After the events of 2013’s Curse of Chucky, Nica – played by Fiona Dourif – finds herself institutionalized, framed for the murder of her entire family. Having been convinced by the sinister Dr. Foley that Chucky isn’t real she is soon transferred to a minimum security facility. Unfortunately for Nica, it isn’t long before she starts to suspect that Chucky really does exist and is back for more bloodshed.
I held out for a high hope that this could actually be an intelligent film. And while Chucky’s latest master-plan may outwit your run-of-the-mill stoner, ultimately it runs like a bitch from its potential and just ends up being boring and unremarkable at times. There’s no tension. Just bullshit. Enjoyable bullshit, of course! But bullshit just the same…
While Fiona is a sympathetic and reliable acting talent, let’s not pretend that this latest edition to the Child’s Play franchise isn’t a step and a half down from the comeback glory of its predecessor, so in turn it asks much less of its players as a result.
The members of Nica’s little patient circle are likeable enough, but most of the time their characters feel watered down. This isn’t surprising due to mental illness being one of the year’s hot topics and the fact that our culture continues to mutate into a completely non-existent Utopia of political correctness. Don’t get me wrong, I was hardly expecting Girl, Interrupted (1999). But there was a time when an 18 certificate actually gave you a little freedom.
Despite finally stepping things up in terms of its own universe, as well as having a truly awesome death scene, I never felt content that his movie would not degrade itself back to the days of Seed of Chucky (2004). It’s by no means perfect. The makeup of a movie like Cult threatens to be complicated if mishandled, and Chucky just doesn’t do complicated.
But luckily, what I saw was that Cult of Chucky is simply Child’s Play 2 (1990) to Curse of Chucky’s original Child’s Play (1988). Just the next installment in the story, except amped up with a little bit of the kookiness found in Bride of Chucky (1998), which ain’t so bad after all.