Harefooted Halloween: Bride of Chucky

What I Liked: Chucky’s stitched together face, stapled on hair, ragged overalls and bloodshot eyes look great.  Frankenstein is used as a loose theme for the movie including giving the doll a quasi undead monster overlay.  Now I’ve never found Chucky threatening solely by his appearance when he’s brand new out of the box.  It’s when he gets a knife hand or half his face sliced off that he takes on a frightening appearance.  So I dig that in this one he’s fucked up from the top.  This is his most gnarly design yet.

Some cool imagery sprinkled throughout.  There’s a scene where Chucky transfers his old girlfriend’s soul into a doll and the room is filled with bubbles and strobing lights because she’s killed while taking a bath.  Someone gets a bunch of nails blasted into their face.  Shards of glass fall on a couple in a waterbed and there’s an explosion of bloody water and sparking lights.

The dolls are kept totally practical without the aid of CGI.  This was a bad era for CGI and some is employed in other areas of the film but thankfully they remained committed to keeping our main characters animatronics, puppets, little people in costumes, etc.

What I Didn’t Like: Gotta be honest here, I’m not really into the concept of this installment.  By film four I understand the desire to change shit up but going in a decidedly comedic direction with Chucky having a lot more screen time doesn’t work all that well.  If you step back for a moment the idea presented actually makes more sense than at first glance.  Throwing another possessed doll into the mix is a device you sometimes see in sequels where you add more of the creature from the previous film (Aliens, Predators, Terminator 2).  The new doll is inhabited by Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly (Let It Ride)) who is Charles Lee Ray’s girlfriend from ten years prior so that checks out in terms of her being a potential bride.  They then team up to transfer their souls to human bodies and cause a lot of destruction along the way.  The thing is one doll is fine but two just comes across too silly.  The tone instantly becomes lighter due to their cutesy relationship, whether it’s playful bickering or genuine affection (and yes, the doll sex scene is as awkward as you’ve heard).  When the focus turns to Chucky and his new partner in crime the menace is diminished in this case and not multiplied.  The two are inseparable for the entire duration and so there isn’t the creepy notion of a killer lurking around the corner, hiding under the bed or any other small space.  The camera is always on them.

Having Tiffany be the same type of doll as Chucky was a missed opportunity.  It would’ve been visually cooler if Tiffany was unique and not simply a girl version of a Good Guy.  They could’ve had fun with her features and dimensions by playing off Chucky’s.  Maybe she’s taller or shorter, made of different materials, has an unusual shape to her head or whatever.  Perhaps the filmmakers didn’t go this route because they feared the audience wouldn’t be ready for a mixed doll couple.

Unfortunately there are a lot of dated references.  The term “the 90’s” is said numerous times plus the Rob Zombie opening credits song, an obvious Marilyn Manson rip off looking dude who becomes a victim, mentions of Boogie Nights, Jerry Springer, Christian Slater and there’s a running joke about Martha Stewart.

Our main human characters are a pair played by Katherine Heigl (Under Siege 2: Dark Territory) and Nick Stabile (The Beach Boys: An American Family) and they’re bland as shit.  They’re there to transport Chucky and Tiffany to New Jersey (where Charles Lee Ray is buried (he was killed in Chicago though, sorta confusing)) and to be vessels for a soul transfer.  There’s nothing interesting or compelling about these two.  They keep thinking each other is responsible for the string of grisly murders that follow them everywhere and the misunderstanding goes on for a little too long.

For some reason Chucky and Tiffany’s movements are stiffer and not as convincing as the previous two films.  Kevin Yagher returned to do the effects so I don’t know if it was lack of resources because they have two dolls to work now (it takes at least seven people to operate each animatronic) or time constraints or what.

Overall Impressions: I respect director Ronny Yu.  Legacy of Rage and Freddy vs. Jason are fucking awesome (I know, I know I need to see The Bride with White Hair and Fearless).  And he does as good of a job here as you can expect.  Broadly speaking it’s a well made movie and as I said earlier the script isn’t far fetched.  They just opted for a tongue in cheek attitude.  It’s not that terrible of a picture really.  However, while I’m all for trying out new ideas this core concept isn’t that exciting to me.  I much prefer Chucky solo with a less goofy tone.