If you’re a horror fan you’re well aware of the Child’s Play/Chucky series. The latest film Curse Of Chucky has been released on Blu-ray and simultaneously a box set containing all 6 films. What is interesting is Curse Of Chucky is the first in the series to not see a theatrical release, probably because of diminishing returns based on the previous two films where were a bit of a deviation from the original formula, but still made money.
Curse Of Chucky originally was going to be a complete remake of the original Child’s Play and in a way it still is. Harkening back to the series more straight-forward horror roots we get a lot less character drama and more murder and mayhem.
Look, if you don’t know what this series is about, then don’t bother starting here. This is a continuation of a horror franchise, and that’s a specific audience. You know whether or not you are part of it. And while this may have originated as a reboot of the franchise (and in a way it is) there are callbacks to earlier films that make it very clear this is a continuation.
While some of the self-awareness and camp is gone, Curse Of Chucky isn’t totally devoid of humor. Humor and horror have almost always gone hand in hand, and while this isn’t the even blend of the two, swinging back in tone to the original films, there still enough to elicit a few chuckles. Heck, the series has been written pretty much by the same guy, Don Mancini, who also directed the last film and produced by David Kirschner, producer or co-producer for the whole series.
Yes, I do find it interesting the same team that is creatively behind the franchise shifted tone back and forth. That they are able to do so and still maintain the integrity of the franchise (such as it is about a voodoo practicing serial killer embodied in a doll) is commendable.
For Blu-ray we get a number of decent special features, starting off with an audio commentary by writer/director Don Mancini, star Fiona Dourif (daughter of Chucky himself Brad Dourif) and Chicky’s puppeteer Tony Gardner. Plenty of information is to be gleaned here. A couple of featurettes look at the making of the film, there’s a featurette looking at Chucky a a horror icon, some deleted scenes and a misnamed gag reel.
Curse Of Chucky is a decent revival of the franchise, and I am surprised it skipped theaters. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.