You’ve got to hand it to Chucky, he’s the franchise you just can’t keep down. Not even Universal who seems genuinely embarrassed of him. Honestly, though, why shouldn’t they be? He’s a darned killer doll!
But, they keep making Chucky movies, shoving them into direct-to-download Hell in some hope of finally making Chucky unprofitable and, strangely enough, it seems like this move to kill Chucky has only made him stronger.
Yes, although I did not officially review Curse of Chucky, I did enjoy it on a base level like I enjoy an off-brand soda or generic breakfast cereal. It isn’t great, but it isn’t bad either. Now we have the second home video offering, Cult of Chucky and, to be honest… I liked this movie. I liked it a lot even though I probably shouldn’t have.
This time around, the severed and mutilated head of Chucky is being held prisoner by a now grown-up Andy from the first movie in an attempt to keep the killer Doll from making more sequels, but when he hears about more Chucky-style murders happening in the world outside his sad little cabin, he decides to take matters into his own hands. It turns out that Chucky is tormenting the wheelchair bound Nika from the last movie who is now in an insane asylum, but that can’t be possible, right? That would mean that there are… two Chuckies?
The thing that I like about Chucky movies is that, unlike Saw or Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th movies, the Chucky movies have all tried to gain a unique identity for themselves and be easily identifiable. The Saw movies, however, run together as all are essentially the same. With Chucky, they try new things, new locations, and new gimmicks… it doesn’t always work, but at least they tried. This time around, Chucky has a new power that is incredibly stupid and ridiculously fun that basically has the potential of turning him into a God but he’s never smart enough to take full advantage of it despite the fact that it’s staring him in the face the entire time.
That, to me, is the saving grace to the Chucky movies that they are deeply aware of how ridiculous and stupid that they are and they have all the fun they can have with it. I myself, in turn, am fully aware of how stupid and ridiculous they are as well and, thanks to this self-awareness, I’m laughing with them instead of at them.
So, yes… it’s a Chucky movie, but it’s a fun, stupid, self-aware and harmless Chucky movie and that’s okay. I’m fine with that.
Jason Gaston 