I’ve recently been on a little bit of a horror binge, looking at franchises that I haven’t seen all of and seeking out the remaining movies. I did this with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise and I decided that I should check out the other films of the Child’s Play franchise since I’d only seen the first film previously. Having finally watched all eight Child’s Play movies, I thought I’d do a ranking of the franchise, sharing my thoughts on each film and how they compare to each other.
8. Curse of Chucky
I really enjoyed the more comedic stylings of Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky and so I found the return to straightforward horror more than a little jarring. That’s not to say that there aren’t good parts to this film. There are a couple of cool story twists, although one of them seems a little too far-fetched for my liking, and Fiona Dourif is great as new protagonist Nica Pierce. However, I found myself wishing that we saw more of Chucky’s personality and really found myself missing Tiffany. However, I do want to point out that it is rather telling about the Child’s Play franchise’s consistency that my least favourite Child’s Play film is better than my four least favourite Texas Chainsaw Massacre films.
7. Child’s Play 3
First off, I do have to commend Child’s Play 3 for picking a unique setting in the form of a military school. There are also some genuinely disturbing, tense scenes such as the garbage truck scene and Chucky’s plan for the war games. Besides that, the characters aren’t particularly endearing and Child’s Play 3 is the only film where Andy Barclay isn’t played by Alex Vincent. Besides that, it feels pretty inconsequential within the franchise itself and is definitely one of the weaker films.
6. Child’s Play (2019)
The 2019 remake of Child’s Play is a genuinely clever film. I like the idea of Chucky essentially being a virtual assistant in doll form and I also like how the friendship between Chucky and Andy is developed before all hell breaks loose. I was also quite tickled when I saw that some of the movie characters were watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2. However, there are several character interactions that I remember feeling quite awkward/forced and the climax of the film feels too over the top and Hollywood for my liking. Nonetheless, I think the Child’s Play remake works surprisingly well as its own film.
5. Seed of Chucky
Seed of Chucky continues on from Bride of Chucky and continues the comedic style established in that film. First off, I love the fact that Jennifer Tilly is playing both herself and Tiffany Valentine and there’s some very clever dialogue surrounding this. Additionally, the interactions between Chucky and Tiffany are superb as usual and Glen/Glenda is an interesting addition to the family. However, it does feel at certain points that they are trying too hard to be funny and certain plot threads feel underdeveloped or unnecessary. Nonetheless, I’d consider Seed of Chucky to be a guilty pleasure film of mine.
4. Cult of Chucky
The most recent film to be set in the original continuity, Cult of Chucky is a great return to form after Curse of Chucky. It manages to combine so many threads of the franchise in a really clever way, we get to experience Chucky’s personality again in a new and unique way and it delivers the goriest experience in any of the Child’s Play movies. Easily my biggest criticism of the film is how inconclusive it feels with so many story threads being set up for future installments, presumably the TV series which I have yet to see is handling them. It just felt a little unsatisfying after watching all of these movies in the course of a few weeks but, besides that, Cult of Chucky is great and has me excited to see the TV series.
3. Child’s Play 2
Child’s Play 2 is a great continuation of the Child’s Play franchise, really introducing Chucky’s personality in a way that the previous film couldn’t. The characters are all great in a you love them or you love to hate them way and the climax of the film is superb, definitely one of the best in the franchise. I do wish that we had seen a bit of Andy’s mother, who we were apparently supposed to see in the original script, and there is a certain plot point that doesn’t make much sense to me but, besides that, Child’s Play 2 is an excellent follow up to the original.
2. Child’s Play
Speaking of the original, the first film still stands out as one of the franchise’s best. The story of Charles Lee Ray becoming Chucky is still awesome to watch unfold and Catherine Hicks as Karen Barclay does such a wonderful job of being a lovable, relatable character who has to struggle with something so bizarre. Some of the special effects haven’t aged well and are rough compared to the rest of the franchise but Child’s Play remains an excellent horror classic.
1. Bride of Chucky
I’m sure some of you may be surprised to see Bride of Chucky securing the top spot in my ranking of the Child’s Play franchise but I really love this film. I wasn’t sure what the bride of Chucky was going to be like but Jennifer Tilly and the special effects people do a wonderful job in making Tiffany both endearing and psychotic. The humour is excellent with Chucky and Tiffany making a wonderful double act with strong chemistry. A couple of scenes are a tad over the top when it comes to their humour but I think Bride of Chucky is a wonderful horror comedy film and is my favourite film in the franchise.
Watching all of the Child’s Play movies has been a really great experience and I’m really looking forward to checking out the TV show. Let me know your thoughts on my ranking of the Child’s Play franchise, are there any films whose placing you agree or disagree with, which movies are your favourites and least favourites, if you’ve seen the TV series, what do you think of it and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!