The disappointing returns for Child's Play 3 led the studio to drop the series. In 1996 a phenomenon occurred that hadn't been seen by the likes of horror since the original Friday the 13th, Scream came out and made over $100 million. In response Universal looked for what horror franchises they still owned. Chucky was a hot property for it's first two entries. Thankfully, the studio decided it was time for our favorite killer doll to return.
Producer David Kirschner saw a copy of Bride of Frankenstein on the shelf in the video store. He told Don Mancinin the series' main stay author that it would be great if they could get a bride for Chucky.
As always we begin with the trailer: I think this is an excellent trailer. It's intriguing and scary and slow at the beginning and then it's extremely fast paced once we realize that it's a Chucky movie. The tagline: Chucky Gets Lucky is also quite good and sells the more playful comedic side of the film. The poster with the two eyes one blue, one green to represent Chucky and Tiffany is not only fantastically spooky but is in itself an homage to the Scream 2 poster poking fun at that franchise. Basically, the advertising rocked for this film.
Here's the deal with Bride: as a fan of the franchise you will either ADORE or LOATHE this movie. Watching it for this analysis I adored it, but this is the first time I have ever enjoyed the film. I loathed this movie for years. Let's start with the bad this time because there's much less that's bad than that's good. The film ignores the mythology that built up over three films. There isn't even a mention of Andy who was our main character in the past three. All of a sudden there's a necklace that Chucky forgot to look for for what 10 years??? The heart of Dambala necklace is a stupid addition and is a slap to the face of the fans that stuck with the first three movies. Here's the other thing, but I'm not 100% sure of this one: I thought that in order to transfer your soul into something else, a doll, a human, you had to be alive...so after Tiffany dies, shouldn't she not be allowed to be transferred into the soul of the doll? For years, I could never get past the problems of the concept alone.
What made me enjoy the movie this time you ask? I finally saw the movie for what it was: a rebooting, rejuvenating of the Chucky franchise that was more jokey than serious. Without the previous three movie build up and the lack of continuity in this entry's mythology, it's actually a very well scripted movie. It's fun, it's edgy, it's jokey, but it still has it's elements of horror to it without it ever losing it's sense of fun. The doll sex scene is always shocking every time I watch it. The film pushed the right buttons and it totally paid off. This is something Seed will have not done correctly. Bride pushes the buttons just enough to be edgy, hilarious, and marketable to a mass audience.
The movie made a very smart decision in having Ronny Yu direct. His visual style is so striking and was just so perfect for this movie. The cop car explosion is a stand out piece as well was the thieves' death on the water bed. Brad as always is fantastic. The puppetry looks the greatest in this one out of the first four. Jennifer Tilly, I can't end this review without expressing how crucial she was in creating the tone of Bride. She was THE perfect choice.
Bride of Chucky premiered on October 16, 1998. On a budget of $25 million, the film grossed $50,671,850 worldwide making it the most successful Child's Play film to date. With the franchise's first open endings of Tiffany giving birth at the end, how would they tell the story of Chucky's child? How would Chucky and Tiffany return...and would the studio prevent them from returning again...well, we'll discuss that next time.
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