Join BP, Coop and Justin as we discuss Curse of Chucky, the 2013 direct-to-DVD sequel that reignited the Chucky franchise as it returned to a more horror centric film.
In 2013, a Good Guy doll called Chucky mysteriously arrives in the mail at the isolated home of paraplegic Nica Pierce and her mother Sarah. Sarah repeatedly and compulsively paints pictures of the same flowers. Later that night, Sarah is found dead from a stab wound and her death is ruled as a suicide.
Nica is visited by her sister Barb, accompanied by her husband Ian, their daughter Alice, live-in nanny Jill, and priest Father Frank. Alice finds Chucky and is allowed to keep him. That evening, while Alice and Nica are making chili for dinner, Chucky secretly pours rat poison into one of the dinner bowls. Father Frank eats the poison. After he leaves, he gets sick and ends up in a car accident that decapitates him. That night, Nica wonders where the doll came from and investigates Chucky on the internet; she finds news articles about the murders tied to both the doll and Charles Lee Ray.
Follow the Complete Guide to Horror Movies podcast on our social channels below.
↪ Facebook
↪ TikTok
↪ Twitter
↪ Instagram
↪ Subscribe to our YouTube channel
In a post-credits scene set six months later, Chucky, still in his doll body, is delivered to Andy, now an adult. When Andy turns his back to answer a phone call from his mother, Chucky cuts his way out of the package with a knife. Chucky looks around the house, only to have Andy shoot him with a shotgun.
In an August 2008 interview, Don Mancini and David Kirschner spoke of a planned reboot of the Chucky franchise, to be written and directed by Mancini. They described their choice of a remake over a sequel as a response to the will of the fans, who "want to see a scary Chucky movie again... to go back to the straightforward horror rather than the horror comedy." They indicated that Brad Dourif would return as the voice of Chucky.
In a subsequent interview, Mancini described the remake as a darker and scarier retelling of the original film, but one that, while having new twists and turns, would not stray too far from the original concept. At a 2009 horror convention, Dourif confirmed his role in the remake. At a reunion panel at the Mad Monster Party horror and sci-fi convention, the cast and crew from the original film confirmed that both a remake and a spin-off are in development. Writer Don Mancini and producer David Kirschner worked on a sequel then titled Revenge of Chucky.
On Rotten Tomatoes, 76% of 21 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critics consensus states: "The franchise hex of disappointing sequels is broken by going back to basics in this chilling entry, restoring a sense of playfulness to the Chucky saga." According to Metacritic, the film received "mixed or average reviews" based on an average score of 58 out of 100 from 5 critics.
An early review posted on Bloody Disgusting on August 2, 2013, was very favourable of the film. In it, Brad Miska stated, "Curse of Chucky may just be the best home video sequel since Wrong Turn 2. It's alarmingly good, which puts pressure on Universal to answer as to why they didn't let Mancini shoot this for theaters." He continued to say, "Ch