Before i write anymore, I must make a confession. I have never seen Child's Play 1 through 3. However, I am well aware of the history of the series, thanks in large part to the British ban of Child's Play 3 as a knee-jerk reaction to the Jamie Bulger killing. I came to Bride of Chucky expecting very little. A friend of mine said i should watch it and lent me the tape, so watch it i did. And i had a derned good time.
This film wastes no time in letting you know where its coming from. In the opening shots, we see a police evidence lockup containing Jason's mask (of Friday the 13th fame) and Freddy's finger knives (of Nightmare on Elm Street infamy). From a locker, a cop pulls a bag containing the shredded remains of Chucky, the once goodguy doll who was possessed by the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray. It is obvious that Chucky will be resurrected, as were Jason and Freddy many times (most recently by Bride's director Ronny Yu, in the crossover Freddy vs Jason), and the setting is one of post-modern horror, as was fashionable at the time of the film's release, thanks to Scream and its disciples.
The basic plot is this: Chucky's former girlfriend, Tiffany, resurrects Chucky via some needlework and voodoo, who then kills her (whilst she is watching Bride of Frankenstein, geddit?) and pours her soul into a female doll of Chucky's stature. Tiffany manages to convince her hunky neighbour - who is running away with the girlfriend whose Chief of Police uncle has banned him from seeing - to transport the two dolls to Hackensack, New Jersey, where the body of Charles Lee Ray is buried. Once there, the two dolls will exhume the body, claim back the voodoo amulet which will allow them to repossess human bodies, kill the two teens and take over their forms. Its pretty weak at best, but lets face it, you're only here for three things - the dolls, some laughs and some grisly murders. And that's what you get. The Tiffany doll is brilliant and Jennifer Tilly - though i did miss her voluptuous form filling the screen - brings her to life wonderfully. Brad Dourif gives Chucky - now horribly disfigured, thanks to Tiffany's stitch-up job - appropriate levels of menace and sick humour. And the deaths are pleasingly grisly and imaginative.
What is good about this is that it never really pretends to be anything other than ridiculous. There are constant references to horror movie staples, such as Pinhead etc., and the script consistently pokes fun at the state of affairs. And the whole thing rattles along at a brisk old pace. At just over 80 minutes, there isn't much screentime when some absurd situation or some blood-letting isn't in the works. It just sets up the plot and the set-pieces and gets on with letting them play out much as you would expect.
All the people you dont really warm to get offed pretty quickly. Alexis Arquette, doing his best Marilyn Manson is the first to go, and while Chucky certainly puts him through some pain, the deaths get more elaborate as the film progresses. One of the best scenes sees Chucky blow up a cop car after getting stoned in the back of the teens' truck, and the reaction of a stoned spectator teen to Chucky crawling away and giving him the finger is priceless, and for me the biggest laugh of the film. It also has one of the films two impressive explosions, a minor note, but its always nice to see some good pyrotechnics in a b-movie.
Some of the structuring is actually quite neat as well, with the two unaware teens gradually suspecting each other of the string of murders that seem to dog their roadtrip. And anytime someone new enters the fray, you can guarantee they'll get theirs. Perhaps the best death is a tie between the 'honeymoon sweets' murder and the resultant Final Destination-style splattering of one of the film's main characters. There's also a suitably perverse sex scene which was crying out to happen, topped off with a nice punchline, which sets up the film's final twist.
And what a twist. Hardly unpredictable, but neat none the less, it tops off a sick and entertaining hour and a half effectively enough to warrant a further sequel. A date movie for horror fans, unless your woman is a) scared of murderous dolls, b) far too lofty for this sort of thing, or c)not into a bit of dark silliness. Otherwise, its a good little film, stylish and pacy enough to rise above Direct to Video horror and spineless dirge like I Know What You Did Last Summer. Give it a go - just don't expect The Silence of the Lambs. There's no Oscars here, and all the better for it.
7/10
This film wastes no time in letting you know where its coming from. In the opening shots, we see a police evidence lockup containing Jason's mask (of Friday the 13th fame) and Freddy's finger knives (of Nightmare on Elm Street infamy). From a locker, a cop pulls a bag containing the shredded remains of Chucky, the once goodguy doll who was possessed by the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray. It is obvious that Chucky will be resurrected, as were Jason and Freddy many times (most recently by Bride's director Ronny Yu, in the crossover Freddy vs Jason), and the setting is one of post-modern horror, as was fashionable at the time of the film's release, thanks to Scream and its disciples.
The basic plot is this: Chucky's former girlfriend, Tiffany, resurrects Chucky via some needlework and voodoo, who then kills her (whilst she is watching Bride of Frankenstein, geddit?) and pours her soul into a female doll of Chucky's stature. Tiffany manages to convince her hunky neighbour - who is running away with the girlfriend whose Chief of Police uncle has banned him from seeing - to transport the two dolls to Hackensack, New Jersey, where the body of Charles Lee Ray is buried. Once there, the two dolls will exhume the body, claim back the voodoo amulet which will allow them to repossess human bodies, kill the two teens and take over their forms. Its pretty weak at best, but lets face it, you're only here for three things - the dolls, some laughs and some grisly murders. And that's what you get. The Tiffany doll is brilliant and Jennifer Tilly - though i did miss her voluptuous form filling the screen - brings her to life wonderfully. Brad Dourif gives Chucky - now horribly disfigured, thanks to Tiffany's stitch-up job - appropriate levels of menace and sick humour. And the deaths are pleasingly grisly and imaginative.
What is good about this is that it never really pretends to be anything other than ridiculous. There are constant references to horror movie staples, such as Pinhead etc., and the script consistently pokes fun at the state of affairs. And the whole thing rattles along at a brisk old pace. At just over 80 minutes, there isn't much screentime when some absurd situation or some blood-letting isn't in the works. It just sets up the plot and the set-pieces and gets on with letting them play out much as you would expect.
All the people you dont really warm to get offed pretty quickly. Alexis Arquette, doing his best Marilyn Manson is the first to go, and while Chucky certainly puts him through some pain, the deaths get more elaborate as the film progresses. One of the best scenes sees Chucky blow up a cop car after getting stoned in the back of the teens' truck, and the reaction of a stoned spectator teen to Chucky crawling away and giving him the finger is priceless, and for me the biggest laugh of the film. It also has one of the films two impressive explosions, a minor note, but its always nice to see some good pyrotechnics in a b-movie.
Some of the structuring is actually quite neat as well, with the two unaware teens gradually suspecting each other of the string of murders that seem to dog their roadtrip. And anytime someone new enters the fray, you can guarantee they'll get theirs. Perhaps the best death is a tie between the 'honeymoon sweets' murder and the resultant Final Destination-style splattering of one of the film's main characters. There's also a suitably perverse sex scene which was crying out to happen, topped off with a nice punchline, which sets up the film's final twist.
And what a twist. Hardly unpredictable, but neat none the less, it tops off a sick and entertaining hour and a half effectively enough to warrant a further sequel. A date movie for horror fans, unless your woman is a) scared of murderous dolls, b) far too lofty for this sort of thing, or c)not into a bit of dark silliness. Otherwise, its a good little film, stylish and pacy enough to rise above Direct to Video horror and spineless dirge like I Know What You Did Last Summer. Give it a go - just don't expect The Silence of the Lambs. There's no Oscars here, and all the better for it.
7/10