By now you’re probably prepping the candy bowl for trick-or-treaters or punch for the party. Halloween just hours away at this point, so it’s time to break out the really good horror flicks no matter how you’re celebrating! Our final rec this Halloween season is the latest installment in the Child’s Play series: Cult of Chucky.
Fans of the Child’s Play franchise know that the series has a track record of getting weird and strangely self-aware. Cult brings a balance of fun, fear, and shock to the television screen, which is a delicate combination for a film in this franchise. Among a slew of new characters, Fiona Dourif returns as Nica and Jennifer Tilly makes an appearance as Tiffany. These familiar faces ground the plot of the film and drive it forward, transparent as it may be.
The movie is set in a mental hospital following Nica’s recovery. I don’t want to say too much about the plot, but I will say that the other patients in the hospital have just as much trouble coping with the thought of a killer doll (dolls?) as Nica does. No time is wasted before getting into the nitty-gritty of the film, but the action continues throughout the hospital and only gets more shocking as the film progresses. Even Chucky has trouble comprehending how f***** up things get.
Chucky’s character flirts with the boundary of self-awareness but manages to steer just clear enough that it’s both humorous and terrifying. The manipulation demonstrated in this film is rivaled only by the sheer mutilation of victims, and both elements greatly make up for what the plot lack’s in substance.
Cult of Chucky gets a solid A! Whip up a batch of these candy apples and load up Netflix for some shivers and screams tonight!
