I’ve always had a soft spot for the little murder doll, Chucky. The premise has always been slightly creepy and monumentally absurd. But, hey, just roll with it.

I rather like this installment because of how campy and over-the-top it is. Having come out 7 years after the third Child’s Play movie, it had to essentially reboot the franchise to keep things fresh. It happened to come out at the perfect time when the teen horror genre was gaining popularity due to the Scream movies.

The plot follows Chucky’s real life girlfriend, Tiffany (played by Jennifer Tilly), from before his soul was transferred to the doll. She gains possession of the busted up Chucky parts and puts him all back together, so she can perform the ritual to bring him back to life. Once he’s back, the killing begins and he eventually kills Tiffany and transfers her soul to a female doll (Spoiler Alert!). They become the Bonnie and Clyde of murder dolls.

Rounding out the cast, it’s got Katherine Heigl and John Ritter, who both are great in their own ways. Ritter is the extremely overprotective uncle to Heigl’s angst-filled teen with the ‘bad boy’ boyfriend.

After some inventive deaths, there is a big showdown at the end with a little twist. The very end has a nice little lead-in to the next movie. You can’t keep a good doll down. Ha ha ha ha ha (Chucky cackle).

Rating:

Available to stream on: Starz (subscription required)