CURSE OF CHUCKY DVD (2013)

SYNOPSIS: He’s back! From the filmmakers that brought you Chucky comes the terrifying return of the pint-sized doll possessed by the spirit of a notorious serial killer. When a mysterious package arrives at the house of Nica (Fiona Dourif, True Blood), she doesn’t give it much thought. However, after her mother’s mysterious death Nica begins to suspect that the talking, red-haired doll her visiting niece has been playing with may be the key to the ensuing bloodshed and chaos. The return of America’s favourite toy, voiced again by Brad Dourif, is full of more blood-splattered thrills and chills.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Hi I’m Chucky, wanna play?

Proving horror franchises have nine lives, the doll which is possessed by a serial killer spirit is back in this sixth instalment of Child’s Play. Written and directed by original creator Don Mancini, Curse of Chucky surprisingly turns out to be a worthy entry despite being a direct-to-video title.

A package containing Chucky is delivered to a paraplegic girl, Nica (Fiona Dourif) who lives with her mom in a massive, tattered looking house. It’s not long that her mom is mysteriously found dead (no prizes as to who is behind the murder) and soon Nica’s only sister, Barbie and her family including a nanny arrives for the funeral. As to why Chucky chooses Nica and her family to be his target, you seriously need to watch it to find out.

Instead of relying on mere cheap scares, grotesque killings and silly humour, Mancini still have a few other tricks up his sleeve to keep us glued for the most part. No, I’m not talking about Barbie’s lesbian relationship with her live-in nanny. The best part got to be Nica’s connection to Chucky, a clever way to link the merciless doll back to the 1988 original. Mancini chooses to build up his various characters slowly especially Nina before the big revelation.     

To make up for the lack of budget, almost the entire movie took place within the house. At least, it gives Mancini and his crew plenty of opportunities to build up the suspense and several imaginative kills. While a lot of low-budget horrors suffer from poor editing and cinematography, Curse of Chucky fortunately never falters in these aspects.

With a good mix of digital and animatronics effects, Chucky comes across as believable as ever. You sure wouldn’t want to cross path with a doll that is always armed with either a knife, mallet, axe and rat poison. The only problem is we don’t really see a lot of Chucky in action though there are plenty of close-ups, presumably a cheaper way to get him in camera.

Every horror flick needs someone we can root for and kudos to Fiona Dourif for her excellent performance as the suffering Nica while her real-life dad, Brad returns as the voice of the foul-mouthed Chucky/Charles Lee Ray. Though the movie ended up having more than two endings (mostly just to link up with the earlier instalments), Curse of Chucky is almost too good to be true and likely won’t be the last time we encounter Chucky. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Black levels are strong, images clean and the Dolby Digital 5.1 is serviceable with its occasional ambient effects and clear dialogue.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee