Curse of Chucky (2013) Review

So, if my somewhat creepy Cabbage-patch inspired doll came to life and tried to kill me, how frightened could I actually be?

I mean, from an existential viewpoint, yes. The philosophical ramifications of serial killers having voodoo powers would be soul-shattering; but as to the doll itself? Couldn’t I just kick it really hard?

And therein is the best and worst thing about the Chucky series; he’s an evil, foul-mouthed serial killer doll voiced by Academy Award nominee Brad Dourif. He is, so I’ve come to understand, an extremely intense special effect to have to render; Curse of Chucky marks his sixth film.

Now, if you’ve been following the plot of the Child’s Play series thus far (and if you haven’t, sir, you are lost) then you know that Chucky originally came alive in 1988; only to be killed by a kid, then he came alive again, was killed again, attacked a military school, was resurrected by his on-again-off-again love Tiffany, killed her, made her into a doll, got her pregnant, had a doll-child, killed some folks, and then was killed (sort of) by his doll-child. And so it is with this dense and layered continuity that we begin Curse of Chucky, which fits into that timeline somewhere. Somewhere! It’s a prequel; maybe? Or is it a sequel? Watch the movie.

I actually mean that, too. As far as killer-doll movies go, this one’s actually pretty good. It’s written and directed by Don Mancini, who has written all the films in the series but only directed Seed of Chucky, a strong candidate for the stupidest thing ever to exist. So it’s a welcome surprise that he forgoes the needless cheesiness and actually tries to ratchet up the horror for this one. It’s still a cheesy concept, but it’s more fun when you play it straight. It brings nothing in particular new to the table, but we get to see Chucky knifing fools and that’s worth it right there.

This time around, he’s mailed himself to the home of a fairly well-to-do family; their wheelchair bound daughter is played by Fiona Dourif, the real-life daughter of Brad Dourif, the actor who voices Chucky (and appears in a flashback scene as Charles Lee Ray, the murderer who eventually became the doll). Therefore, I expected some kind of twist to reveal that Chucky was actually this woman’s father. But, thankfully, that’s not the case despite his ties to the family he’s terrorizing; I didn’t give Mancini enough credit. But why should I have? He directed Seed of Chucky.

The film ties the continuity of the other entries in the series together nicely; we get a small cameo from Jennifer Tilly (continuity-wise, I’m not sure if she’s playing Tiffany or Tiffany in the body of actress Jennifer Tilly, which is where the series left her) and if you stick around after the credits, you’ll find out what happened to Andy from the first couple of movies. The original actor, now in his thirties, even returns.

So do I recommend this movie? If you enjoy the other entries, yes. There’s no reason why you won’t also like this one. If, on the other hand, Chucky ain’t your thing, don’t expect this movie to change your mind about that. But overall, it’s an enjoyable entry in the series, with some solid gore scenes and some entertaining doll-swearing. Now, if someone would only finance Chucky VS. Leprechaun…