And now Chucky comes to a close. Hopefully Curse does well and we may get to revisit everyone's favorite little maniacal doll. Its not the greatest series, but it does sport more entertaining entries than it does non-entertaining entries. Chucky, the killer doll definitely is in the pantheon of horror icons, but I think he's slid down some notches since the 90s. Whereas at one time he may have brushed with the A-grade slashers, time has more rightfully set Chucky's place as a B or C level horror villain. Not a bad thing, but a lot of his movies don't hold up and he's not in demand like a Jason or Michael.
Anywho...let's do that ranking thing that seems to be so popular when it comes to Fast & the Furious (seriously, the ranking of that franchise is my most read article by light years. I've done other stuff folks haha).
Yeah, this movie completely sucks. Its an absolute mess. While there's a few funny jokes, they're meshed in with about a 1,000 that aren't working. Some of the parodies are too far past their relevancy to even be funny anymore. Jennifer Tilly is still killing it, but that is not even a pinch of being enough. If you want that, see Bride. It's crazy that this one wasn't straight to video as it totally feels and looks like it.
This one isn't offensively bad like the last one. Its just boring. Things are tired at this point and switching the locale to a military base doesn't really freshen the series up a whole lot. The Andy Barclay story is worn and you kind just want Chucky to give up on it at this point. Especially since in the previous movie his voodoo isn't going to work anymore. There are a few good sequences in here and some fun character acting that make this infinitely more watchable that Seed. But, in the end, there's nothing really worth noting to go back and watch the whole thing.
Chin pic included for Cullen. This one is ok. Its a retread sequel that goes a bit bigger. There's nothing innovative about it other than a few larger set pieces and some more over the top kills. But, it works and is entertaining. Its a solid follow up and as the 3rd one would show, you can't really just keep doing this over and over. This isn't as good as the first film, but its not a steep jump down in terms of quality either. It akins to the days when sequels were usually never up to snuff with the first film and that's ok and not a bad thing.
The return to form. After so many years, this is a breath of fresh air. It may have been more in tone with 1-3 but it'd been over 20 years since we had a Chucky movie like one of those. And this one in actuality does things much better. To be honest I was so so so close to moving this higher. In my review when I referred to it as "smart" i'm talking in terms of these film and as a genre. So if you're getting the pitchfork ready as you thought it was going to be Chucky meets Inception, please hold off. This film delivers everything you'd want, good kills, great atmosphere, solid characters and a more restrained Chucky. Its probably not making my end of the year "top 10" or anything, but I really think people will like this movie.
The original may still be a nostalgia play on my behalf, but I think it still works. This series should have probably been left at, and been stronger with this one film. Or you know what, I think having just this and 2 works as well. The further you go, the father you stretch the concept. But then again, somehow Jason works over and over again. But he falls more into a mythic campfire tale and Chucky is more of a gimmick. This film still works as a nice step in a unique direction for the slasher genre who, at this time was rounding third base on its way to almost being done.
This tone and direction only works once, and they nailed it here. While not a scary film, it sure is a lot of fun. It delivers some kills, gore, action and laughs. Its entertaining through and through. And that's far more important than a film trying to be scary and failing (ahem...part 3). If there is one of these movies that you can watch over and over again its this one. It's finally self aware and will to take some chances, add to and put some depth to Chucky's lore. People have complained that they didn't like this route, but I don't see how things could have gone worse after 3. Plus, this is how horror was back in this time period. It shouldn't have been a shock that Chucky would dive in to this route.
I hope you enjoyed this Chucky Retrospective. Its one that actually ended on a pretty high note. But Chucky is nothing. Let's get to more of the real deal.
Starting TUESDAY, be ready for the biggest and most extensive retrospective this site and retrospective series have ever known. 3 more days til the next retrospective retrospective retrospective...3 more days til my next retrospective-NAAAPTOWN NERRRD!
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