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Serving up the kind of entertainment one likes best at the
drive-in – something you don’t need to think too
much about, if only because the rug in the back seat gets
more tempting in spots – the red-headed devil spawn is
still big on butchery, big on quips, big on bedlam.
One thing’s changed though: No one’s going to have
to bring along a pillow to cover their face in the scary bits.
Why? There aren’t any.
This latest chapter in the never-ending slasher series, written
and directed by Don Mancini, writer and creator of all previous
four movies, sees a young ventriloquist’s doll heading
to la la land where he discovers his biological parents –
dolls Chucky and Tiffany. Seems the doll’s – they’ve
been in operational – have been used for a new movie
starring Jennifer Tilly.
One thing leads to another and Chucky (Again voiced by the
unmistakable Brad Dourif) and Tiffany (voiced by Jennifer
Tilly), with new kid Glenn (voiced by Brad Dourif, of Lord
of the Rings fame) in tow, decide Jennifer Tilly, the
actress, (yep she’s playing herself as well) is the perfect
person to carry another child for them.
They break into Tilly’s home, tie her to a bed, stick
a turkey baster up her and wait for her to give birth to ‘their
child’.
The fifth instalment in the series shares very little in
common with that novel and cherished original. In fact, the
last couple of “Chucky” films would find more of
an audience on The Comedy Channel than in the horror aisle
of Blockbuster. It’s clear within five minutes of this
sequel that the suspense element of the franchise is still
on extended break.
Spur here seems to be on jamming as many in-jokes and off-colour
giggles into the film’s (relatively short) 87 Minutes.
And for what its worth, there are some – excuse the pun
- killers.
The references to Tilly’s career is stupendous (Julia
Roberts robbed her off the lead role in “Erin Brockovich”
and now she’s stuck doing movies where she’s riding
a Doll). Also amusing are the scenes where our titular doll
chokes the monkey to a copy of “Fangoria” magazine,
runs Britney Spears off the road and struggles to work-out
what the hell sex his kid is.
Unlike the previous instalment in the series – “Bride
of Chucky” – though, “Seed” doesn’t
pack as much punch in the writing department. The storyline’s
pretty meagre, the jokes – though there – aren’t
as fleshed out as well as they could’ve been, and while
the idea – setting the film in Hollywood, with the real
Jennifer Tilly, with Chucky’s son in tow – is novel,
it does run out of steam pretty quickly.
Like a good-looking sandwich made from crusty bread, “Seed
of Chucky” still goes down alright, but you do have to
get around the unappetizing bits to get to the chewy middle.
DVD Extras
Extras on the disc include audio commentary with director
Don Mancini and Jennifer Tilly, a rather insipid family slide-show
(with Chucky and family sitting around watching slides of
their holiday…and spotting dead bodies in the background,
not very amusing).
There's also a featurette on the conception of the Child’s
Play films (with, funnily enough, no clips from the first
movie – different distributor and all), Jennifer Tilly’s
so-so video diary from Leno, interviews with the stars/characters
and a couple of other bits. A bit of overkill.
Conclusion: Movie 70% Extras 50%
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