Curse of Chucky

To say in 1988 that we were going to have a horror film about a doll as a killer that later spawned a successful series would seem unreal. No doubt it would be interesting but very silly regardless and also a risk film due to the possible bad reactions to it. Still as history showed, Child's Play was a hit and it made it's mark on the horror world. It was the first movie in a popular series that still has nothing close to it in the horror genre.

That said, now in 2013 after nine years, we get a new Chucky film. The whole idea is again forced, questionable and asking for trouble. The series already faced it's fate if it wanted to be a black comedy film like the last sequels or edgy horror like first two movies in the late 80's and early 90's.

Curse of Chucky uses only one set and obviously was made with a smaller budget. A small package has been sent to the home of wheelchair-bound mother Sarah Pierce (Chantal Quesnel) and her daughter Nica (Fiona Dourif). The package containing good doll Chucky, which of course always leads to trouble.

We have seen this type of plot before with a house in the middle of nowhere but with the Chucky films, you can say that it's a little different. The movie uses it's budget here, introducing more characters than usual with "Clue" vibes and these characters all bring something unique to the table and that's something different with this series.

Obviously, the main reason why these films are successful are the main attraction, the doll Chucky who is the center of attention and he leads all ships to these films. In this installment, Chucky is not as funny as previous and he seems to show up when he wants to but he is still the same Chucky. He does bring fresh and new kill scenes which I liked. Brad Dourif does his usual good voice work for Chucky and Chucky does have a new look which gives him a little different vibe than before.

Once the third act is about to come to a close and the dvd player is about to turned off, we see that the ending is ambitious and wants to do a lot of things. It takes you in many directions so you need to follow it all but still though, this is a very different ending for the series. The ending is smart and an example of how a movie can go against the grain in a direct-to-dvd film. It also gets bonus points for a cool cameo that pays homage with characters from earlier films in the series.

Like most sequels, this really is an unnecessary film and for a series that returns after almost ten years, this should not have been very good especially considering that it is a direct-to-dvd film, but it was good. I think this film will end up being one the biggest surprises of 2013 and maybe even in horror movie history.

3.5/5