The fourth movie in the Child’s Play series. Chucky (Brad Dourif) has been dismembered and stored in a police evidence room, and his sometime lover Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) is coming to get him and bring him back to life. (And yet again try to put him in a human body.) Meanwhile, teenagers Jesse (Nick Stabile) and Jade (Katherine Heigl) want to be together, but Jade’s cruel uncle (John Ritter) won’t let them. Tiffany and Chucky need the amulet that was buried with Chucky’s corpse to get human bodies again, so Tiffany pays Jesse to drive the dolls to the cemetery, prompting Jesse to take Jade so they can elope. Chucky and Tiffany leave a trail of bodies behind that the kids are being blamed for. The dolls eventually reveal themselves, and the two couples have to battle for the bodies.
Bride of Chucky is my favorite Child’s Play sequel; I’m not a fan of 2, 3, or Seed of Chucky (though I admit Seed was occasionally funny). Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky are solid, but they don’t have that retro charm. Bride is just as cheesy as the others, but it’s playful rather than earnest and awful like 2 and 3, or going overboard with jokes like Seed. It brings a fresh new twist to the series while making fun of it; as Tiffany’s wannabe boyfriend Damien (Alexis Arquette) exclaims about Chucky, “He’s so ‘80s!” Or like Tiffany points out, mocking Chucky for his lack of imagination in clinging to his butcher knife, “Stabbings went out with Bundy and Dahmer. You look like Martha Stewart with that thing.”
I think there are quite a few things to like here. Despite the fact that it was released in 1998, the special effects are amazing, the most impressive aspect being the ability of the dolls to smoke. Kevin Yagher, who designed the original Chucky doll (and also worked on Tales from the Crypt), is the puppeteer coordinator. I love the soundtrack. I also adore Jennifer Tilly. For me, the film also evokes a lot of nostalgia; I saw it in the theatre with some of my favorite horror movie buddies.
My main gripe about the movie is that when Tiffany becomes a doll, she can somehow still reach everything in her trailer. I also dislike the instance when Chucky and Tiffany have yucky doll sex—that’s one of the least appealing love scenes I’ve ever witnessed; thankfully it’s brief and mostly off-screen. I don’t like how gender roles are strictly enforced, with Jesse the hero and Jade basically useless. And don’t get me started on their friend David (Gordon Michael Woolvett), the stereotypical gay guy, or the implausible, tacked-on ending.
All griping aside, I love this boooooobs–ahem, movie.
GhoulieJoe 