Bride of Chucky (1998)

Great Film overall

Good movie but grossly overrated

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

A month after the events of Child's Play 3 after Chucky (voiced by Brad Douriff) was sliced in the fan at the amusement park at the end, it seems Chucky's old flame Tiffany (played by Jennifer Tilly) who finds his remains in a police station evidence room and takes his body back to her place to stitch him up back together. Now Chucky decides after being treated like dirt by her, he transfers her soul into a bridal doll's body as now both must try to be human again, Chucky's original human corpse is buried with an amulet that is called "the heart of Dambella" which they can be human again if they get some humans. Tiffany gets an idea to call her strong model- like male neighbor named Jesse (Nick Stabile) to go to Hackensack New Jersey to deliver dolls to a cemetery in exchange for 500 dollars. Jesse accepts the offer as he decides to take his girlfriend Jade (Katherine Heigl) to go with him to run away from her strict/bossy police officer of an uncle Chief Warren (John Ritter) and are on the road for Chucky is on the loose killing anyone that gets in his way with the help of Tiffany.A mediocre sequel from writer Don Mancini and Hong Kong director Ronny Yu and is the 4th installment of the popular Child's Play franchise. I saw this in theaters as a teen and thought it was OK, yet this was made after the success of Scream and Mancini who thought he ran out of ideas after part 3 thought that Scream was successful and would love to copy the formula that movie had. Ronny Yu who directed the Hong Kong fantasy cult film "The Bride with White Hair" was hired to direct this movie and later on went to make "Freddy vs Jason" in 2003, the film was an attempt to be scary and funny at the same time but falls flat. Jennifer Tilly sure is hot in the first half and did a great job voicing her doll counterpart yet there were some in-jokes like the Creepshow crate with the Freddy glove, a cheap looking Jason mask, a chainsaw that could be Leatherface's and Michael's mask in the evidence room. Then there's that dumb kill where John Ritter whom is one of my favorite actors by the way gets killed by nails that were latched on a powerful glove compartment that no way would actually work with the nails just flying and nailing through his face. Then Chucky cracks a one- liner saying "Why does that face look so familiar" which is suppose to be a funny reference to Hellraiser but isn't as some of the jokes fall flat.I did liked the one-liner where he murders done on Damien (Alexis Arquette) whom is basically a take on goths and Marylin Manson as Chucky says "It ain't the size that counts a hole it's what you do with it". Some of the kills are quite lame with some okay make-up and puppetry effects by Kevin Yagher but the script is mediocre as hell. Lawrence Dane the Canadian actor whom you remember from Scanners and Happy Birthday to Me plays Lt Danson yet some of the characters aren't likable like in Child's Play 2 but the main leads are strangely likable which is the dolls. The doll sex scene was quite far fetched when it was meant to be funny but totally not funny and Chucky's death was poor compared to the first 3 deaths of him but he did said a great line "Go ahead and shoot, i'll be back! i always come back but dying is such a bitch".Then we have the ending which made me go "Oh no, son of chucky!" which is sequel bait ending that leads to "Seed of Chucky" years later.

After pretty definitely dying off in the early 90's due to audience apathy and a string of borderline-flops, the slasher-film genre was revitalized thanks to master director Wes Craven's wonderful and subversive self-aware 1996 horror-comedy "Scream." Realizing that slasher horror could be "hip" and "cool" again with the postmodern twist that "Scream" added to spice-up its storyline, it quickly became in-vogue for studios and filmmakers to add a self-satirical meta angle to many new horror features released in its wake. And one of the most successful films to implement this new leaning towards comedy was certainly 1998's delightful and twisted "Bride of Chucky"- the fourth film in the popular cult-series "Child's Play."Directed by the fantastic Ronny Yu from a script by "Child's Play" series creator Don Mancini, "Bride of Chucky" might just be the best film of the entire franchise. After the somewhat disastrous third entry made seven years prior, the series sort-of imploded and there was a time where there was doubt we'd ever even see Chucky on the big screen again. Thankfully, the wait was worth it. "Bride of Chucky" is fantastically entertaining, and the newfound self-aware humor adds a lot to the film. By that time, audiences had wised up to the formula of the series and another bland retread would have fallen flat. By giving us such a radical and humorous departure, Mancini and Yu injected some much-need fresh blood into the "Chucky" experience. It was hilarious. It was unexpected. And it was exactly what Chucky needed at the time to win back audiences who had grown tired of his old antics by the time the third film had rolled out.Jennifer Tilly stars as Tiffany, the former lover of the infamous "Lakeshore Strangler" Charles Lee Ray- who had transferred his soul into a children's doll known as Chucky. (Voiced by Brad Dourif) Longing to be reunited with her lost love, she manages to get her hands on the mangled corpse of Chucky and re-assembles him, bringing him back to life with a copy of "Voodoo for Dummies." While their reunion goes well at first, Tiffany finds herself crestfallen when she learns that Chucky never intended to marry her, and she betrays him by locking him in a playpen. Escaping, Chucky murders his former flame and transfers her soul into a female doll in a twisted bid for vengeance. Now, the angry couple must figure out a way to get their souls into new human hosts once and for all... and they have their eyes set on Tiffany's trailer-park neighbor Jesse (Nick Stabile) and his girlfriend Jade. (A pre-fame Katherine Heigl)The fun of the film really lays in the shockingly sweet (in a twisted way) romance of Chucky and Tiffany. It's almost a demented parody of romantic comedies, and they have absolutely remarkable chemistry together. Dourif as always is a blast as Chucky, and it's a ton of fun seeing him saddled with a romantic interest in Tilly's Tiffany, as they repeatedly get on each-other's nerves, but also do have some genuinely cute moments together. It adds a lot of flavor and character to the proceedings seeing them bonding over butchering innocent victims. Stabile and Heigl are also a lot of fun as our somewhat hapless protagonists (who find themselves blamed for the murders committed by the demonic dolls), and there's also a really fun supporting performance by the late and great John Ritter as Jade's strict police-chief uncle who raised her in an oppressive environment. The cast is just a blast.Mancini's script is tight, concise and never fails do deliver laughs with each scene. He also throws in the occasional shock and scare to keep horror fans happy. I've always admired how daring Mancini is with his characters, and he's never afraid to take a risk with the material, whether it works (as it does here) or not. ("Seed of Chucky" being a good example of him going a bit too far.) Ronny Yu is a really great visual artist, and his completely insane sensibilities perfectly compliment the material, as he relishes in delivering gags and gore by the boat-load. I also really admired the musical score by the talented composer Graeme Revell, who had previously delivered a Gothic and operatic score in the series' second installment. Revell's music this time around is a bit more subdued, but works perfectly for the devilish romance between our murderous leads, and I think it's among his best work.There's really not much I can say to the detriment of "Bride of Chucky", besides some minor nitpicks I had with a few of the scares and kills. It's just a fun, entertaining and often strangely adorable film, and I think it still stands tall as one of the best of the series. It might not have been the film that fans were expecting when they found out Chucky was coming back for a fourth installment... but it was the film the series needed at the time to reinvigorate audience interest and evolve as a legitimate franchise.As a horror fan, I have to give "Bride of Chucky" a near-perfect 9 out of 10.

Been a huge fan of Child's Play since the very first one. The 3rd one got lousy write ups, but i enjoyed it enough to buy a copy of it. In the third one, Chucky is thrown into the fan, where his body explodes into many tiny pieces. But when Tiffany picks him up in the fourth one, he is missing a few parts, but still mostly together. He also had half his face sliced off in the third one, but its all there in the fourth one. Anyone else notice this? And under the parents guide for the film the say a couple fall through a glass floor which is not true. The mirror above their bed was broken by doll Tiffany and shattered over them.

During the scream era many films took on the horror comedy variety your routine and Chucky was no exception. The opening shot was the coolest featuring the trade mask or weapon belonging to other creatures of the night. Are they all in the same world or a play for laughs?The title says it all Chucky has taken on a bride in a girl named Tiffy who's as murderous and nuts as he is.When she rejects his advanced he electrocutes her body and places her soul into a doll. Over the course of several days they fall back in love and kidnap a newlywed to use as vessels once they receive a magical amulet to trade bodies. Why haven't we heard of this before? He didn't seen to need it for Andy or Tyler?After the last sequel I almost quite the series forever until I happened on this amazing gem that restored my faith in the killer doll. It has a fun, sexy style while still keeping the horror elements that made it a household name to begin with.The body count rising with gruesome result that keeps you hooked till the bloody end.The acting improved with a few known talents Jennifer Tilly, John Ritter and Catherine Heigl. I even understand it that Don, the creator, considers it his favorite and for good reason. It flows flawlessly and was perfectly made.It didn't win any awards, but to me it was a stellar hour and a half I'll treasure a life time.