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.

Monsters Inc (2001)

"Kids these days... They just don't get scared like they used to!"

I'm somewhat winging it with this one; I wasn't going to blog this film and so I didn't make any notes. But here I am, a week later, deciding to blog it after all. I haven't done that since Drop Dead Fred. So here's hoping for some semblance of structure.

This film is, let us lay it out at the start, amazing. The animation, the voice acting and the witty script raise this up to something special, but best of all is the concept; a city of great looking monsters who get all their powers from the screams of frightened children. Sully is the most celebrated of the scarers, who enter inter dimensional doors (a fantastic image) to scare kids. But all this comes crashing down once a little baby girl and a dastardly plot enter proceedings.

One has to raise an eyebrow, I suppose, at a fairly contemporary looking society with an energy crisis which is able to use doors as interdimensional portals, but the whole concept is so cool that I simply don't care. The dynamic between Sully and Mike is fantastic, as it has to be for the film to work, and Boo is so very, very cute.

There's not much more to say; I'm not going to dig too deep for subtext although there are probably things that could be said about corporate greed. Just go and watchful. It's great.

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.

Bride of Chucky (1998)

“In fact, if this was a movie, it would take three or four sequels to do it justice.”

I fell in love with this movie at “Voodoo for Dummies”. That love was consummated with the quote I’ve just used. This film is hilarious. You know how much I love films that play around with metatextuality and this is the ultimate example of that. Plus, it co-stars Family Guy’s very own Jennifer Tilly. A minor gripe about the DVD, though: no bloody subtitles.

It feels, after only seven years, that we’ve entered a more modern and self-aware era than the preceding trilogy, and one which is a darn sight more fun. I mean, the opening titles unfold to Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie. How cool is that?

The basic concept of the film is so blatantly taken from Bride ofFrankenstein that we get a little clip. This is one of many nice little gags referring to other films. I love Tiffany. She’s sassy, ditzy and delightfully kinky. I love the way that, just after that goth bloke refers to orgasm as “le petit mort”, she handcuffs him to a bed, dances sexually, and then watches as the recently revived Chucky administers a “Grand Mort”. As you do.

I also love our fugitive couple who seem to attract gloriously violent deaths wherever they go. The massacre in the honeymoon suite at Niagara Falls is the second best scene in the film. It goes without saying that the best scene is the puppet sex scene. I trust we all agree on that? And, incidentally, this seems a good a place as any to quote the line “plastic is no substitute for a nice hunk of wood”. I just had to crowbar that in.

The relationship between Tiffany and Chucky is hilarious to watch, if also a blatant sign of the change in tone from the previous films to fit in with a more post-modern age. The final scene, not to be spoilerific or anything, is the most perfect cliffhanger in the history of ever.