Seed of Chucky

Review by Clint Morris

It’s 1988. The sun goes down behind the lofty screens of the Coburg Drive-In Theatre.

The film running through the projector on Field One? Child’s Play, a genuinely effective chiller-thriller about an innocent-enough looking doll who comes to life - razor-sharp knife not included.

Sixteen years later and the film’s titular villain, Chucky, is still perfect drive-in fodder.

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 operation – have been used for a new movie starring Jennifer Tilly.

One thing leads to another and Chucky (voiced by Billy Boyd, of Lord of the Rings fame) and Tiffany (voiced by Jennifer Tilly), with new kid Glenn 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 - 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.

The 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 are 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 all right, but you do have to get around the unappetising bits to get to the chewy middle.

3 out of 5

Seed of Chucky
Australian release: Thursday February 3rd, 2005
Cast: Jennifer Tilly, Hannah Spearitt, John Waters, Keith-Lee Castle, Redman, Brad Dourif (voice), Billy Boyd (voice).
Director: Don Mancini.
Website: Click here.

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