Curse of Chucky (2013)

This film I actually liked a lot. It is a sequel in ways and it has the original actors from the original films in it too, which is a total bonus. The movie links all the other Chucky movies together in its plot. I was watching this and found myself flashing back to when I saw the original movie, I had fun watching it, and I was quite surprised to how good it actually was. There are some great cameo roles in it too (not telling you who they are though). Like I said though, how it ties the other movies together is very well done. If you are a fan of the first movies, then you should like this movie just as much, I did. It has some great bloody moments, and some cringe worthy moments also. Also, keep watching after the credits, there is more to the story there. I give this film an 8 out of 10.

Fmovies: From the first couple of minutes it's easy to tell that Don Mancini is treating Curse more as a horror film than the previous couple of entries in the series. The movie is shot and edited to build suspense and is a world apart from the sitcom trappings of Seed.

A girl in a wheelchair (Brad Dourif's hot daughter Fiona) living in a rural home with her troubled mother receives a mysterious package one afternoon. It's Chucky, and he's somehow managed to get himself in the mail again. He's arrived to settle a score, and soon enough he has brainwashed a child into keeping his secret and is sneaking about in the shadows offing unsuspecting victims.

Many people are saying that this movie is a return to form, and that it retcons Bride and Seed out of existence. Er...no, the film very much DOES acknowledge the events of Bride and Seed. Even if you paid the bare minimum of attention it would be hard to not to realize this. But I guess that expecting the movie to go in a different direction only led to further surprises when it eventually did tie in to the previous movies as well as giving us more back-story to Charles Lee Ray.

I was worried that Chucky would be all CGI as Kevin Yagher has not been involved with the series since Bride, and while there IS some CGI, he's anamatronic for the most part. Instead of hogging the camera though he keeps quiet watches the humans interact for about half the movie before unleashing toy terror. Horror composer Joseph LoDuca delivers a pastiche of the Renzetti, Revell, and Donaggio's efforts without giving Curse a signature sound of its own. Not really a complaint, but more of a missed chance.

It's certainly a worthy sequel and a can be viewed as a genuine horror film without any of the guilty pleasure of Seed. Keep watching to the end of the credits for a further surprise that ties the series together even more (though it does contradict the closing scene before the credits actually roll).

Curse Of Chucky (2013), directed by Don Mancini. 95 minutes (unrated cut: 97 minutes)

Plot:

Proving that you just can't keep a Good Guy down, everyone's favorite homicidal maniac-trapped-inside-of-a-doll, Chucky (voiced by the indispensable Brad Dourif), has returned for more shenanigans in "Curse Of Chucky." This time he's landed in the lap of wheelchair-bound Nica (Fiona Dourif), herself hosting a houseful of grief-stricken family members. In an all-too-familiar fashion, members of her family start mysteriously dying in a variety of grisly ways, casting suspicion on the little red-headed chunk of plastic in the corner with a vacant stare and an inexplicable grin splashed across his face. As the clock winds down and the body count rises, Nica is in for a number of surprises, as are fans of the "Child's Play" franchise. Friends 'til the end indeed.

Writing and Directing:

In the wake of 2004's ultra-meta "Seed Of Chucky," writer/director Don Mancini keeps the plot clean and clutter-free with "Curse," letting the tension and bloodshed do most of the speaking. To that end, the film is more horror than comedy, calling back to the Tom Holland-helmed cult-classic that made us all so paranoid of Cabbage Patch Kids and their ilk 25 years ago (!). Mancini, who has written every single on of these films to date (and directed "Seed"), has his finger firmly on the pulse of what his fanbase wants and delivers in spades. You want a more stripped-down flick where Chucky returns to his patented brand of sneaky slaughter? You got it. Do you want references and call-backs to film's past that will put a smile on your face? You get that too. Just make sure you watch the WHOLE feature. Franchise politics aside, Mancini does an excellent job of squeezing as much atmosphere out of his set-pieces as possible with a limited budget. The film looks and feels like a theatrical release, when it was clearly intended as a direct-to-video affair from the get-go.

Cast:

Fiona Dourif is a revelation as Nica. A regular chip off the old block, Fiona resembles her dad not only on the surface, but also in her ability to effortlessly pull off a complex character with limited means. Hopefully we will be seeing more of her in the future. The man himself, Brad Dourif, gets a significant amount of screen-time not as Chucky (who barely utters a line until half-way through the movie) but as Charles Lee Ray, the notorious Lakeshore Strangler from way-back. We are treated to a great deal of flashbacks that wrap around nicely with the franchise's origins, and not only does Dourif still look the part, he gleefully embodies the role with all the necessary venom and vigor. The rest of the cast is serviceable if forgettable by comparison, barring a few 11th hour cameos that will have any fanboy (or girl) clamoring for more.

Music:

Joseph LoDuca's score works well for the most part, but can get a bit cumbersome in its final act. It's a far cry from the Graeme Revell and Pino Dinaggio works of yesteryear (or even the heavy metal assault of "Bride Of Chucky"), but it gets the job done.

The Bottom Line(s):

"Curse Of Chucky" is, in many ways, everything a fan could want from a sixth "Child's Play" flick. Mancini knows this franchise better than anyone else, so trust that you are in good hands. Relax, close your blinds and put your toys away. Chucky's back.

Lesson

Curse of Chucky fmovies. Curse of Chucky is better than most horror movies that get a theatrical run. The staging is rather small, with a small unknown cast and a limited location, but they make the absolute best of everything they have. Brad Dourif, the original director, and another important cast member from parts 4 and 5 appear; and this movie actually seems like a return to the formula of the original movies, using some of the surprise and humor of the last two. A woman caring for a disabled daughter, and living in a lovely Gothic mansion, receives the Chucky doll anonymously. After being quickly dispatched, the rest of the family arrives to take over the estate from the daughter. Among them is a little girl, who adopts the Chucky doll. The parents of the girl seem to have ulterior motives and a strange relationship with their babysitter, which is later revealed as a pleasant and humorous twist. Chucky begins killing off the victims, using the creepy mansion as a great backdrop. The camera work is great. The suspense is good. There are some great kills. This movie does not look cheap. Its only VOD concession seems to be that it sticks to the same location over the same night, and changes settings only rarely. The last entry seems to largely avoid parts 4 and 5, although it does not erase them completely. Often, horror movies that deviate from formula come out disastrous, but Chucky reinvented itself as a series with Bride and Seed of. Fans of those movies may be disappointed this doesn't pick right up where they left off. Still, it's a nice surprise to go back to the pure cheesy formula horror of the first three movies. The ending, of course, leaves room for a sequel that could play off the theme of the movie, and revisit dangling threads from the earlier series. Well worth renting, streaming, buying.

It kind of annoys me that such a modest, but brilliantly executed, film like this goes STDVD when pretentious piffle like Baz Luhrman's The Great Gatsby gets sharted over every screen in America.

I got the sense that everyone involved in this movie committed 100% to making an exciting piece of clever and entertaining genre filmmaking. The lighting, production design and music were fantastic and the cast equally superb. Fiona Dourif is an impressive new scream-queen/final-girl and Danielle Bisutti did a wonderful job as the somewhat-sympathetic bitch.

I very much doubt that Don Mancini will be winning a Director's Oscar any time soon, but IMHO he ranks higher than many of the past winners because I feel he believes in value-for-money entertainment - and some of those fancy directors could learn a lesson from him.

When Nica (Fiona Dourif) and her mother Sarah (Chantal Quesnelle) receive a package containing a doll named Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif), they immediately think there is a mistake. After Chucky's arrival, Nica's mother is later found dead. Thinking it was a suicide, Nica's sister Barb (Danielle Bisutti), Barb's husband Ian (Brennan Elliot), their daughter Alice (Summer H. Howell), and Alice's nanny Jill (Maitland McConnell) come to her aid and for the funeral. Nica gives Chucky to Alice as a gift. However, as the night progresses, mysterious things begin to happen, and Nica thinks Chucky is behind it. In a race against time, Nica tries to piece together the mystery of Chucky and save her family. Chucky is back, and he's ready to bring things full circle.

The fifth sequel in the Child's Play series comes to us Straight to DVD. Though the production value clearly shows it should have been a theatrical release. It also directed by the director of the previous films Don Mancini. Curse of Chucky takes a break from the constant humor of Chucky and brings him back to being more menacing and frightening. Without giving too much away, the script for Curse of Chucky really does bring things full circle for the series. Brad Dourif as always delivers his voice talents for Chucky. Dourif real life daughter, plays the lead Nica, and I must say she gives quite the performance in this, especially in the final act. Apart from the Dourif family, the rest of the acting, while not bad, wasn't exactly impressive. It has some very nice-looking kills, but some of the kills in the previous entries were a bit more superior. What really makes Curse one of the better sequels in the series is the final act, as well as the ending, AND the post-credits scene, all of which will surely excite fans of the series. I would definitely say that Curse of Chucky is my favorite in the series after Bride of Chucky, and is definitely a gift to true fans of the films.

My rating: 8/10