Cult of Chucky

Cult of Chucky

Starring Fiona Dourif, Brad Dourif, Michael Therriault, Alex Vincent

Directed by Don Mancini

The Story:
Four years after the killer doll Chucky killed her family, Nica Pierce (Fiona Dourif) has been committed to an insane asylum, under the direction of Dr. Foley (Michael Therriault).  She begins to believe that she was the one who committed the murders, and suffers from schizophrenia.  However, when the doctor brings in a Good Guy Doll, terror begins striking the hospital as patients begin dying, and Fiona realizes that Chucky is real and back to finish what he started.  Meanwhile, after being tormented by the doll for decades, Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) holds Chucky's animated head to torture, but when he learns of murders starting at the hospital, he learns that Chucky has managed to transfer his soul to different Good Guy dolls, and sets out to stop him once and for all, with Chucky's former love Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) also on her way to rescue her man.

The Synopsis:
There are some positives I can say about the "Child's Play" franchise:
1. The first three films were amazing
2. The fact that Brad Dourif has voiced Chucky in all seven films is equally amazing
3. Don Mancini wrote and directed all seven films, showing true dedication to the franchise he began
4. The last two films features Fiona Dourif as the heroine, who's also Brad Dourif's real-life daughter, so it adds a sense of fun to the story
5. "Curse of Chucky" returned to making Chucky into an evil, frightening villain
6. Oscar nominee Jennifer Tilly has appeared in the last four films, and she's absolutely insane and I love it

Now for the negatives:
1. "Bride of Chucky" and "Seed of Chucky" were totally terrible
2. Somehow, despite advancements in technology, Chucky looks worse than he did in the first three films back in the late 80s/early 90s
3. "Cult of Chucky" is an abysmal addition after a decent sequel

This isn't to say that "Cult of Chucky" is the worst in the franchise (that distinction goes to "Seed of Chucky," where Chucky has a child, and it's about as absurd as it sounds) - it's just not great.  "Curse of Chucky" returned to the original roots of the pint-sized villain, and what made him an iconic slasher along with the likes of Jason, Freddy, Michael and Pinhead.  "Bride" and "Seed" tried to tone down the fear and amp up the laughter in the tradition of the classic Abbott and Costello films, but turned Chucky into a laughingstock.  While he's more menacing here, he still maintains his quippy one-liners that were actually funny ("I don't know whether to kill this guy or take notes!" he exclaims about a villainous character in the movie).  The film also unites Alex Vincent's Andy Barclay - the Nancy to Chucky's Freddy, the Tommy to Chucky's Jason, the Laurie to Chucky's Michael - but even that seemed like a throwaway.

The main focus of the film centers on Nica, who is now in a mental institution after Chucky killed her family.  She interacts with all the generic mental patients - the schizophrenic, the multiple personality, and so on.  Basically, this is the perfect place for a killer doll with the soul of a serial killer to run rampant, because no one would believe it.  It's the laziest form of writing, and Mancini takes full advantage of it.  He also throws in several cues to what could be happening, which are so lazily written and haphazardly thrown in it's pretty much pandering to the lowest common denominator. 

As I said, the main focus is on Nica, but there's also two side stories thrown in for good measure - or moreso because Mancini couldn't write a script that could withstand a 90-minute runtime by itself.  Andy Barclay has kept Chucky's head at his home, and tortures it constantly, mostly because Chucky himself ruined his life since childhood.  It's an interesting back-and-forth between the two foes, but also adds to the confusion as it also seems Chucky is killing people in a mental hospital at the same time - until we learn Chucky read online how to transfer his soul to multiple dolls...when he learned that, I have no idea, but I guess he learned it. 

The second story focuses on Chucky's love Tiffany, played with gleeful insanity by Jennifer Tilly, who seems to be the only one who knows how crazy the script is.  This is where the film deters from the others in that she had also transferred her soul into a doll in "Bride," but now she's a full-fledged human without any indication as to how that happened.  I guess it's not important, to actually tell a cohesive story.  Anyway, she's pretty much in the background for most of the film, and not a whole lot can be said about that.

Then there's the ending.  It seems to come out of nowhere, and doesn't make a lot of sense.  Sure, as with all these movies, it leaves room for a sequel, but I don't know in what direction they could take it anymore.  Maybe it's time to stick Chucky on the shelf with that Elf and forget about him for good.

The Summary:
Even though it unites several classic characters, "Cult of Chucky" is a jumbled mess with a poorly written idea that monopolizes on all the traditional tropes it can in hopes of making something more meta than it ended up being.

The Score: C-