Seed of Chucky (2004)

<<

Child's Play Reviews

>>

The 'Child's Play' movies are quite a slice of strangeness, going from dark Voodoo magic all the way to sex scenes with dolls. But for my money, it doesn't get stranger than this one. Continuing what I like to call the "Chucky Saga", it could break down even further to make 'Bride' and 'Seed' a pair that stands on its own. They're the only two involving Chucky developing a sort of family, and when they're over, there's not MUCH pointing back to them (save for a couple of cameos, but we'll get to those in further reviews).

While I have to admit that I kind of admire what they were trying to do here, I have to say that this is where the series finally reached "overkill". It begins when 'Bride' leaves us hanging in the same way 'Alien vs Predator' did; with a brief glimpse of a new horrific offspring. 'Seed' carries things on six years later, when we meet who will become Glen/Glenda (Billy Boyd), living a life of embarrassment and abuse as a ventriloquist's dummy. The film makes a really big jump, and there's no real explanation as to what happened to him between his birth and where he is now. Also, his name on stage is "Shitface", which I admit makes for a decent laugh later in the film.

Soon enough, he sees Chucky (Brad Douriff) and Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) on TV, promoting a new meta movie about the mysterious killings taking place over the years, ironically with Jennifer Tilly playing the lead role. At this point, Chuck and Tiff are restored, lifeless dolls, only brought to life with Hollywood animatronics. Instantly, the kid manages to put together that they are his parents. He manages to run away from the ventriloquist and travels to Hollywood to find his parents. Conveniently, he even accidentally brings them back to life by using the amulet Chucky supposedly left him. It feels like there's a lot missing, but nevertheless, Chucky and Tiffany come back, realize they have a son or daughter, and they tend to fight over which - Glen or Glenda?

Meanwhile, Jennifer Tilly is starting to lose out on her promising career, even bringing up her Oscar nomination that the entire world probably forgot about from back in '95 for 'Bullets Over Broadway'. So she does the logical thing by auditioning for Redman (also playing himself) for the role of the Virgin Mary. Long story short, the pair become the new human targets for Chucky and Tiffany to transfer their souls into. And, needing someone to transfer the kid into, there are some unfortunate artificial insemination gags that go on here, with Tilly as the surrogate. So yeah, things definitely get weird here for a movie about a possessed killer doll, his bride and his son/daughter, all of whom were made in Japan.

Now, there are two things in movies like this that I truly admire. For one, the lead celebrity (Tilly) is able to laugh at herself and is clearly having fun with the role. Secondly, I'm a sucker for fourth-wall gags. But with those mentioned, this is a film that delivers these things with a hand as heavy as an Acme anvil. Tilly can definitely poke fun at herself, but if this was indeed written for her, I can't help but feel that a lot of it was very intentional, almost punishing her. The voice, the weight (oh please), the personality, it's all seemingly bullied here. If she's cool with it, then God bless her. If she improvised it, even better. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but honestly, a lot of it feels very "low-blow".

Then we get into a really messed up message about being true to ourselves. In Glen/Glenda's case, it's all well and good. But in Chucky's case... it may not quite be the right message in the end. Then again, these are R-rated slasher flicks and not Pixar, so I suppose I can't expect too much in that category. It really does end up being the strangest entry into the series, in my opinion. It plays as much more of a comedy/fantasy with hints of slasher horror than a straight-up comedy/horror like last time, and you can't help but feel the script came from someone's fan fiction.

I'll give them credit for trying out something new and taking the idea of making Chucky a horror/comedy icon a bit further. However, this really does just get ridiculous, and you can't help but find it pretty mean-spirited, even for a slasher flick. It's not bad for a chuckle, and I could see it being a potential guilty pleasure for people. But anything that ever was scary about Chucky seems to have been thrown out the window here. This has to be the weakest, silliest entry into the franchise, and for a while, Chucky and Tiffany would be untouched following this. As for Shitface/Glen/Glenda? - spoiler alert: never comes back! So one might say... there wasn't a whole lot of point to this chapter.


2/5

---