Cult of Chucky (3½ Stars)

This is the seventh film in the Chucky franchise. After it was made the franchise branched. There's a television series (that I still haven't seen) that follows directly from the events at the end of "Cult of Chucky". Then there was a reboot in 2019 which changes several of the premises of the original films.

The first time I watched this film I was excited at the way it gathered together characters from the previous films. I've calmed down a bit now. It's more low key than the previous films, not as much action or humour. The film takes place in a psychiatric hospital. Nica Pierce has been committed after claiming that a doll had killed her family. That sounds crazy, but it was true. Now she's been moved from a high security to a medium security institution because she's showing insight. "Insight" is an important word in psychiatric hospital jargon. Insight means saying what the psychiatrist wants you to say, whether it's true or false. In this case, Nica has shown insight by saying "I killed my family", even though she didn't.

But Chucky never gives up. His girlfriend Tiffany (who's possessing the body of the actress Jennifer Tilly) takes a doll into the hospital as a present for Nica. That's creepy, but the psychiatrist thinks it's therapeutic. And the killing begins again.

The biggest novelty in this film is that it's now possible for Charles Lee Ray to possess several bodies at once. This doesn't just mean multiple Chucky dolls. He can also possess the bodies of human beings.

"Cult of Chucky" isn't a bad film. It just doesn't excite me.

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The Doors (5 Stars)

This is the May 2024 selection for the "Best Of Cinema" film. It definitely belongs to the selection of films, unlike some others which have been announced for the coming months. I shan't name them now. Although there are differences in opinion about the quality of the film. I have a friend who's a big fan of the Doors, so much so that she even visited Jim Morrison's grave in Paris. A pilgrimage? She told me that the film is awful because it's so inaccurate. When I hear words like that I'm confused. I like the music by the Doors, especially their earlier music, but I wouldn't call myself a fan. My only knowledge of the band's history comes from this film, so I have no way of knowing how accurate it is. All I can say is that it's a good film, as far as the story is told.

Even though the film is called "The Doors", it's really a film about Jim Morrison. The other band members aren't fleshed out, they're just background figures. The film could just as well have been called "The Rise and Fall of Jim Morrison". He begins as a charismatic wild boy, and a few years later he's descended into drugs and alcohol. He makes Mick Jagger look tame in comparison.

I like the way he's portrayed in the early scenes. I see a lot of myself in him. He's a lot like I was in my mid teens, 16 to 18. It's difficult to explain what I mean. I didn't take drugs, but I still had a feeling for the world that was delirious. It's like I was high without taking drugs. I always felt that I was a hippy born too late for the hippy era. I often walked barefoot in the Walsall town centre for no other reason than to be different.

The film takes place in a different era, 1963 to 1971. Society seems so primitive. The police are always fast to step in when Jim says or does something offensive. Today people would just tut and look the other way.

I've listed Jennifer Tilly in the credits, but her scene was cut from the film. You can find it online.

Success Rate:  - 0.9

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Curse of Chucky (3 Stars)

I'm sorry to say that this is the weakest film in the Chucky series. There's none of the fast action that we're used to, interspersed with comedy. It's just long, lingering suspense. We have to wait 88 minutes before we see the wonderful Jennifer Tilly, and a minute later she's gone. If I remember correctly, the seventh film in the series is better, but I've only watched it once, so I can't be sure. I'll try to watch it again later this week.

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Seed of Chucky (5 Stars)

In the last film we saw Tiffany having a baby in the cemetery. This film takes place a few years later, and we see what a beautiful boy he's become. Red hair and blue eyes is a beautiful mix. He was stolen from the cemetery by a ventriloquist and taken to England, but after seeing Chucky and Tiffany on television he recognises them as his parents and mails himself to Hollywood.

It's not clear how the two murder dolls found their way into a movie studio. They seemed to have been destroyed at the end of the last film, but they've been reassembled to make a horror film about their killing spree. Ah ha, so it's a metafilm, like we know from "Scream"/"Stab". The dolls are no longer alive, so they have to be animated by electronics.

The star of the horror film is Jennifer Tilly, the real Jennifer Tilly.

She's supposed to be on a diet for her role, but she sneaks into the props room for a snack. What's she eating? I've watched the scene in slow motion, and I can't tell whether it's a Snickers or a Mars bar.

Leave her alone! She's beautiful enough to carry a few extra calories.

The boy recites a ritual from the pages of "Voodoo For Dummies", bringing his parents back to life. They call him Glen, but when he undresses they see that he doesn't have male equipment, so they change his name to Glenda. This starts an argument between the parents. Chucky wants a son, but Tiffany wants a daughter. Can't he be both?

Glen is a good boy. Or girl. He doesn't want to kill, but after seeing his parents go on a murder spree he wants to be like them. 

"Seed of Chucky" has a different style to the previous four films. Until now they've been horror films with slight touches of comedy. In this film the comedy is in the foreground. Critics have called this the weakest film in the series, probably because of the comedy. I used to agree with them, but after watching "Bride of Chucky" and "Seed of Chucky" back to back I can accept both films in their respective styles.

Success Rate:  + 0.1

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Bride of Chucky (5 Stars)

"Love between the ugly is the most beautiful love of all".

That quote must mean something to me. It's is the third time I've used it in my blog. Although I have to say, only Chucky is ugly. Tiffany is beautiful, even as a doll.

But I prefer her as a woman. Jennifer Tilly is one of the sexiest actresses I know. It's not just her voluptuous curves. It's not even her baby doll voice. Something about her oozes evil, and I mean that as a compliment. I wouldn't dare play poker with her. She'd take all my money and laugh at me as I leave.

Have you noticed that she always shows off deep cleavage when she plays poker? That's a deadly distraction to the men at the table. As they say, "If you've got it, flaunt it. If you've got a lot of it, use it as a weapon".

"Bride of Chucky" was made seven years after "Child's Play 3". Even though it's a continuation of the franchise, it has the feeling of a reboot. It's a new start with new dynamics, mainly due to the arrival of the Hong Kong director Ronny Wu. He's breathing new life into the series. Whatever he does turns to gold. I have enough of his films to do a mini-marathon. Maybe I'll start next month.

Success Rate:  + 0.0

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The Doors (5 Stars)

It's been a long time since I last watched this film. More than 10 years, since it hasn't been mentioned on my blog. The title of the film is "The Doors", but it's really about Jim Morrison. The other band members hardly get any screen time, and their characters aren't fleshed out enough for us to get to know them.

I enjoy the film a lot (as should be obvious from my rating). Val Kilmer was an excellent choice to play Jim Morrison. He's fascinating from his early years (1965) until his death (1971). He was doubtlessly a genius, based on the poetry he wrote. Were the drugs that he took (mainly LSD) an inspiration or a hindrance for his poetry? They were probably both. LSD opened his mind to new thoughts, but as he continued the drugs took control of him and stifled his creativity. Added to the problem is that he mixed drugs and alcohol. There may be different opinions on the harm or benefit of several recreational drugs, but one thing all experts agree on is that alcohol and drugs shouldn't be mixed.

The film has a dreamlike quality. Jim Morrison's trips repeatedly bring back memories of a dead Indian (Native American) that he saw in a car crash as a child. He considers him to be a shaman. I don't know whether this actually happened in his life, but it makes the film more fascinating.

Today, after watching the film, I read that the film has been heavily criticised by those who knew Jim, in particular the other members of the Doors. They think that he was portrayed too negatively in his later years. I can't comment on this. I just know that the way he's shown makes a good film. It could have been called "The Rise and Fall of Jim Morrison". In his 27 years he lived more than most people live in a hundred years.

I might have written more about this film, but the bugs in the new Blogger interface take a lot of the joy out of writing. How long will it take for Google's Blogger team to fix the critical bugs, let alone the minor bugs?

Success Rate:  - 0.9

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Liar Liar (4 Stars)

There's always a problem with translating films into other languages. I'm not talking about the age old argument of dubbing versus subtitles. There's the same problem with both types of translations. The opening scene in "Liar Liar" is a perfect example. Schoolchildren, presumably first grade, are being asked what their parents do for a living.

Max: My Dad is a liar.
Teacher: A liar? I'm sure you don't mean a liar.
Max: Well, he wears a suit and goes to court and talks to the judge.
Teacher: Oh, I see. You mean he's a lawyer.

I'm sure you can guess the problem already. The whole comedy is based on the similarity of the words liar and lawyer. The DVD subtitles have been accurately translated into German, but guess what? Unless the person watching already understands English it's impossible to figure out what the conversation is about. The German words for liar and lawyer, Lügner and Rechtsanwalt, aren't even vaguely similar.

All Germans born in the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) learn English at school, so it can be assumed that even if they need subtitles they can understand the humour. English wasn't a compulsory subject in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), so most Germans over 40 who were born in the East have no knowledge of English.

English is a common language around the world, but I watch films in languages that I don't understand at all, languages like Japanese and Chinese. I'm at the mercy of the translators, and I have to assume that their translation gives me the subtleties I need. I have to hope that they don't let me down completely, like the German translators of "Liar Liar".

Then there's another problem with this particular DVD which is totally unnecessary. The English title of the film refers to the common jibe among American children, "Liar liar, pants on fire". Despite losing this reference, the German film could have been called "Lügner, Lügner", or better still "Lügner! Lügner!" with exclamation marks. The title could have been left untranslated, like most American films released in Germany. Instead of this, the title was translated as "Der Dummschwätzer". That's a slang word which means someone who talks nonsense. What an awful translation! Lawyers don't talk nonsense, they talk very sensibly indeed. They even talk good sense when they tell lies.

After the classroom teacher corrects him, Max just shrugs. For him the words liar and lawyer mean the same. His father, Fletcher Reede, doesn't just lie to the judge. He lies to everyone, including Max. Some of his lies in the past must have been uncovered, because Fletcher is now divorced, and Max lives with his mother and her boyfriend. Max loves his father more than anything in the world, but he wishes he would stop lying. To take one example, Fletcher promised to take Max to see a wrestling event, but then cancelled because he said he had to work late. In actual fact he was having sex in the office with one of his bosses. That's probably not what Max guessed, but he still had an intuition that his father wasn't telling the truth.

On his fifth birthday Max makes a wish that his father should be unable to lie for a whole day. And like in all the best fairy tales, his wish comes true.

This is a catastrophe for Fletcher. He has to present a court case for which lying is essential. His client Samantha Cole, played by the luscious Jennifer Tilly, is getting divorced from her rich husband. The prenuptial agreement states that she will receive nothing if she's unfaithful to him – her husband must have expected it – but he's made a friendly offer of $2 million. That's not enough for Samantha; she wants $11.5 million.

Whatever lies Fletcher might have planned to win the case, he can't do it. Is career is ruined.

Samantha takes the stand wearing an outfit intended to sway the jury. How could twelve upstanding men, pillars of the community, be able to refuse her anything she wants? But she still needs the support of her lawyer.

As I've said in the past, I prefer Jim Carrey's serious roles to his comedy films. Nevertheless, he's one of the few actors whose films I always buy, whether or not I've seen them in the cinema. As far as I'm concerned, he can't do anything wrong. His comedy performances are ridiculously over-the-top, but they work. He's one of the best actors who has ever lived.

Success Rate:  + 4.7

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Cult of Chucky (4 Stars)

Spoilers! When I sat down to write this review my fingers were twitching. I want to tell my readers what excites me most about this film, but it would be such a blatant spoiler that it would ruin the ending for those who haven't seen it yet. I feel like I want to tell you what it is, but I know I shouldn't. It's so frustrating! I'll make a deal with you. I'll keep it a secret until after the next film is released. Either the next film or the Child's Play TV series, whichever comes first. Wait until then.

I was somewhat surprised to see Nica Pierce return in this film. After seeing her in "Curse of Chucky" I thought she was a throwaway one-time character. That was a foolish assumption. She was played by Fiona Dourif, the daughter of Brad Dourif who played Charles Lee Ray in the first film and has provided the voice of Chucky ever since. I should have known her character has to be important. She's an essential part of the future of the franchise. She seemed to have been written out after she was framed for the multiple killings at the end of "Curse of Chucky", but now we see her again in a mental institution, wrongly diagnosed as a schizophrenic. Let's not be too hard on the psychiatrists. If I were found in a house full of dead bodies and I blamed a doll for the murders, what would they say about me?

It's not just Nica who returns. Welcome back Andy Barclay, who was played by Alex Vincent in the first two films from 1998 to 1990. (He was played by a different actor in "Child's Play 3"). His return is long overdue, though I feel he was underused in "Cult of Chucky". His appearance seems to be the preparation for a big role in the eighth film.

Another character I've missed is Kyle, played by Christine Elise in "Child's Play 2" (1990). Why did we have to wait 27 years to get her back? Some of the people who've watched this film might have missed her entrance, looking pure evil holding pliers in her hand. For some unfathomable reason her scene was cut from the Netflix version of the film. Shame on Netflix!

There's so much more I could say about this film if I weren't afraid of giving spoilers. It's amazing that the Chucky franchise is still going strong after seven films. All other horror franchises ran out of steam after three films at most. The Chucky films are still amazing cinema audiences with new innovations.

This film isn't just a transitional film for Andy Barclay. I feel like "Cult of Chucky" overall is a bridge. The next film will be the big one. That's my prediction.

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Curse of Chucky (3½ Stars)

This is the sixth film in the Chucky (aka Child's Play) series. In my opinion it's the weakest film in the series, but I have to emphasise the words "in my opinion". I'm aware that film critics praise it as the best film. I don't understand why. The humour that made the previous films so good (particularly the second to fourth films) has been stripped away.

When the film begins it seems to have nothing to do with the previous films. The Chucky doll is mailed to a family that lives in a creepy looking house in the woods, and none of them are characters that we know from the previous films. As the film progresses we find out that it's a back-to-the-beginning scenario, something that's typical for the final films of trilogies. This is the sixth film, so maybe it's supposed to be the climax of the second semi-trilogy, but that would be stretching it. This is a house which Charles Lee Ray used to visit; maybe he was even employed in the house, for instance as a gardener. The series of murders that he committed in the house led to the police chase that we see at the beginning of the first film. This is the reason he wants revenge on the family.

For me the film doesn't really become exciting until the last three minutes when Jennifer Tilly returns. In the credits it's claimed that Jennifer Tilly is playing Tiffany, but that's not correct. She's playing herself, Jennifer Tilly, but possessed by the soul of Tiffany Valentine.

It was recently announced that a Chucky TV series will be made. That's exciting news, as long as Jennifer Tilly will appear in it. It's still too early for announcements about the cast.

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Seed of Chucky (4 Stars)

This is the fifth film about the killer doll Chucky, a direct continuation of the fourth film, "Bride of Chucky". The previous three films mixed in comedy with the horror, which improved them in my opinion, but this film drives it too far. There's so much humour that the horror is hidden in the background. Having said that, there's one plot line about this film that I like so much that it makes up for all the other weaknesses: the development of Jennifer Tilly as the actress playing herself.

In the fourth film we met Tiffany Valentine, Charles Lee Ray's ex-girlfriend, who was played by Jennifer Tilly. Chucky killed her and transferred her soul into the body of a doll. In this film we meet the real life actress Jennifer Tilly, played by herself, who's a doppelganger of Tiffany Valentine. This is a parody of Jennifer Tilly as the public sees her, and I praise her for making fun of herself. She's conceited, thinking of herself as a better actress than she is, constantly fighting against weight gain, and she's willing to sleep with anyone to get a film part. Tiffany (the doll) idolises Jennifer and thinks she's the greatest actress on Earth, so she makes a plan to transfer her soul into Jennifer.

Jennifer Tilly is one of the sexiest women on Earth. She has the voice of an angel, and a body that could tempt any man to sin. One whisper from her little girl voice would bring me to my knees.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Chucky and Tiffany were killed in the last film. Chucky gets killed in every film, and now Tiffany is continuing in the family tradition. How do they return to life?

At the end of the last film Tiffany had a baby. It was a voodoo pregnancy, so the baby was born within two days. I think a lot of women would prefer to have a voodoo pregnancy. Is there a magic spell to accelerate pregnancies? I'll have to check my copy of "Voodoo for Dummies". The baby was found at the cemetery by an English tourist and taken back to England to be used as a ventriloquist's dummy. The boy was given the name Shitface and forced to perform on stage.

Shitface saw news reports on television about an upcoming film about Chucky and Tiffany. He mailed himself to the Hollywood prop room to meet the dolls that he considered to be his parents. When he arrived he was disappointed to find that they were only studio props with no life at all in them. No fear, he was a prodigious young boy. He'd spent all his life learning voodoo in his spare time, and to top it all off he'd saved the Amulet of Damballa that was abandoned at the cemetery after Charles Lee Ray's body was exhumed. Shitface performed a ritual over the two dolls, calling the souls of Chucky and Tiffany back from the great beyond.

Chucky gives his son the name Glen, but when Tiffany discovers that Glen doesn't have a penis she says he's a girl and calls him Glenda... or calls her Glenda, I'm getting confused what personal pronoun to use. The not-so-happy parents argue about their child's gender, finally grudgingly agreeing to let him choose for himself what he wants to be. Chucky doesn't mind as long as he grows up to be a killer.

The critics are united in claiming that this is the weakest film in the Chucky franchise. I understand why they say it, and if I didn't have a crush on Jennifer Tilly I might agree with them.

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Bride of Chucky (5 Stars)

After a seven year gap the Child's Play franchise was finally extended with a fourth film. To emphasise the new start, all the films now have Chucky's name in the title, so that most fans refer to it as the Chucky franchise. The Germans jumped the gun. They had called the first three films "Chucky", "Chucky 2" and "Chucky 3" since the 1980's.

By now we know that Chucky is impossible to kill. However often he's destroyed at the end of a film he comes back. In the last two films it was the Play Pals company that brought him back to life. This time it's Charles Lee Ray's ex-girlfriend Tiffany Valentine.

She performs a voodoo rite while holding a magic tome in her hand.

She's a sweet little girl at heart. "I'll kill anyone, but I'll only sleep with someone I love".

Chucky can't take his eyes off her. He has good taste in women.

Just look at Tiffany. She's too much for a man to handle.

I feel all tingly inside just looking at Tiffany.

I feel all tingly inside looking at Jennifer Tilly in any role she plays, but the role of Tiffany Valentine seems to have been written for her. She's pure evil, and I'm saying that as a compliment.

This is the best film in the Chucky franchise. Ronny Yu is a brilliant director who never fails to astound me in any of his films. I regret that he didn't return for the later films.

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Embrace of the Vampire (4 Stars)

This is a film that appeals to me, even though I can't give it my top rating. It's only two months since I last watched it, but I'm sure I'll watch it again. The film's main faults are in the story. There's no logical reason why the vampire is doomed to die unless he drinks Charlotte's blood on her 18th birthday. What happened to the three vampiresses who made him a vampire 400 years ago? Apart from that, someone needs to tell the director that the drug Ecstasy doesn't cause hallucinations.

The film's strength is in its atmosphere. Martin Kemp is the type of brooding vampire that we know from Anne Rice's novels. He wants to do good, but his overwhelming thirst for blood makes him do evil. The film has a burning eroticism which is only partially a result of the nude scenes.

There's a hint of scandal when Charlotte, the devout Catholic girl, shares a lesbian encounter next to a crucifix. As everyone knows, guilt makes sex more exciting, and religious guilt is the strongest guilt. I'm not a Catholic, but I can still feel the impact of this scene.

I recently heard that the film was remade in 2013. I'm curious to see it, even though I don't understand the point in remaking such a recent film. I sincerely hope the remake is good, but somehow I doubt it.

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