Unfortunately for me, I thought this was a bit disappointing. As much as I love Chucky as one of my favourite horror characters, I was let down with this film. I was unsure about the idea of Andy Barclay (Justin Whalin) being relocated to a military school, as it kind of ruined the story. I feel that it was an unnecessary idea in the story, and it focused too much on the relationship between Andy and De Silva (Perrey Reeves) which also developed throughout the film. Here are the ratings for the film from IMDB:-
- IMDB - 4.9/10
Unfortunately, I couldn't find any other reliable ratings from any other websites, but I could understand why this film was rated quite low. Despite the intense moments, suspense, and the general awesome wicked character of Chucky (with the voice of Brad Dourif!), it was a bit of a lame film and wasn't really a horror in my opinion - more of a thriller.
The film lasts a fairly lengthy time being approximately 90 minutes, and is directed by Jack Bender. It's been eight years since the events in the second film, and we now see that Andy is a teenager who has been enrolled in a military school. Play Pals Toy Company decides to re-release its Good Guys line, feeling that after all this time, the negative publicity has died down. As they re-used old materials, the spirit of Charles Lee Ray once again comes to life. In his search for Andy, Chucky (Brad Dourif) falls into the hands of a younger boy Tyler (Jeremy Sylvers), and he realizes that it may be easier to transfer his soul into this unsuspecting child. Andy is the only one who knows what Chucky is up to, and it's now up to him to put a stop to it.
It is a generally exciting film containing a very promising start with the company discussing the negativity aroused by the doll Chucky. I felt this introduced a very negative and pessimistic tone as they decided to re-sell the dolls after we clearly remember the damage Chucky done in the last two movies. There was a lot of good background music especially at the start in the scene where the man is practising his putting. There was a suspicious melody played by the piano which allowed us to think that something bad may occur, which was broken by a loud snap. This occurred several times throughout the film and I felt it was quite effective. Also, I could feel a hint of intelligence in Charles Lee Ray, as he planned most of his kills and his route to become closer to Andy. I felt this was addressed more in this film than the previous ones. In addition to the golf scene, I felt there was a creepy introduction due to the two 'good guy' dolls constantly repeating their main catchphrase, until Chucky unleashed his fury on the poor innocent man. In terms of jump scares, I felt there was a sufficient amount at completely random moments which certainly startled me. My final successful point is probably the ending. I won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but it was brilliant. The scenario was perfectly thrilling - being in a haunted house in an amusement park - which was responsible for the many eerie moments in the end!
Although there were many successful features in this film, I believe I could criticise this in many ways. I certainly despised the story line of Andy being relocated to a military school, and I feel that this film damaged the franchise. The film also went off subject at points to develop the relationship between Andy and De Silva, and the core of the film was quite boring, and had a poor pace and momentum. This was not a horror to me - it was merely a thriller due to the absence of fear I felt in contrast to the previous films, and it only contained jump scares on several occasions. The CGI of the clouds forming at various moments was also poor in my opinion although you could blame this on the mere old age of the film being made. My final point is that I felt the general plot was a regurgitation of the previous films. It followed the same aim - Chucky attempting to get to Andy to obtain a human body.
I cannot deny that I still enjoyed this film, but I was overall disappointed by it. The introduction of the film was very promising in my opinion, however I feel the centre of it lacked quality and pace - generally feeling a bit boring and slow. However, all credit to Jack Bender for the ending, as I thought it's probably the best ending out of the first, second and third films!
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