Do seven films and a three-season TV series about a serial-killer doll from the great Garden State sound like your kind of thing? If they do, then buckle up because we’re about to discuss everything in the iconic “Chucky” franchise.
Any documentaries and the 2019 remake are not included in this article.
Trigger Warning: Gore, mentions of Sexual Assault, and Spoilers!
- Child’s Play (1988)
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This classic film that introduced everyone’s favorite knife-happy doll follows six-year-old Andy Barclay who desperately wants a Good Guy doll for his birthday. His mother manages to buy one off a homeless man who stole it from a crime scene. Things go south as Andy soon discovers that Chucky’s true identity is the serial killer, Charles Lee Ray, who transferred his soul into the doll just before he died. Now, he wants to transfer it again, only this time into Andy.
This feels like a real horror film with some silly elements, as opposed to the full out ridiculous but fun series of slashers that the franchise becomes. I appreciate that this film takes itself kind of seriously because you can tell that more effort was put into the story and characters than in later films. I also don’t know what it is about this animatronic/puppet but his yelling expression is so scary and cool. It has so much more character than later versions of the doll. And poor Andy is so little and adorable that I literally cried because I felt so bad for him.
- Child’s Play 2 (1990)
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The company that makes Good Guy dolls somehow gets Chucky’s remains (you’d think that would be police evidence but whatever) and rebuilds the doll to prove that it is not alive. How they didn’t notice that the doll had real teeth and a tongue (especially since we’re shown a close up of them cleaning his teeth), I don’t know. Anyway, Chucky’s back and Andy’s in foster care because his mom was institutionalized after she backed up his story about Chucky being possessed and then we never hear about her again. Chucky sneaks his way into Andy’s house and follows him to school, his foster parents don’t believe him when he tells them, and in the end there’s a showdown in a Good Guy factory between Chucky, Andy and Kyle, Andy’s foster sister who later returns to the franchise in Cult of Chucky and in the TV show.
Not much is different about this film. It’s pretty much just the first one again but with kills that are more creative, intense, and plentiful than before. We also start getting more of Chucky’s one-liners and the writers start playing around with using him for comedic relief. It felt like they were trying to recapture the magic of the first film and got about halfway there. Not bad and still a fun time, but it definitely feels like reheating the first movie’s nachos without really adding much.
- Child’s Play 3 (1991)
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Chucky’s blood got mixed with wax in the factory from the last movie which is used to make a new doll. So he’s back, again. Andy is a teenager now and is sent to military school. He makes friends with his roommate, develops a crush on a girl, gets picked on by an older boy, and Chucky is still trying to kill him. For those who don’t know, the rule is that Chucky can only possess the first person he reveals his true self to. For the first two films, that was Andy. This time, though, Chucky reveals himself to a young kid named Tyler. And since Tyler is Black, the writers took the opportunity to give Chucky some poorly aged one-liners. The movie ends with yet another big showdown in an amusement park ride between Chucky and Andy as Chucky tries to capture Tyler and take over his body.
I think this one was trying to aim towards a teen audience by bringing in the social and romantic elements. At least for me, it fell pretty flat and I was bored for most of the film. The love interest, De Silva, isn’t given much of a personality outside liking Andy and saying something snarky a couple times. This movie also marks the first child death in the franchise which shocked me because that’s not a line I’m used to seeing crossed (but it’s far from the last time that this happens). Although Justin Whalin did a pretty good job at playing Andy, it just didn’t feel like the same character. Justice for Alex Vincent who was too young to return for this film, you were sorely missed.
- Bride of Chucky (1998)
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Allow me to introduce the icon that is Tiffany Valentine played by Jennifer Tilly. Tiffany was Charles Lee Ray’s girlfriend before he was killed. She hears about the doll, finds and restores it, then revives Chucky with a voodoo ritual. They get into a fight and Chucky kills her then transfers her soul into a doll. Chucky tells her that they need a magic amulet that he was buried with to transfer their souls into human bodies. Why not just take over the first people they reveal themselves to? I don’t know, I guess they decided to be more selective with who they possess this time around. Anyway, they need to get to Hackensack, NJ where Chucky is buried so they trick Tiffany’s young neighbor, Jesse, into delivering them there. Jesse and his girlfriend, Jade (Izzie Stevens what are you doing here?), use the opportunity to run away together because her strict uncle is keeping them apart. A bloody road trip follows with trouble in paradise between both couples, two marriages, and, of course, lots of murder.
Although I thought this movie was really stupid, it at least felt like it was doing its own thing instead of trying to remake Child’s Play or become a boring teen thriller. I also love Tiffany and think she’s a great addition to the cast, even if she never gets utilized well. The first gay character in the franchise is also introduced but, shocker, gets killed off unceremoniously. His death wasn’t even cool or orchestrated by Chucky, he was just hit by a truck. My main gripe is that the film was overly sexualized and it made me uncomfortable. I know that I shouldn’t be surprised since this is a slasher film, but still I didn’t need to watch the killer dolls have sex. This movie almost felt like it was trying to be pornographic. I don’t know, I just felt icked out after watching it.
- Seed of Chucky (2004)
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The last film ended with Tiffany, after being killed by Chucky (again), reviving just long enough to give birth to a demonic-looking doll baby. Somehow the baby ends up in the UK and becomes part of a ventriloquist act. He escapes after seeing Chucky and Tiffany on TV, where they’re being used as props to make a film about them. Yes, they pulled a Scream 3 and had the movies exist within canon. He revives them both and the two immediately make up even though they tried to murder each other at the end of the last film. Chucky claims that their kid is a boy and calls them Glen, but Tiffany claims they’re a girl and calls them Glenda. They then have some family fun involving trying to quit an addiction to killing (and failing), possessing Jennifer Tilly (who plays Tiffany in the in-universe movie) and her one-night stand, and lots of iconic quotes that you would probably recognize (ex. “Killing is an addiction just like any other drug”).
This film is also stupid, but in a fun way. It’s here to have a good time and show you gruesome murders, not to win any Oscars. I love that Glen/Glenda has a squeaky British voice and looks like if Tim Burton drew a Victorian orphan. Although their gender identity is treated more like Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) where Glen is good-natured and Glenda is bloodthirsty, I was impressed to see a genderfluid character in a 2004 film. I also thought that having Jennifer Tilly exist as a character in the film and Tiffany idolizing her was very fun to watch and handled cleverly. The forced pregnancy thing was weird, though. I do wish that the family actually got along and worked together as a team instead of turning on each other. I especially wish that Chucky wasn’t so abusive to Tiffany and that she didn’t keep going back to him every time he killed her (three times) or tried to. As the franchise goes on, he treats her more and more like a lackey which is just sad to see.
This trailer makes a few weird jokes, just warning you - Curse of Chucky (2013)
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This film takes place solely in the Pierce family home. Nica Pierce’s mother suddenly dies after the random and totally unrelated delivery of a Good Guy doll. She then hosts her sister, brother-in-law, niece, their priest, and their nanny in the home prior to the funeral. Family drama, secrets, betrayal, and murder soon ensue.
This was a return to the more serious horror film, in contrast with Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky, which I found refreshing. I love that it all takes place in one location, which provides a sense of claustrophobia. It also introduces an interesting new protagonist who happens to be played by Fiona Dourif, the daughter of Brad Dourif, who plays Chucky. It’s cool that she’s a wheelchair-using character, although it would have been cooler if she was played by a wheelchair-using actress (Fiona Dourif still does a great job, though). Unfortunately, the writers don’t treat the character very well throughout her time in the franchise. After the next film, she really just exists to be tortured and subjected to the whims of Chucky and Tiffany. Also unfortunately, the budget for this film wasn’t great so the doll looks a little bit like Walmart-brand Chucky.
- Cult of Chucky (2017)
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Nica is institutionalized and diagnosed with schizophrenia after being falsely convicted of murdering her entire family. Since then, she has accepted her diagnosis and is trying to get better so that one day she can reunite with her niece. She is transferred to a lower-security institution for good behavior where she makes both friends and enemies. Just as she’s getting comfortable, a certain doll makes a return to her life and picks off the patients around her one by one. Also, we randomly get scenes of adult Andy torturing a decapitated sentient Chucky head and showing up at the institution. I don’t know why they included this considering it really doesn’t have much to do with the plot. Chucky manages to split his soul into a ton of dolls and Nica has to try to defeat them all. In the end, Nica gets possessed by Chucky. I guess they don’t need that stupid amulet anymore.
I hated this movie, which is disappointing because the last one was so good. It breaks the pre-established supernatural rules within the universe. It has Nica being sexually abused for no reason other than shock value. Chucky is way too overpowered so the stakes are meaningless. And, I hate to say it, but from here on out the way Alex Vincent delivers his lines is super monotone. Andy really only shows up after this to go through psychological and physical torture so I guess his role isn’t that important anyway. And…sigh… Fiona Dourif as Chucky does the worst Jersey accent I’ve ever heard in my life. For the first time I was actually offended by someone doing my state’s accent so terribly. She’s a great actress and I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing Nica, but oh my god it was just so bad. You can skip this film and just read the summary on Wikipedia. In fact, I recommend that you do.
- Chucky (2021-2024)
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Jake Wheeler is just your average emo gay 14-year-old in Hackensack, NJ until one day he buys a vintage Good Guy doll from a garage sale that he soon finds out is Chucky, the killer doll. Jake faces bullying at school and at home, and his life only worsens after his dad dies in an electrocution that Chucky definitely had nothing to do with. When he realizes that Chucky can’t be trusted, Jake teams up with his crush and an unlikely ally to take him down before Chucky kills everyone they love.
The first season of this show was really good. It kept you on the edge, it had an interesting mystery with a good buildup, and all of the characters are compelling. It also amends the supernatural rules to fix the mistakes of the last film. In order to split his soul, Chucky has to get an innocent to kill. In the last film’s case, I guess it was Nica’s niece, but that was never confirmed. It also fixes the representation issues of past films. We have a queer relationship between two protagonists and neither of them die! And also Glen/Glenda, who was split into two bodies at the end of Seed, is placed back into their doll form as a singular genderfluid identity who names themselves GG and goes off to live a happy life in Europe. I am sad to say that the show devolves over time and that the ending is very disappointing. Still, this series does a good job of capturing the fun and charisma of the films while also making you sympathize with the protagonists and root for them. And it takes place in North Jersey which is cool as someone who is from there. Definitely my favorite thing to come out of the franchise.
Concluding thoughts
This franchise is definitely a fun but flawed ride, like all slashers. I have to say that it has a unique charm about it. Although I didn’t find any of the films to be particularly amazing, I keep coming back to them and will probably rewatch them all (except Cult, I’m going to pretend that it doesn’t exist). There has been some teasing about Chucky making a return, and I hope that he does. The ending of the show needs to be fixed and I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to that creepy ginger doll.