Cult of Chucky (2017)

“You thought I was the only one?”

 I think it's well-established by now that this is possibly the most consistently excellent long-running horror movie franchise, given the high average quality of the seven films. And this film, by the same team as the superb and splendidly back-to-basics Curse of Chucky, is very good indeed, if perhaps slightly eclipsed by its predecessor. What a shame that both films were straight to DVD.

The film, unlike most modern Hollywood horror, looks superb, with the grainy picture quality avoiding the inappropriate glossiness that we so often see these days. The setting, too- a mental institution- is milked for maximum levels of disturbing horror. Mixed to the inherent and very deep darkness of the Catch-22 nature of having to prove your sanity in a world of straitjackets, sedation, electric shock treatment and absolute lack of freedom is the fact that the perverted Dr Foley hypnotises and rapes his horribly vulnerable victims. Even Chucky is not sure which of the two is the more evil, and that's saying something.

The conceit of the film is, of course, that the incanted spell can bring to life any Good Guy doll as Chucky, and on top of this he can now possess people, leading to a gloriously developing and fun slasher which ends up with three Chuckies, a possessed Nica, Andy in considerable trouble and a deliciously warped, silly, sequel-hunting final scene. This franchise is on fire, and is worth seeing for the skylight scene alone.

I have to single out Fiona Dourif for another outstanding performance, but the film as a whole is superb and deserves to be seen by far more people than, sadly, it will be.

Curse of Chucky (2013)

"It's a doll. What's the worst that can happen, eh?"

This film is genuinely bewildering. After two comedy instalments the franchise returns to its roots with an absolutely first class straight-up horror film. So why on earth did this triumph of a film go straight to video? A pen pusher somewhere has some explaining to do.

We are first introduced to the characters trapped inside this particularly large house, none of whom are likeable aside from the wheelchair-using Nica who, according to the grammar of these sorts of horror films is fated to be the only survivor. The snobbish, grasping  and unpleasant Barb, we know from the start, is due a particularly nasty death. She's a bad sort, plotting to put Nica in a home so she gets the house. Still, she's really struggling financially; she and her odious partner Ian may have to send their daughter Alice to state school. Grr! Oh, and Barb is having an affair with Alice's nanny Jill. As the only sexually active couple in the film they obviously have to die. Nice bit of misdirection, though; we're initially led to think it's Ian.

The scene with the rat poison in the food sets the tone nicely; this is how to do Chucky, with humour, yes, but real menace. On top of this, like any good slasher this is grounded in solid characterisation of the potential victims

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The ending is excellent, too, with a flashback connecting things nicely to the first film, and if that's not enough we even get a particularly nice cameo at the end. This is one of the best slashers ever. Really.

Seed of Chucky (2004)

“You killed my mummy and daddy, and now you’re pissing your pants!”

 

So, Chucky and Tiffany have a kid. It’s just like David Bowie in every way, including the androgyny. This is a deliciously silly film, which has just as much metatextual fun as its predecessor. It rips the piss out of loads of films, but is essentially more of the same that we know and love from the last film. Just a little bit more British.

It’s rather surreal to see Hannah Spearitt in a film like this. It’s even weirder, though gleefully hilarious, that the likes of Jennifer Tilly and Redman would play themselves in such a delightfully unflattering way. Best of all, of course, is the way that Glen, or Glenda, acts as a catalyst to the relationship between our two evil dolls. I particularly love the sequences in which Tiffany attempts to give up her addiction to killing. This is the most Californian thing ever.

Of course, there are plenty of gruesome deaths, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that the thing we remember most after seeing this film is the sight of Chucky, silhouetted, er, wanking. This, more than anything else in the franchise, is the stuff of nightmares. I half suspect that the whole plot about children exists solely so that this scene can exist. This film is evil. I love it

Silly though this film is, it is interesting to see how far the franchise has changed from its origins. These last two films, both of them superb, seem to belong to a different age. The animatronics are notably better here even than in the previous film and the humour is both sharper and more evil. I particularly enjoyed the fate of Britney Spears. Each film in the series has been better than the last one, and this film is the peak. Roll on the next one.