Tag Archives: My name’s Chucky wanna play?

Sequel Showdown: 6s, Sixes, and VIs

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The further you venture into the cave, the darker it gets… Or, the less franchises there are that reach that sacred sixth installment. In fact, there are but five slasher films (that I know of) that have reached this pinnacle, so this time we’ll take ’em one by one…

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)

Often held as the last true hurrah for the hockey masked one, writer/director Tom McLoughlin weaved a witty thread of comedy through Jason’s resurrection adventure, pleasantly elevating Jason Lives over and above the previous few entries.

Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

“They saved the best for last.” No. No, they did not. The sixth and ‘final’ outing for Mssr. Krueger was chucked out with a 3D finale, and cameos from Alice Cooper, Roseanne, and Tom Arnold, but everything else is as forgettable as can be, from the dismal body count of THREE to Freddy’s quips, which by this point were more dated than disco.

One bizarre anecdote was that the films staggered US-UK releases were punctuated by the death of Freddy Mercury in November 1991, so TV adverts proclaiming “Freddy’s Dead!” were a tad lacking in the tact department.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

Largely unloved by fans of Mikey M., I actually wrung a fair amount of enjoyment from this one, which was the last of the original films to maintain a really ‘Halloweeny’ atmosphere – plus it was the possibly the first sequel I saw of the lot.

Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return (1999)

John Franklin returned to his creepy role from the original film fifteen years previously, which would surely mean the corn sprogs would want him dead as he’s well into adulthood? Who knows with this series. Nancy Allen was in it, I’ve only seen it the once, but it was definitely better than the horrific TV movie/remake and the recent Genesis episode.

Curse of Chucky (2013)

Don Mancini has, for the time being, successfully resisted the remake-demons getting their paws on his property and, instead, a quasi-reboot was thrown together in the shape of this made for DVD flick, which opted for a back to basics approach with Chucky seen neither moving nor speaking for a good half of the running time. It seems to have done the trick.

The Finalists

Essentially, all five films are finalists, but it’s easy to eliminate Freddy’s Dead and Children of the Corn off the bat: Neither managed to ding the bell of decency.

Next out would be Chucky; it was a good film but the cut-price one-place/one-night setting made it drag just a little.

So, surprise, surprise, it’s between two genre icons who have already bagged prizes in Rounds 2 and 4 respectively, but for being both witty and maintaining a ‘classics’ summer camp feel, it’s gotta be the J-man:

The Winner

Next time, all the sevens!

Death at a funeral

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CURSE OF CHUCKY

3 Stars  2013/18/93m

Director/Writer: Don Mancini / Cast: Fiona Dourif, Danielle Bisutti, Brennan Elliott, Maitland McConnell, A Martinez, Summer Howell, Chantal Quesnelle, Brad Dourif.

Body Count: 8

Laughter Lines: “It’s just a doll – what’s the worst that could happen?”

While there are some good ones, I’d rather take endless sequels over remakes and reboots any day, and so it’s comforting (if such a verb is applicable to a cheesy horror film) that Child’s Play has so far eluded the suck of the remake whirlpool.

Last time we saw Chucky, he and Tiffany were reanimated and fought over the gender of their plastic offspring, Glen/Glenda, killing friends of Jennifer Tilly as they went, including Redman (what happened to him??), John Waters, and one of S Club 7.

I was lucky enough to catch the European Premiere of the straight-to-DVD Curse of Chucky at London’s FrightFest, and both Don Mancini and lead actress Fiona Dourif were present to introduce and perform Q&A, which informed us that Mancini would like to see Chucky go up against Freddy Krueger and Dourif was a little reticent about conversing with the profane doll voiced by her own father.

The ‘handsome’ doll kids mysteriously continue to fawn over

Without explanation of his resurrection, a box containing Chucky is delivered to the home of Sarah and her wheelchair-bound daughter, Nica. Who sent it and from where it came is a mystery, but after Sarah apparently commits suicide later that night, Nica is visited by her acerbic sister, Barb, brother-in-law, Ian, their daughter, Alice, nubile au pair, Jill, and Father Frank.

Barb wants to sell the house and split the profits, leading to tension between the sisters. Meanwhile, Alice adopts Chucky as her own. Creepy things begin to happen that only Nica observes, the doll disappears, cupboards are left open, the doll reappears… Unbeknownst to her, Father Frank, who left feeling unwell after drawing the soup seasoned with rat poison, has run off the road, killed some poor schmucks, and gotten decapitated by sheet metal.

Chucky does his usual schtick of whispering sweet nothings to little Alice and then systematically killing the adults by electrocution, axe, and knife-in-the-eye, until it’s just him and Nica and he reveals the link between her late mother and Charles Lee Ray.

Given the reduced budget, the film is almost entirely set on the one night in the same house, though Mancini pulls some tricks out of his sleeve towards the end, with a couple of awesome cameos that had the audience cheering, albethem seeming to retcon happenings from earlier instalments – just make sure you wait until the credits are over for the ultimate cameo.

It’s on par with the pre-Tiffany films – good but not life-changing – and reigning in Chucky’s mobility until the second half creates a little tension lacking in the last few episodes. The gags are also reeled tighter, making them more effective, and in terms of the script and dialogue, Curse of Chucky is the most taut instalment since the first. The only real flaw is the pacing, evident from use of the one location, it does drag here and there.

Free Chucky masks!

Don Mancini and Fiona Dourif at FrightFest 2013

If you’re a fan of the series, you’ll love this one as much as the rest, and it’s admirable Mancini has stuck with it all this time and I hope he continues to put off any plans for a remake in favour of more sequels if they’re as good as this one.

Blurbs-of-interest: other than voicing Chucky in the other five movies, Brad Dourif can be seen (actually acting!) in Urban Legend, Rob Zombie’s Halloween and Halloween II, Dead Scared, and Trauma; Maitland McConnell was in Detention and Killer Movie.

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