Review: Curse of Chucky (2013)

Stars: Brad Dourif

Budget: $5 million

Directed By: Don Mancini

I've stated many times that I thought seed of Chucky is the runt of the litter when it comes to the child's play films.
This doesn't in no means, mean in a franchise that doesn't seem to have any massive lows is a bad film.
It's just I think we can all agree Seed Is the odd one out.
Now curse is what I'd call at least a return to form for the series.

There seems to be a few less practical effects in this movie compared to some of the others and you can really tell the CGI compared to it here.
Especially in a later scene where chucky's face cracks, more on that later though.
We get the first appearance of Nica in this film played by none other than Brads own daughter Fiona Dourif showing off some acting chops to equal her fathers skills especially as a wheelchair bound woman too.

This movie does start of as a bit of a mystery even going so far as to trick you into thinking it could be before part 3 because Chucky 'seems' to be unscarred in the beginning of the film. It's good in the sense that for me it goes back to some of the baser horror elements that the original 2 movies had.
Finding himself delivered to Nica's house in a package by a stranger the pranky little killer takes no time in dispatching Nica's mother Sarah which gets ruled out as a suicide.
Nica's sister Barb comes into the scene then with her husband Ian, their daughter Alice and stay in babysitter. Also Father Frank seems to be sticking his nose in around the joint too. Alice find Chucky and decides to keep him.

Barb is very overbearing on Nica and everyone is also suspicious of her, later on while Nica and Alice are making a some food for the family Chucky secretly adds rat poison into one of bowls. Father Frank is the unlucky one and ends up in a car accident on the way home due to the fever from the poison. Hilariously when the services show up to save him they end up accidentally decapitating him in the process due to the way he's trapped.
Nica, which i like, is not stupid in this film and when the family are lately reminiscing and watching old family movies she notices a young Charles Lee Ray in them. She also finds the original packaging in which the doll came in as a police evidence lock up!
Not to mention the doll has gone missing, though this sets up a twist I rather like in this film. Jill the babysitter goes looking for the doll but is met by Barb and the both kiss. This shows that men don't always have to be the bad guys in relationships.
Nica returns the room to find Chucky sat on the sofa by Ian who is now asleep, she gets the doll and uses her special elevator to take him back to Alice. When the lights and power black out again Chucky tentatively slashes at Nica's leg where she doesn't notice, she then returns the doll to the sleepy girl.

Nica decides to look Charles and finds out that a number of murders over the last few years had been linked to him and the good guy doll. She doesn't like to believe it but comes to realize that the doll could well be alive with his spirit inside it.
While this is happening Barb is in the bedroom with Ian on he laptop, unknown to Ian she is chatting to Jill who is in Alice's room stripping for her pleasure on the webcam. However in the background Barb notices something move suspecting it to be her daughter, she tells Jill.
Jill however see's that it's Chucky on the floor with a weapon she goes to escape but the evil doll knocks over a water pail of rain water (from a leak) into a power outlet, connecting to Jill also it electrocutes her to death. This causes another blackout and worried Barb goes to check on Jill under the pretense of checking on Alice. Ian however snidely remarks that he knows why she's really going, he had secretly placed a miniature camera on Chucky not trusting his wife.

Going past the attic stairs Barb notices Chucky has been sat on the edge of the attic stairs, she thinks Alice may have gone up there and goes to look. With no way of getting up the stairs due to the blackout knocking out her elevator Nica makes the arduous task of climbing up the stairs on just her arms. Barb on picking up the doll notices he has a knife in his dungarees, disapproving of it she stick him down on something while she looks around the attic better.
When she turns back however Chucky has moved from a trunk to a shelf, she moves in for a closer look and realizes that parts of the dolls features are flaking away. These are revealing the stitches underneath from when Tiffany repaired him in bride, freaked out she gets even more terrified when he leaps forwards and gouges one her eyes out.
Nica who has made it to the bottom of the attic stairs looks up in time to see Chucky throw down Barbs eyeball, closely followed by a now dead Barb falling down the steps too. Chucky slowly walks down the stairs but Nica manages to crawl away and get her back-up wheelchair from a closet before he makes it down. Rolling down to the hallway with him pursuit she tries to check on Alice but see's the girl has vanished. She then proceeds to Ian's room to try warn him about everything that's happened. He's very skeptical to begin with as Nica tries to tell everything as he wheels her towards the garage.

He then goes back to try and find Alice, except he finds both Jill and Barbs corpses. Meanwhile in the garage Chucky has already locked himself in a car where he proceeds to try and choke Nica with exhaust fumes before she can get out. The plucky girl however fights back by grabbing a hatchet then smashing in the cars window to get to the killer doll. Ian comes back at the wrong moment seeing Nica acting madly with a hatchet and suspects her of the killings, yeah clever guy i know, he disarms her. Nica however, passes out from the stress of the situation.
She awakes a little time later to find Ian has tied her to her wheelchair, Ian is checking the footage from the secret camera for proof that Nica was the killer. However the footage shows him that Chucky is indeed alive and has trapped Alice inside a closet, also that Barb and Jill were having an affair too.
Chucky however has commandeered Nica's other wheelchair which he uses to run down Ian, he then uses the hatchet to remove the mans lower jaw. Nica trying to break free the killer then turns on her, she manages get free but not before Chucky hit her in the leg with the hatchet. Silly doll, she doesn't feel pain there remember? She bats him away, then removing the weapon uses it to decapitate the mad doll as he gets up.

despite not feeling it, wound is quite bad, Nica tries to tend to it not noticing Chucky rising from the floor and replacing his head. He grabs the wheelchair and pushes her down the hallway sending her flying down the bottom floor, he walks down the stairs taunting her.
Nica asks him why he's doing this to her and her family. Laughing he explains that he was a friend of the family and was in love with Sarah, who won't leave her husband as she was pregnant with Nica at the time. Even when Charles Kills her husband and kidnaps her she still refuses to be with him, before she's saved by police however he stabs Sarah in the stomach. That stab is what made Nica unable to use her legs before she was even born.
It was that subsequent police chase that made him go to the toy store and become trapped in the good guy doll. The electricity suddenly returns stunning Chucky, giving Nica time to quickly crawl to the elevator. Not quick enough however as the crazy doll attacks her slashing at her fingers before dropping the knife. Nica retrieves the weapon taunting Chucky to attack her, he does where she manages to stab him through with the knife. However like last time he come back to attack her however a police officer has arrived at the house and hears her scream. Busting in through the door it seems Chucky has sat himself on the sofa instead of attacking Nica, however the officer sees the corpses and Nica holding a bloody knife and she gets arrested instead.

In the court case Nica is sentenced to go to an insane asylum, however before she is removed she smiles tauntingly at Chucky who is being used as evidence. taken away by a police officer Chucky is once more taken by Tiffany who cuts the officers throat after he notices the doll breathing.
I'll leave it here but there's not an incredible lot left though what is left is good and telling here would also spoil the next movie in the franchise too. THN enjoyed Curse very much though it goes back to the familiar older tropes of the series it's still missing a certain something and the CGI use rather than practical effects especially where Chucky's face flakes off looks bad. Overall a good return to form for the series though with a recommendation to watch. Curse of Chucky is awarded 3 out of 5 stars.