways that could happen. 

With MGM being sold off to Amazon, what might that mean? I am hoping that Amazon picks up things for a sequel. I want more of this incarnation. Especially more of the Buddi Bear. That thing was pretty awesome. Plus the interconnectivity of the toys as a concept could be fun to see more of. 

If you haven't seen this film cause heard that it's bad, it's not. Give it a shot. I challenge you guys to check it out. Go in with an open mind. You may end up liking it. For me, it's definitely on par with the original film. It's a bit underrated.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 

(F in Chat for Mickey Rooney)

Stay tuned as our next installment will be Leprechaun Origins. 

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