Movie Review: Curse of Chucky (2013)

Synopsis: Paraplegic Nina and her mother receive a mysterious package containing a "Good Guy" doll with no information about who sent it to them or why. Later that night, her mother dies as the result of an apparent suicide and, when her sister arrives with her family for the funeral, she gives the doll to her 6-year-old niece. However, before too long, Nina begins to suspect the doll, Chucky, may not be what he appears to be.

Who's in it? The movie stars Fiona Dourif, Danielle Bisutti, Brennan Elliott, Maitland McConnell, Summer H. Howell and Brad Dourif.


Review: Even though I liked the first two Child's Play movies, I'm not a huge fan of the later sequels and, as a result of that, wasn't overly interested in seeing this film. However, my wife and I wanted to watch a movie together last night and, since this happened to be on Netflix, I decided to give it a try. As it turns out, it was actually a surprisingly good movie.

While not quite as good as the original, the movie does make an effort to get back to the franchise's horror roots. I especially liked how, much like the first movie, we don't get to see Chucky (B. Dourif) move or talk until later in the film. This, at least in my opinion, does add a little more to the movie from a horror standpoint because, at least for a while, it is easy to question whether or not the doll is the killer or if maybe there is another explanation, such as the sheltered Nina (F. Dourif) having a split personality.

Another thing I liked about this movie was the mystery surrounding Chucky's appearance. The doll was deliberately shipped to Nina and her mother (Chantal Quesnelle). But, since they seem (at least at first) to have zero connection to Chucky's previous victims, there's no indication as to why. The only hint is a glimpse of Chucky's human form, Charles Lee Ray, in an old home movie. The film does an excellent job of keeping the reasons a secret until the very end and that mystery does keep the film interesting even during some of the slower or more predictable moments.

My only real complaint about the movie was the police officer (Adam Hurtig), largely because I have a feeling he was supposed to have a larger role in this film than he ultimately ended up having. As I commented to my wife during the movie, it took him an awful long time (pretty much the entire film) to get to the house considering he was driving full speed with his lights and sirens on. As a result of this (and the ending), I'm still a little confused if he was racing there to help out or if he was secretly working with Chucky.

Final Opinion: The first movie is still the best one and I think I liked the second film a little more. But, this movie was definitely better than expected and is easily better than most of the sequels from this franchise.

My Grade: B

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