Greetings ghouls and gals, it's your friendly neighborhood Valkor here. And I'm about to kick off TOV's Halloween coverage with a slew of films that will either scare you shitless… or put you to sleep. First up is a film I thought was a reboot/relaunch of a franchise and while I like the look of the latest Good Guy doll incarnation in "Curse of Chucky", I'm not all that excited about that film overall. Spoilers ahead.
Curse of Chucky starts out in the home of wheelchair confined Nica (Fiona Dourif) and her mom Sarah (Chantal Quesnelle), who one day she suddenly receive a mysterious package containing a good guy doll. And that very same night, mom Sarah is murdered. But by who? No one knows. The rest of the family, sister Barb (Danielle Bisutti), her husband Ian (Brennan Elliot), the five-year old daughter Alice (Summer Howell), and their caregiver Jill (Maitland McConnell) come to the house to sort out what to do with the estate… and Nica (since she now has no one to help take care for her). Little Alice is instantly drawn to Chucky (Brad Dourif) and even starts have some deep conversations with it. But when weird shit starts happening and bodies start dropping, Nica looks to the doll for the cause of it all.
Jennifer Tilly also makes a special appearance, reprising her role as Tiffany (but not as her doll counterpart). And as for The Chucky doll? It's been given a nice digital overhaul in terms of facial expression and movement. Curse of Chucky also gets the Combo Pack treatment with a copy of the Blu-Ray, DVD, and UltraViolet Digital copy. Finally, there are plenty of appearances (other than Tilly) and other choice nuggets that the fans of the franchise will truly appreciate. But can all that save this film from mediocrity?
The Good:
Not really, but Curse of Chucky is a step in the right direction. I hated the slapstick-always-with-the-jokes Chucky from "Bride of Chucky" and "Seed of Chucky". I wanted my unsuspecting, murderous Good Guy doll from the first film back, who said what needed to be said and did what he needed to do. And that's exactly what you get with this film. Supposedly this is a reboot, but the inclusion of Tiffany says otherwise. But I like how the film links itself more so to the first "Child's Play" film rather than its cheesy sequels, though everything is connected. The CGI on Chucky is amazing and ups the creepy factor tenfold; the fact that he can now have some truly twisted expressions really completes the package. The acting isn't too bad, though Fiona Dourif hams it up a little too much later in the film. However, the kicker for me was the scene with Barb and Jill. Haha wow! I did not see that coming and a very nice touch indeed!
The Bad:
I'm just gonna come out and say it, the story is meh. Sure there are a lot of old school Chucky-style killings, plus some new gimmicks tossed in (the musical chairs-esque rat poisoning of the soup. Who's gonna get it?), and I'm grateful for it but it doesn't help that the story is just… awkward. All is explained by the end, why Chucky was sent to that home in the first place, but it still doesn't help the overall story, because with the addition of the ending, it's all too confusing. Is it a reboot or a sequel? By the end you're not really sure. And speaking of endings, maybe that's another reason why the story comes across so… meh. Chucky kills everyone! And in the end he's left with little Alice. What happens after that? Who knows! So, nice killings, meh story, just equates to a film that could have used a bit more punch.
The Ugly:
The true face of Chucky once he peels away his Good Guy façade.
Curse of Chucky Blu-Ray Combo Pack is available now and while there are some chills here, there's not enough leaving wanting more Chucky… but I'd honestly love to see more Chucky in a good film. If you're gonna reboot the series, just reboot it and go from there. But as it stands, Curse of Chucky gets a 2 out of TOV 5 stars. You're still my friend to the end, Chuck. You're still my friend to the end.
