Curse of Chucky (2013) review

21. Curse of Chucky (2013)

Directed by: Don Mancini

Produced by: David Kirschner

Screenplay by: Don Mancini

Starring: Fiona Dourif, Danielle Bisutti, Brennan Elliott, Maitland McConnell, Chantal Quesnel, Summer H. Howell, A Martinez, Brad Dourif

After “Seed of Chucky” sent the “Child’s Play” franchise careening into the realm of self-parody, there didn’t appear to be many more options for the horror industry’s favorite killer doll prior to Annabelle. It was nine years before another entry finally came out; “Curse of Chucky” bypassed the theatrical route and instead went direct-to-VOD. At the time, for a major horror franchise, this was seen as the kiss of death, so I barely even paid attention when the release date was announced. Imagine my surprise when the reviews started coming in and calling the movie…good…I mean, really good. As in, containing some of the best suspense and performances since the original. And yes, while there are a couple of distracting elements to nitpick, I’m going to go out on a limb and call this my personal favorite of the series; not bogged down by an overly complicated story, it’s just a simple, solid, well-crafted thrill ride.

The film opens with a young paraplegic woman named Nica Pierce (Fiona Dourif) living with her mother Sarah (Chantal Quesnel), who’s anonymously sent a Chucky Good Guy Doll through the mail. Sarah is later found dead via stab wound and her death is ruled a suicide; the heartbroken Nica is later visited by her sister Barbara (Danielle Bisutti) and her husband Ian (Brennan Elliott), daughter Alice (Summer H. Howell), live-in nanny Jill (Maitland McConnell) and priest Father Frank (A Martinez). Alice bonds with Chucky (Brad Dourif), while Nica grows suspicious about the doll’s origins, especially after watching old home movies that feature a certain infamous serial killer. She eventually researches Chucky’s bloody history online, but not before he starts going around the house and hacking up new victims; why is he targeting this family, and how will Nica survive the encounter?

This movie features who I believe is the best new cast member of the whole franchise, Brad Dourif’s daughter Fiona as Nica. You’d think her disability would make her a vulnerable waif, and while it does add a different layer to some of these chase scenes, she’s an intense firecracker of a character. Even before she becomes aware of Chucky, she’s had to deal with Barb’s condescending tone and Father Frank’s sanctimonious comments, trying to take everything in stride but clearly holding back her frustration and pain. Her only salvation is her loving bond with Alice, which is threatened as Chucky makes his move. Dourif is brilliant in this role: brash, kind, observant, and perfectly selling how Nica becomes more mentally scarred and paranoid throughout the movie. And if you’ve seen how this franchise has continued, you’ll know that Nica’s treatment has only become crueler; it’s so twisted just how much her life deteriorates for really no reason other than her mother knew Chucky.

Unlike “Bride of Chucky,” where the protagonists were assholes that we we’re still supposed to root for, here we have a family of scoundrels that’s clearly written and directed as such. Domestic disputes, mistrust, and situations you’d normally find on bad soap operas that nevertheless work here; there’s a hidden affair with Jill that actually caught me off guard, and the characters are all acted and photographed quite well. Danielle Bisutti is enjoyably despicable as the ice queen Barbara; in fact, I think they could’ve made these people even more cutthroat and malicious, like something out of a Gothic novel. Regardless, they’re all given brutal treatments, as Chucky kills by electrocution, eyeball-gouging, and an axe to the jaw in a pretty impressive effect.

Speaking of Chucky, let’s talk about him; after the last two movies oversold him as the main character, this harkens back to the original by building him up gradually, as he doesn’t even speak for the first 45 minutes. The doll design has a bit of a welcome modern update, but I think some of the facial movements are off, just a little too squinty and stretched. There’s more emphasis on Charles Lee Ray’s back story, as we see he was obsessed with Sarah back when he was the Lakeshore Strangler, which helped lead to his downfall. The flashback scenes with Brad Dourif in a wig and makeup playing a much younger Ray are pretty distracting, the timeline doesn’t really add up, and Chucky himself is a little out of character, but it results in some interactions between him and Nica that I really like, with the latter playing psychoanalyst and calling out his inability to finish the job with some of his victims.

But more to the point, the whole film is an exercise in tension, which really comes through in the setting and cinematography; you can tell Don Mancini has learned much since directing “Seed,” because he gives us some really nice shots, like the reflection of Nica’s face showing up in a puddle of blood, the reflection of Barbara’s face in Chucky’s knife, and the panning time-lapse shot with Chucky sitting in the chair. The trick I like the most is a basic one, where Chucky adds rat poison to a bowl of chili, and we’re given an overhead view of the kitchen table with all the bowls being eaten, so we’re left guessing which bowl is the bad one; that’s an Alfred Hitchcock routine there, so give it up to Mancini for successfully leaning this franchise back into being scary again. The movie definitely takes advantage of its setting, going for a combination of “The Old Dark House” and “Halloween,” featuring a variety of aesthetic touches without going too cheap.

Before “Curse of Chucky,” I felt these movies had hit the same point that other slasher names had, just throwing any weird concept they could think of at the wall and hoping audiences liked it. But this one actually got me excited about seeing more “Chucky” films; even the ending, a courtroom routine that I usually hate in this genre, matches the tone and only opens up more possibilities. It’s clever how the movie misdirects you into thinking it’s a soft reboot, since the events seem to stand on their own; in fact, I’ve read that the original idea was for this to be a remake. But once you realize in detail that this is the same continuity, it’s especially neat, like stripping away the illusion of new kitsch to reveal glorious nostalgia. The film isn’t especially unique or sensible, but it has a compelling heroine, anxiety-inducing concepts, and a candid sense of tone that’s been consistent ever since.

My rating: 8/10