Review of Curse of Chucky (2013) by Matt S — 28 Jun 2016

Chucky is back with a vengeance and goes back to the darker, more suspenseful, menacing tone and pitch dark humor of the first two of this series. Curse Of Chucky is a step in the right direction and was refreshingly and expertly restrained, with a classic build up of characters, story and mystery and a sense of doom throughout. Chucky is for sure creepy again, but not as scary as when I first saw the original as a kid, so the effectiveness of the premise has worn off a bit. Compared to Child's Play 3, Bride Of Chucky and Seed Of Chucky, this wickedly entertaining and violent sequel proves that there is still life in this popular series after all and is the best edition to this franchise in 23 years. I can't fathom why this didn't get a wide release to theaters and the last three sequels did, this one is far more superior and clever and definitely one of the top horror films of the year when it comes to entertainment value.

The performances were surprisingly not half bad and brings back the serious tone of the original. Fiona Dourif who is the daughter of Brad Dourif, the man behind the famed Chucky voice, plays Nica, a wheelchair bound since birth, the young woman lives in an old estate with her mom Sarah. One day they receive a mysterious package from an unknown sender. The two open up the package and it's no other than the red haired, freckled face doll that we all know, Chucky. The mom instantly doesn't like and throws the doll away, unknowingly that it's possessed by the serial killer Charles Lee Ray, known as Chucky, let the sinister doll games begin! Fiona was great in the part and was a standout and I rooted for her to live more than any other character in this film and kicked some major doll ass! The rest of the cast were decent as well, even though their characters are mostly throwaways, but far better acting than most direct to DVD horror flicks. Who can forget the iconic voice talent of Chucky, Brad Dourif is back and his voice of Chucky is better than ever.

Director of Seed Of Chucky and past writer for all of the films in this series, Don Mancini has really stepped it up this go around. The film's location was absolutely perfect and appropriately spooky and Don masterfully reignites the series without losing the touch of its roots. There were some plot holes here and there but the way Don ties in the past sequels with this new story was unsuspecting brilliance and moves the series forward instead of backwards. There were some clichés and silly one-liners, but that was a flaw that all of the films had and this time it wasn't as distracting compared to the last three sequels. I think he finally found the right place and direction where this series needs to be and how it should be.

Overall, Curse Of Chucky didn't necessarily blow me away, but it's the best we've seen from this series in more than two decades. The atmosphere brings us back to the dark roots of the original, along with the suspense and frights. I liked the classic restraint and build up in the beginning that leads us to one bloody finale, and the surprise cameo towards the end was just brilliant. The film doesn't make me fear Chucky again, but I had such a blast watching this twisted sequel, and makes me fall in love with the series all over again. Curse Of Chuck completely makes you forget the lousy 3rd, 4th, and 5th one and wins back your respect and it's about bloody time! More of a 6.9 out of 10.