The craziest thing about Child's Play 3 is how quickly the movie came out since the previous entry. There were only 9 months between the release of 2 and 3. Don Mancinin the writer throughout the series has previously stated that this is his least favorite film in the franchise and he say that has to do with he ran out of ideas being asked to write 3 while 2 was in post. A lot of fans despise this film. While 2 and Bride were released on DVD in 1999, 3 did not get a DVD release until 2003. With all of that hatred out of the way, let's take a look at Child's Play 3.
As always we begin with the trailer. In comparison to 2's ingenious although sort of false advertising, the trailer for 3 is in turn extremely disappointing. There is nothing extremely memorable about it except for ending the trailer with "Don't **** with the Chuck!" That's definitely a note that leaves with a punch, but it wasn't enough to get audiences back into theaters so soon after 2. The tagline: There comes a time to put away childhood things. But some things won't stay put! I mean...it sells the movie enough. Again it's not anything memorable after the brilliant tagline for 2. The poster this time round is also disappointing. It's just a one sheet of a painted Chucky face. We can't even see Chucky's red hair.
As far as the film itself...well, let's get the bad out of the way first. Don in a recent interview pointed this out and he is spot on. The film suffers from 2 casting issues. The kid who plays Tyler while a fine enough actor is way way way too old for the part to be believable. The Colonel is also too old and too soft for the part. He's comes across as too nice for the way the dialogue was written.
Most of the death scenes are pretty forgettable too. The death of the tailor is memorable and one other I'll mention a little later, but other than that, it's just kinda blah.
Now, here's the deal, with such forgettable deaths and some casting issues, you probably think I hate this film and will destroy it. You'd be wrong. I actually find that this film plays a lot better than Child's Play 2. Whereas 2 only had one likeable character throughout and even then it was just plain depressing watching him get beat up for 2/3 of the movie, 3 has at least four likeable characters in the movie. I genuinely care more about what happens to other people than Andy this time round and that's a hard feat for a second second sequel. Having Andy be older helped quite a bit. I like Tyler, his innocence is charming and you want to be protective of him. I still think the actor was too old, but the character is at least appealing. Whitehurst is really appealing because I felt the most like him. The nerdy guy who got picked on. I wasn't nearly as picked on as he was in the movie though. He just gets told throughout that he's the sorriest excuse for a soldier, however when danger comes, he's the only one who acts like a real soldier. He died a hero losing his life to people that constantly tore him down and beat him up...sound familiar? Yep, Whitehurst is the Christ figure in this series. Except unlike Jesus, Whitehurst doesn't resurrect, but the self sacrificial nature is there. The love interest De Silva is also likeable considering that she is protective of Whitehurst and in turn of Andy.
Here's the deal. The story in this one is stronger overall because we care about these people and it means something to us when they are in peril. I know I'm in the minority on this one, but I don't care. I genuinely believe that 3 is a better film than 2.
Jack Bender was the director this time around. He did an adequate job, but he did have some odd, questionable choices. He's done well for himself though having directed a ton of LOST episodes including the series finale.
Brad is as always amazing, engaging, etc... Words can't express how immersive his performance is for an audience. The puppetry gets increasingly better each time as well.
Before the final run down, I have to say that having Chucky's face slice off was so shocking to me the first time I saw it. I know Chucky's stitched look more than his solo movie look at that time and I thought there was no way they would explain why he was stitched up, but having a piece of his face slice off and thrown into a giant fan does justify the decision.
Child's Play 3 premiered on August 30, 1991. On a budget of $13 million, the film only grossed $20,560,255 worldwide. Child's Play 3 suffered primarily from too much too soon. I think the idea of a killer doll is too ludicrous to hold a wide audience for multiple entries and that's the problem they ran into. But how would the series continue after the disappointing reception to 3, and how would they address the increasing absurdity of the killer doll concept, well...we'll discuss that next time.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Friday, October 25, 2013
Child's Play 2 Review
United Artists was bought by a new company that only wanted to do family friendly films and let's face it, as much of a friend as Chucky is to us, he's not family friendly. Therefore Universal bought the rights to the franchise and Child's Play 2 was born.
As always we begin with the trailer. I think the trailer is stunning. It's just a truly amazing ad campaign for the film. The poster is breathtaking too with Chucky holding a pair of scissors about to cut off the head of Jack in the Jack in the Box. The tagline is one for the ages: Sorry Jack...Chucky's back! As great of an ad campaign as it is unfortunately I don't think it resembles the film well at all. The sequel is much darker tonally. There are less characters you like and root for. Chucky's motive behind killing is a little more blurred in the sequel. It's not nearly as fun of a ride as the ad campaigns claim it to be. It's much more grim than fun to watch.
The first question of any horror sequel is how do they bring the monster back to life? The toy company who got a bad rep after the rumors of Chucky surfaced got their hands on the burned to a crisp remains of Chucky and in the process of rebuilding the doll when the eyes are placed it, it comes back to life rejuvenating Chucky. It's clever but a little bit confusing.
Really the only sequence that I absolutely love in this film is from the moment that Kyle recognizes the buried Tommy doll to the end. By that point in time it keeps moving as fast as a freight train and never lets up. The ending set piece in the toy factory is a stunning sequence for the film and has one of the more brutal Chucky death scenes. A guy gets stuck in the conveyor belt and has doll eyes pluck out his own eyes killing him...ouch!
Kevin's animatronics are even sharper giving Chucky more impressive facial movements.
Brad Dourif again knocks it out of the park with his powerful voice. Chucky gets a few more one liners this time around, but overall the tone is much darker.
Besides that there's really not much else to praise in this movie. Alex is ok, but you can sorta tell he's over Chucky by now. His performance just isn't as fresh or as exciting as it was in the first movie. My biggest complaint is that apart from Andy in the first 2/3 of the movie there's nobody to connect with, nobody to root for and this is a major problem. It's just not fun to watch as people consistently beat up on Andy. As an audience member I felt very protective of Andy and powerless and uncomfortable while throughout the majority of this film he's all alone. It would be different if he was no longer a child, but that's what the first film got right: have your protagonist who's constantly in peril be an adult. It's uncomfortable when it's a child.
The death scenes this time round in some ways are a lot harsher but lack the charm and staying power of the originals. Both John Lafia and the wonderful Don Mancini returned as well as the ever present David Kershner, but I think the sequel proves that the true mastermind behind the original film was Tom Holland. It does get fun by the end, but it takes a while to get out of the stage of uncomfort and I know it's a horror film and it should make you uncomfortable, but the advertising said it was supposed to be fun and it just wasn't.
Child's Play 2 premiered on November 9, 1990. On a budget of $13 million, the movie grossed $35,763,605 worldwide, a hefty profit for a sequel especially at a time when the genre was considered dead. I don't think the film is as strong as people claim it to be, but without the success of this film, we wouldn't have the franchise and for that I tip my hat off to it in gratitude. How soon would Chucky return and would the success keep up...well, we'll discuss that next time...
As always we begin with the trailer. I think the trailer is stunning. It's just a truly amazing ad campaign for the film. The poster is breathtaking too with Chucky holding a pair of scissors about to cut off the head of Jack in the Jack in the Box. The tagline is one for the ages: Sorry Jack...Chucky's back! As great of an ad campaign as it is unfortunately I don't think it resembles the film well at all. The sequel is much darker tonally. There are less characters you like and root for. Chucky's motive behind killing is a little more blurred in the sequel. It's not nearly as fun of a ride as the ad campaigns claim it to be. It's much more grim than fun to watch.
The first question of any horror sequel is how do they bring the monster back to life? The toy company who got a bad rep after the rumors of Chucky surfaced got their hands on the burned to a crisp remains of Chucky and in the process of rebuilding the doll when the eyes are placed it, it comes back to life rejuvenating Chucky. It's clever but a little bit confusing.
Really the only sequence that I absolutely love in this film is from the moment that Kyle recognizes the buried Tommy doll to the end. By that point in time it keeps moving as fast as a freight train and never lets up. The ending set piece in the toy factory is a stunning sequence for the film and has one of the more brutal Chucky death scenes. A guy gets stuck in the conveyor belt and has doll eyes pluck out his own eyes killing him...ouch!
Kevin's animatronics are even sharper giving Chucky more impressive facial movements.
Brad Dourif again knocks it out of the park with his powerful voice. Chucky gets a few more one liners this time around, but overall the tone is much darker.
Besides that there's really not much else to praise in this movie. Alex is ok, but you can sorta tell he's over Chucky by now. His performance just isn't as fresh or as exciting as it was in the first movie. My biggest complaint is that apart from Andy in the first 2/3 of the movie there's nobody to connect with, nobody to root for and this is a major problem. It's just not fun to watch as people consistently beat up on Andy. As an audience member I felt very protective of Andy and powerless and uncomfortable while throughout the majority of this film he's all alone. It would be different if he was no longer a child, but that's what the first film got right: have your protagonist who's constantly in peril be an adult. It's uncomfortable when it's a child.
The death scenes this time round in some ways are a lot harsher but lack the charm and staying power of the originals. Both John Lafia and the wonderful Don Mancini returned as well as the ever present David Kershner, but I think the sequel proves that the true mastermind behind the original film was Tom Holland. It does get fun by the end, but it takes a while to get out of the stage of uncomfort and I know it's a horror film and it should make you uncomfortable, but the advertising said it was supposed to be fun and it just wasn't.
Child's Play 2 premiered on November 9, 1990. On a budget of $13 million, the movie grossed $35,763,605 worldwide, a hefty profit for a sequel especially at a time when the genre was considered dead. I don't think the film is as strong as people claim it to be, but without the success of this film, we wouldn't have the franchise and for that I tip my hat off to it in gratitude. How soon would Chucky return and would the success keep up...well, we'll discuss that next time...
Child's Play Review
What can I say that hasn't already been said? Chucky is my friend and has been for many, many years. I adore the character and this movie in particular. Let me give you a little background before we begin with the review. The script was originally written by Don Mancini, who will become crucial to this franchise. The script was called Batteries Not Included as well as Blood Buddies by one point. Instead of voodoo, it was the boyhood blood buddies passing that caused the doll to come to life. David Kirschner, another person crucial to the franchise, loved the script and brought it to United Artists. Tom Holland and John Lafia were brought on board to flesh out the concept and make it more easily accessible. Don was not the one who came up with Charles Lee Ray or Chucky for short. He did come up with the killer doll though. History is not clear as to who exactly came up with Chucky but whoever did had a stroke of genius because they created a horror icon. Now onto the finished product itself...
As always we begin with the trailer. The trailer feels extremely 80s, but it's still intriguing enough and has that haunting end credits music. It sells the movie well enough and garners enough interest in seeing the finished product. The tagline: Something's moved into the Barclay home, and so has terror. You'll wish it was only make believe. is actually a pretty fine tagline. It's a little long, but hey this was the late 80s. Friday had terrible advertising by this point, so this on gets a pass. The poster of Chucky's eyes in the sky as the babysitter falls out the window is a wonderful poster. It's completely chilling and visually stunning. It grabs your eyes immediately.
Everything about this movie, at least to me, works. Out of all the horror series that I will review on this blog, this original film is the classiest. The sequels, well that's a different story, but the original is so wonderfully made. I want you all to watch the movie again and pay specific attention to Chucky's head and watch how it transforms and becomes more and more human throughout the movie. It's extraordinary. Kevin Yagher is the unsung actor of this franchise. Kevin through animatronics has to act out Chucky. Brad Dourif is extraordinary and deserves all the credit for voicing Chucky. I adore Brad and you'll find that out more as we go along, but without the amazing acting of the animatronic, Chucky can only go so far. Brad gave SO much and Kevin was able to draw from it.
One of the best things I love about the movie is that it doesn't need a sequel. Many of the films I'll review here leave the door wide open for a sequel but that is not the case for Child's Play. Yes, the door is left open when Andy is walking out the room, but that was more to symbolize how the memory of Chucky would forever haunt Andy not implying that they were planning a sequel.
All that said, I think that this movie has one of the greatest horrific moments of any horror movie. When the mother discovers that the batteries are not in the doll and when she looks at the battery compartment and sees that it's empty it's so chilling. Having the head spin around and talk, it's just all so horrific. When Chucky first talks in his Chucky voice and not his doll voice, it's just like BOOM, the birth of our beloved Chucky, our friend to the end.
I cannot express in words how amazing this cast is especially from Alex Vincent. He is so unHollywood for a child actor that I actually genuinely care for him in this movie. He gave an intense performance that is so captivating, it's impossible to overlook.
I have to give Brad a specific paragraph all his own because he's truly that important. Brad was always playing the life version of the strangler, but the voice of the doll was originally supposed to be the woman from Play Misty for Me. For a lot of reasons this didn't work. Chucky sounded too effeminate. They brought Brad back in to voice the doll portions as well and boom, a horror icon was born.
Keep an eye on Chucky's partner Eddie Caputo because in later flashbacks, he will be an erased character.
Child's Play was originally released on November 9, 1988. On a budget of $9 million, the film grossed $44,196,684 worldwide. A very nice profit. Everything about this movie worked. I have nothing but the highest praise I can give a horror movie to this film. The sequels will get a lot of criticism don't worry, but the original is a class all its' own. But how would Chucky return after his heart had been shot, who from the cast would return as well...well, we'll discuss that next time...
As always we begin with the trailer. The trailer feels extremely 80s, but it's still intriguing enough and has that haunting end credits music. It sells the movie well enough and garners enough interest in seeing the finished product. The tagline: Something's moved into the Barclay home, and so has terror. You'll wish it was only make believe. is actually a pretty fine tagline. It's a little long, but hey this was the late 80s. Friday had terrible advertising by this point, so this on gets a pass. The poster of Chucky's eyes in the sky as the babysitter falls out the window is a wonderful poster. It's completely chilling and visually stunning. It grabs your eyes immediately.
Everything about this movie, at least to me, works. Out of all the horror series that I will review on this blog, this original film is the classiest. The sequels, well that's a different story, but the original is so wonderfully made. I want you all to watch the movie again and pay specific attention to Chucky's head and watch how it transforms and becomes more and more human throughout the movie. It's extraordinary. Kevin Yagher is the unsung actor of this franchise. Kevin through animatronics has to act out Chucky. Brad Dourif is extraordinary and deserves all the credit for voicing Chucky. I adore Brad and you'll find that out more as we go along, but without the amazing acting of the animatronic, Chucky can only go so far. Brad gave SO much and Kevin was able to draw from it.
One of the best things I love about the movie is that it doesn't need a sequel. Many of the films I'll review here leave the door wide open for a sequel but that is not the case for Child's Play. Yes, the door is left open when Andy is walking out the room, but that was more to symbolize how the memory of Chucky would forever haunt Andy not implying that they were planning a sequel.
All that said, I think that this movie has one of the greatest horrific moments of any horror movie. When the mother discovers that the batteries are not in the doll and when she looks at the battery compartment and sees that it's empty it's so chilling. Having the head spin around and talk, it's just all so horrific. When Chucky first talks in his Chucky voice and not his doll voice, it's just like BOOM, the birth of our beloved Chucky, our friend to the end.
I cannot express in words how amazing this cast is especially from Alex Vincent. He is so unHollywood for a child actor that I actually genuinely care for him in this movie. He gave an intense performance that is so captivating, it's impossible to overlook.
I have to give Brad a specific paragraph all his own because he's truly that important. Brad was always playing the life version of the strangler, but the voice of the doll was originally supposed to be the woman from Play Misty for Me. For a lot of reasons this didn't work. Chucky sounded too effeminate. They brought Brad back in to voice the doll portions as well and boom, a horror icon was born.
Keep an eye on Chucky's partner Eddie Caputo because in later flashbacks, he will be an erased character.
Child's Play was originally released on November 9, 1988. On a budget of $9 million, the film grossed $44,196,684 worldwide. A very nice profit. Everything about this movie worked. I have nothing but the highest praise I can give a horror movie to this film. The sequels will get a lot of criticism don't worry, but the original is a class all its' own. But how would Chucky return after his heart had been shot, who from the cast would return as well...well, we'll discuss that next time...
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Leprechaun Analysis Overview
This was one of the hardest analyses to do because this is the franchise I know the least of the three I've done thus far and unfortunately over the reviews, it's shown. I have only one person to thank: Warwick Davis, thank you for being loyal to the series, returning to every entry and most of all for being proud to be a slasher movie franchise villain. I respect the series mostly for Warwick. I enjoyed the series the most this time round. This was the first time I had made it all the way through the series. Leprechaun may not have permeated the culture as profoundly as Friday the 13th did, but it's undeniable that it has a strong cult following. I would be happy to sit through another Leprechaun movie. Next franchise analysis: Child's Play commemorating the 25th anniversary of the original film's release!
Leprechaun Back 2 Tha Hood Review
The Leprechaun franchise changed studios in between the fifth and sixth installments. The Leprechaun moved over to the wonderful hands of the Lions Gate studios. Lions Gate has always been good to horror films, especially after they picked up Eli Roth's Cabin Fever.
Leprechaun Back 2 Tha Hood amazingly brings back suspense to a franchise that had it missing entirely from the previous two installments. Originally a spring break Leprechaun movie was pitched. That would have fit the style of the franchise more than this because up to this point in time it had always changed settings, but it is what it is.
As always we begin with the trailer. I'm actually quite impressed with the trailer. It's fast paced, it has a lot of energy to it and it knows what it's selling. This is Leprechaun 6 after all. The tagline is stupid though: Evil has a whole new rap! I don't think he rapped this time round.
The opening of the movie yet again creates an entirely new mythology for our franchise. The book opens to chapter 6, and considering this is the sixth installment, I thought that was a great touch.
Our heroine is the strongest female character in the entire series. Emily falls under the spell of the gold after she first finds it. She lives in a lavish lifestyle afterwards, but quickly realizes her mistake as her greed from the gold haunts and follows her and her friends. By the end she kicks the leprechaun off the building to his doom.
This is the first movie where we see the Leprechaun's feet. They are nasty, just the way they should be. It's helpful to have the same make up artist throughout the entire series.
There are two really memorable death sequences in the movie. One involves a character with a bong. The bong gets shoved in his stomach and his blood fills the bong up. The other one involves a character who melted a gold coin down to a tooth. The leprechaun, like in Leprechaun 2, pulls the tooth out, but he pulls out her entire jaw in doing so...only the tooth was from the top set of teeth. This added bloody jaw shot doesn't make sense. Unfortunately, this death is memorable because it's bad.
The leprechaun has a new look with a new coat and overall dress. He's greener this time round and that's not really a welcome change on my part. They had been consistent with his dress for the first five entries and all of a sudden they decide to change it. No, BAD MOVIE! You are Leprechaun 6, you don't have a rite to change the look of the Leprechaun.
Like the first film, a four leaf clover is used in killing the Leprechaun. This time they have it spread over bullets. The Leprechaun is more powerful this time round having him regenerate even after being shot. He ultimately dies by sinking into cement.
Lastly, I must add that they took another jab at Christianity. The priest, knowing that the gold was evil still took it so he could have money to do the good things he wanted to do. That is such a bad expression of Christianity and it saddens me deeply to see how poorly it's represented in my favorite genre.
Leprechaun Back 2 Tha Hood was released straight to DVD on December 30, 2003. The film was panned, considered number 3 on an Entertainment Weekly list of the worst sequels of all time. I thought after the second one this was the best sequel. Currently, the original series has been laid to rest, but a remake with someone other than Warwick is planned by Lions Gate.
Leprechaun Back 2 Tha Hood amazingly brings back suspense to a franchise that had it missing entirely from the previous two installments. Originally a spring break Leprechaun movie was pitched. That would have fit the style of the franchise more than this because up to this point in time it had always changed settings, but it is what it is.
As always we begin with the trailer. I'm actually quite impressed with the trailer. It's fast paced, it has a lot of energy to it and it knows what it's selling. This is Leprechaun 6 after all. The tagline is stupid though: Evil has a whole new rap! I don't think he rapped this time round.
The opening of the movie yet again creates an entirely new mythology for our franchise. The book opens to chapter 6, and considering this is the sixth installment, I thought that was a great touch.
Our heroine is the strongest female character in the entire series. Emily falls under the spell of the gold after she first finds it. She lives in a lavish lifestyle afterwards, but quickly realizes her mistake as her greed from the gold haunts and follows her and her friends. By the end she kicks the leprechaun off the building to his doom.
This is the first movie where we see the Leprechaun's feet. They are nasty, just the way they should be. It's helpful to have the same make up artist throughout the entire series.
There are two really memorable death sequences in the movie. One involves a character with a bong. The bong gets shoved in his stomach and his blood fills the bong up. The other one involves a character who melted a gold coin down to a tooth. The leprechaun, like in Leprechaun 2, pulls the tooth out, but he pulls out her entire jaw in doing so...only the tooth was from the top set of teeth. This added bloody jaw shot doesn't make sense. Unfortunately, this death is memorable because it's bad.
The leprechaun has a new look with a new coat and overall dress. He's greener this time round and that's not really a welcome change on my part. They had been consistent with his dress for the first five entries and all of a sudden they decide to change it. No, BAD MOVIE! You are Leprechaun 6, you don't have a rite to change the look of the Leprechaun.
Like the first film, a four leaf clover is used in killing the Leprechaun. This time they have it spread over bullets. The Leprechaun is more powerful this time round having him regenerate even after being shot. He ultimately dies by sinking into cement.
Lastly, I must add that they took another jab at Christianity. The priest, knowing that the gold was evil still took it so he could have money to do the good things he wanted to do. That is such a bad expression of Christianity and it saddens me deeply to see how poorly it's represented in my favorite genre.
Leprechaun Back 2 Tha Hood was released straight to DVD on December 30, 2003. The film was panned, considered number 3 on an Entertainment Weekly list of the worst sequels of all time. I thought after the second one this was the best sequel. Currently, the original series has been laid to rest, but a remake with someone other than Warwick is planned by Lions Gate.
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