Summary: It's a Child's Play retrospective this week as we take a look back at the franchise that enjoyed a series of successful instalments and raised the character of Chucky to the upper pantheon of horror franchise icons. Chucky is an interesting thing. A murderous doll possessed by the spirit of a voodoo practicing serial killer is at its heart a ridiculous concept, any threat suggested being stripped away when confronted by the absurdity of the visual of a talking doll. There were factors that allowed the series to thrive such as the consistency of the writing by Don Mancini, the vocal performance of Brad Dourif who transformed the inanimate object into Charles Lee Ray (perhaps the biggest a-hole of the franchise killers), and of course the transition of the films from late 80's genre sensibilities into the self-referential perspective of the 90's. Things may have gotten a little too on the nose with Seed of Chucky but Ronny Yu's switchup to playing with the inherent nonsense at the heart of the series with Bride of Chucky was perfect timing. Now we have a five film franchise that strikes a balance between an earnest twist on the slasher formula, and satirical stabs into the tropes of the genre. All pulled off with respectable direction, writing and a well performed antagonist, unlike other franchises say for example... Leprechaun. As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM
