Cult of Chucky (2017)
** (out of 4)
After the events from the previous film, Nica (Fiona Dourif) is now in a low-risk mental hospital where her doctor decides to really cure her by bringing in a Good Guy doll. This here sets off some strange events and elsewhere Andy (Alex Vincent) is trying to find a plan to defeat Chucky once and for all.
There's no question that the first CHILD'S PLAY was a very good and entertaining horror film. The sequels that followed were all of mixed quality but the last film, CURSE OF CHUCKY, was in my opinion the best of the bunch and it gave me real hope for this one. Sadly, CULT OF CHUCKY comes as a major disappointment as there's really not too much entertainment to be had. They might have added more Chucky dolls but they didn't add much else.
The film started off fairly good as we catch up with Alex and see how Chucky is still having an impact on his life. All is well when we're re-introduced to the Nica character and we see her trying to move on from her "crimes" of the previous film. Once we hit the mental hospital we get a ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST joke and it's pretty much downhill from here. It seems the screenplay was trying to tie too many things together and in the end none of it worked too well. You got the continuation of CURSE OF CHUCKY as well as the connection to the Alex character and the first three films. You've also got Jennifer Tilly showing back up so you've got the connection to BRIDE OF CHUCKY and SEED OF CHUCKY.
You've got all of these connections to previous films but it just makes for a mess of a film. The movie really doesn't know if it wants to be a straight horror film or if it wants to take Chucky back to his comedian days. There are a lot of really lame jokes here that aren't funny and there are also a lot of pop culture references and these here are really lame. The film does go for some extreme gore during its death scenes and if you're watching the unrated version then you'll see some pretty graphic stuff.
I thought Dourif, Vincent, Tilly and Adan Hurtig are all good in their roles. Brad Dourif returns to the role of Chucky's voice and he too is quite good. I'm not going to spoil the ending but it makes me interesting to see where future installments go but lets hope the screenplays are a tad bit more clear and not trying to do so much.
