Though Seed of Chucky, the fifth film in the increasingly campy and comedic horror series about a killer doll that began with 1988's Child's Play, opens this week, it's not being shown in advance for critics. So instead of a review, here is a brief history of the franchise's ups and downs, all courtesy of Chucky creator Don Mancini, who wrote or co-wrote every installment and adds on directing chores with Seed. No other major horror franchise has had a single creative force behind every film, and Mancini has built a nice cult following for what could easily have been nothing but a cut-rate slasher series.
Child's Play, 1988
Brad Dourif, Alex Vincent, Catherine Hicks
The series' first installment is also the one with the most actual scares, as the audience is meant to spend a good portion of the movie wondering if Chucky is really evil or if towheaded main character Andy is making it all up. Directed by horror veteran Tom Holland, this is a fairly standard entry in the post-Nightmare on Elm Street/Friday the 13th horror movie landscape, but some flashes of humor hint at the dementia to come.
Child's Play 2, 1990
Brad Dourif, Alex Vincent, Christine Elise
Now fully outed as a deranged killer, Chucky gets more lines, more jokes and more people to kill. He's still after towheaded Andy, whose body he wants to inhabit so he can stop being a doll and become a real boy. Director John Lafia does a few interesting things with camera angles, and while the scares aren't as intense as the last time, Christine Elise as Andy's tough foster sister is much less whiny than Catherine Hicks as his mom in the first film.
Child's Play 3, 1991
Brad Dourif, Justin Whalin, Jeremy Sylvers
Released less than a year after Child's Play 2, this is generally considered the worst in the series and finds Chucky sliding into many of the clichés of his horror brethren. Andy's now a teenager and shacked up at a military academy, where Chucky tracks him down. Chucky gets more and more creative with his killings and has a number of funny lines, but this is largely a by-the-numbers slasher movie.
Bride of Chucky, 1998
Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly
Mancini pulls off a spectacular turnaround for the franchise, ditching the played-out Andy character and making Chucky the film's protagonist. The brilliantly manic Jennifer Tilly joins up as Chucky's girlfriend, Tiffany, who's quickly transmogrified into doll form and joins her lover on a cross-country killing spree. Embracing the comedic potential of the concept, Bride isn't particularly scary, but it's gleefully goofy and sets up a whole new direction for future Chucky films.