Film Review: Curse of Chucky (2013)

SYNOPSIS:

Everyone’s favorite foul-mouthed killer doll is back, and this time he is busy slicing and dicing his way through a group of people gathered together at an old mansion to mourn the loss of a family member.

REVIEW:

I have loved Chucky ever since I first saw Child’s Play at the theater when I was in high school way back in 1988 so when I heard rumblings about Curse of Chucky a year or so ago I was more than just a little excited about seeing it. As a matter of fact, I was dying to see it because I thought that it sounded awesome and I couldn’t wait to see Chucky kicking ass and taking names again. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting I finally got to see it recently and am happy to say that it was just as great (if not a little better) than I’d hoped it would be.

Chucky is back to his hardcore violent and badass self in this one, and I for one couldn’t have been happier. I dig Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky both but I prefer the first three films in the installment as they are all a bit more serious and aren’t as comedic (I personally have always thought that Chucky was scary as hell in the first movie despite the fact that he cracks Freddy Krueger-like jokes and cusses like a sailor). This film is a full-blown horror flick and there are very few comedic elements to be found here aside from the occasional one-liner from Chucky here and there (which is to be expected). He’s more pissed off and back to his old brutal ways this time around which I approve of as he can be one vicious little son-of-a-bitch when he wants to be. It was great seeing him get back to his violent roots and I had a blast watching him take out his victims in a number of painful and bloody ways as opposed to seeing him argue with Tiffany (who I love, by the way) or attempting to raise a child (who I didn’t really love, by the way). We get old school Chucky back this go round and I was extremely glad to see him.

I loved the fact that the film takes a look at Charles Lee Ray before he was trapped in a doll’s body as I’ve always been curious about him to be honest. I don’t want to give anything away but we get some flashbacks that show him when he was a human back in the day that explain how he is connected to some of the characters in the movie (I also thought that it ruled that one of these flashbacks leads into the opening scene of the first movie as well regardless of the fact that some people who have seen it have nitpicked about it as being inaccurate for a number of reasons). It was pretty neat learning more about Chucky’s past and I for one wouldn’t be too upset if someone made a prequel that followed his exploits during his time as “The Lakeshore Strangler” many years before becoming the Good Guy doll that we all know and love.

The overall storyline for the movie was interesting as well. It is just a little different from the other films in the series as there is an element of mystery to it. Who sent Chucky to the family in the mail and why did he or she do it in the first place? What happened to the main character NIca (played by Brad Dourif’s daughter Fiona) that caused her to be paraplegic, and why does Chucky seem to be so interested in her? I had a great time trying to figure out all of these questions (and more) before the movie gave up all the answers, and I thought that it was a nice change of pace for the series instead of just having Chucky running around once again trying to transfer his soul into a human body and killing anyone who got in the way in the process.

If you’re looking for some fun death scenes then you’ve no doubt come to the right place. As I mentioned early our boy is in a foul mood this time around and he takes it out on all of his unfortunate victims. He stabs one person in the eye (and mutters probably his greatest line ever before he does so in my opinion), and electrocutes another, but my personal favorite involved him using a hatchet to hack off some poor bastard’s bottom jaw in a truly awesome scene. We get some pretty graphic stabbings and a kick ass decapitation as well for good measure, so if you are like me and enjoy some good old fashioned blood and guts you won’t be let down.

I loved Curse of Chucky and thought that it rocked. There is a little something for everyone who loves Chucky and even though others who have seen it have complained about the plot holes that occur at the ending-and I have to admit that there are some-I was able to overlook them and just enjoy the movie anyway. It was nice seeing Chucky (and some other familiar faces from the past films) back in action and hopefully more equally excellent sequels will be headed our way soon. Check it out when you can because it pretty much rules, and be sure to watch after the end credits for a very nice surprise that had me basically cheering in my seat.

Curse of Chucky (2013) is now available on bluray per Universal

Curse of Chucky (2013)