The Child's Play franchise is somewhat unique in terms of long-running slasher franchises, in the sense that it remains a continuous narrative without any remakes or reboots. While talk of a remake has arisen recently, Don Mancini, the writer/creator of the franchise has assured fans that the current narrative will continue regardless. From his first appearance in 1988, to his most recent outing last year, Charles Lee Ray, or 'Chucky' (Brad Douriff), the serial-killer-turned-doll has been fuelling our nightmares for thirty years now. With thirty years and seven films under his belt, I felt like now would be an appropriate time to look back at Chucky's filmography from the worst to the best. This is all my personal opinion so if you disagree with the ranking then I'd be happy to hear you out, otherwise I hope you enjoy the list!
7. Seed of Chucky (Don Mancini, 2004)
In the fifth Chucky outing, the child of Chucky and Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) resurrects their parents in Hollywood, where a film is being made about their murders. With rapper Redman and the real Jennifer Tilly on board as well, chaos naturally ensues. While it's undoubtedly the weakest entry in the franchise, Seed still has its merits. From the numerous John Waters references, to a cameo from Waters himself, and of course, the introduction of Chucky's gender-defying child Glen/Glenda (Billy Boyd) to the franchise, it's certainly a unique entry. However, where other entries succeeded in finding the balance between the chills and laughs, Seed falters. It's unsure of whether it wants to be a straight up comedy or a trashy horror homage, and while it is possible to do both, Seed of Chucky unfortunately does not. As a result of this, the final product just comes off as a bit messy and uneven, and the poor reception even put the franchise on hiatus for almost a decade. Unfortunately we still haven't seen Glen or Glenda since.
6. Child's Play 3 (Jack Bender, 1991)
Eight years (nine months real time) after the events of the second film, Chucky has followed his old foe Andy (Justin Whalin) to military school, where he sets his sights on a new host in the form of young Tyler (Jeremy Sylvers). Now to be fair, Child's Play 3 isn't inherently bad, and actually has some great special effects for bringing Chucky himself to life. However, as a third entry it was time for the franchise to start doing something new, and well, Child's Play 3 didn't. While it still maintained the dark wit of its predecessors, the film constantly feels like its treading familiar territory and we can't help but find its formula a little bit predictable at this stage. Don Mancini himself has even stated that it's his least favourite Child's Play film, admitting that he had ran out of ideas by the time of the films production. Considering the production was fairly rushed, we can't wholly blame Mancini. Perhaps if more time was taken in the pre-production stages then Mancini might have had the time to come up with something a little more unique.
5. Cult of Chucky (Don Mancini, 2017)
In terms of creativity, Cult is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum to Child's Play 3. Set in a mental institution, the film continues the story of Nica Pierce (Fiona Dourif), the wheelchair-bound protagonist from the previous film. Along with that, the film also brought the characters of Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) and Tiffany back to the franchise in more major roles, making the hype leading up to Cult very intense. While it didn't fully live up to the hype, Cult was still an enjoyable and wholly unique entry into the franchise, bringing some bizarre new ideas to the table over the course of its 91 minute run time. It's bonkers, and beautifully shot, but I feel like it could have done a lot more with some of its concepts. The return of series protagonist Andy felt particularly underwhelming, with Alex Vincent given little to do and feeling somewhat detached from the main story. Overall I feel like Cult promised far more than it eventually delivered, and while it definitely opened up countless possibilities for the Child's Play franchise, I still couldn't help feeling somewhat underwhelmed.
4. Bride of Chucky (Ronnie Yu, 1998)
The film that essentially resurrected the franchise after several years, Bride marks the turning point for Chucky. Here we are introduced to Tiffany, Chucky's equally deranged girlfriend who has her own soul imprisoned in a doll after pissing her lover off. The duo then embark on a road trip with a young couple in an attempt to possess their bodies. Humour was always present in the Child's Play franchise, but in Bride, writer Don Mancini amps it up to 11. While visually the film is a lot darker than anything before, the tone is much more tongue-in-cheek and Mancini and Yu both manage to find the balance between comedy and terror. Tiffany has since become a cult icon almost equal to Chucky, all thanks to the fantastic performance from Jennifer Tilly. With hardcore violence, meta-humour, and a puppet sex scene that predates even Team America, this was the much needed injection of madness to the franchise that would bring Chucky back from the dead once again. Also, the use of Rob Zombie's 'Living Dead Girl' in the opening credits was a nice touch.
3. Child's Play (Tom Holland, 1988)
I know it seems criminal to rank the original Child's Play at number three, but we've got to that point in the list where there really are no bad entries. The film that started it all saw young Andy Barclay come into the possession of Good Guy Doll 'Chucky', who just so happened to be inhabited by the soul of killer Charles Lee Ray. Child's Play begins like your average slasher film and initially leaves us unsure of whether Chucky is actually real or not. When we discover that he is in fact real however, things take a grizzly turn. While Chucky himself does feel a bit held back here in comparison to later entries, Brad Dourif still gives a killer performance and delivers that sharp-tongued dialogue in a way that only he could. While the killer doll concept had been done before, I don't think any film managed to execute it in the way that Child's Play did. While the tone is fairly serious compared to later entries, the film knows what it is and isn't afraid to have a bit of fun with the Chucky character. Overall Child's Play was a welcome entry into the overstuffed 80's slasher genre, granting the world a terrifying new villain in the form of a maniacal doll.
2. Curse of Chucky (Don Mancini, 2013)
Nine years after Seed, Chucky came back yet again in a Hitchcockian-style isolated thriller that took the franchise back to its roots. Curse sees the introduction of Nica Pierce to the franchise, who is terrorised in her home following the arrival of a mysterious, yet familiar looking Good Guy doll. With Curse, Mancini opted to tone down the comedic elements and focus on a much darker horror in line with the first film, and oh boy did it work. Tense, gory, and downright chilling, Curse of Chucky broke new ground in the franchise while managing to update everyone's favourite killer doll for newer audiences. Chucky feels much more threatening in Curse in comparison to the more recent sequels before, and yet he still maintains his signature wise-cracking attitude simultaneously. Curse showed that it was possible to keep a franchise going after over two decades, while still feeling fresh and exciting. As well as that, the memorable performances from both Dourifs and the films isolated nature made Curse feel like one of the most personal films in the franchise as well. Over 20 years on and you just can't keep a Good Guy Doll down.
1. Child's Play 2 (John Lafia, 1990)
The T2 of slasher sequels sees the return of Chucky, intent on claiming Andy Barclay once and for all, killing anybody who gets in his way. Expanding upon the concept of the first film on what feels like a much larger scale, Child's Play 2 is the definitive Chucky film. It's got comedy, it's got terror, it's got Andy vs Chucky, and it also has Kyle (Christine Elise), Andy's foster sister who helps him in his fight against Chucky. From the yard-stick death to the showdown in the doll factory, the film boasts some of the franchises most iconic moments as well as some of Chucky's finest quips (Chucky says move your ass!). Along with that, the stakes feel a lot higher as well, with Andy isolated and away from his mother, Chucky feels a lot more threatening this time around while Andy feels much more vulnerable. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of only 40%, don't be fooled, Child's Play 2 is one of the finest slasher sequels out there, and ensured that the deranged doll would be a staple on the horror genre for years to come. I mean he's still around and kicking, and I feel like a lot of that has been down to the success of the second entry.
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