Curse of Chucky

Curse of Chucky is a 2013 American slasher film and the sixth installment of the Child's Play franchise. The film was written and directed by Don Mancini, who created the franchise and wrote the first six films. It stars Fiona Dourif, Danielle Bisutti, Brennan Elliott, Maitland McConnell, Chantal Quesnelle, Summer Howell, A Martinez, and Brad Dourif. The film grossed $3.8 million in DVD sales.

Curse of Chucky sees a return to the franchise's source material, bringing back the straightforward horror elements found in the first Child's Play film. The film, which went into production in September 2012, is the first direct-to-video installment of the series. In the U.S., it premiered via VOD on September 24, 2013, followed by a DVD and Blu-ray Disc release on October 8, 2013. The film was also turned into a scare zone for 2013's annual Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. Though Curse of Chucky was made with a direct-to-video release in mind, it was also seen theatrically in several countries, like Brazil. The film was followed by Cult of Chucky in 2017.

Plot
A mysterious package arrives at the home of Sarah Pierce and her paraplegic daughter Nica. Inside, they find the seemingly inanimate Chucky. Confused, Sarah throws the doll away. That night, Nica finds Sarah stabbed to death with a pair of scissors; the death is later ruled a suicide.

Nica is visited by her older sister, Barb, who brings her husband Ian, daughter Alice, live-in nanny Jill (with whom she is secretly having an affair), and priest Father Frank. Nica and Barb get into an argument over whether to sell the house, with Barb wanting Nica to move into assisted living. Meanwhile Alice discovers Chucky and bonds with him. That night, Chucky secretly poisons Father Frank. Becoming incredibly ill, he leaves the house and is decapitated in a car accident. Police officer Stratton decides to head to the Pierce house, knowing Father Frank was visiting the residence.

While the family watches old home movies, Nica notices someone peculiar in the background of the footage. When Alice loses track of Chucky, Nica finds the doll and returns it to her. Alice tells Nica that Chucky has been talking to her. Concerned, Nica researches Chucky and finds that he was sent from an evidence depository. She finds news reports online of his previous murders, along with a picture of Charles Lee Ray, Chucky's human form, recognizing him as the man from the home movie.

Chucky sneaks into Jill's room and fatally electrocutes her while she is video-chatting with Barb. Barb leaves to investigate, but awakens Ian, who reveals he placed a hidden camera in Chucky and knows of her affair. Nica attempts to warn Barb of Chucky's true nature, but she accuses Nica of being in league with Ian. Barb hears a noise and heads up to the attic. She finds Chucky and discovers he has been concealing stitches and wounds on his face beneath a layer of plastic. He comes to life and stabs her in the eye.

Barb's body falls down in front of Nica and Chucky begins to chase her. She flees and wakes up Ian, who tries to help her escape. However, when Nica grabs an axe to defend herself from Chucky, a frightened Ian accuses her of being the killer. Nica suffers a heart attack and passes out. She awakens tied up back in the house as Ian is inspecting Chucky's nanny cam feed on his laptop. Chucky sneaks into the room and kills him with the axe.

Nica is able to free herself and struggles with Chucky before being thrown off of the balcony in the main hall. Asking Chucky why he killed her family, he explains that when he was human, he was a friend of the family and obsessed with Sarah. In 1988, he murdered Nica's father and kidnapped Sarah, but was found out by the police. Believing Sarah led them to him, Charles stabbed the pregnant Sarah in the stomach, resulting in Nica's paraplegia. He then fled, leading to his death.

Nica stalls Chucky by mocking him, and is able to eventually wrestle his knife away and stab him, seemingly killing him. However, he reanimates and plants himself in a chair nearby as Stratton arrives. Nica is arrested on suspicion of the murders and found guilty, and is institutionalized. Later, Stratton leaves to deliver Chucky to an unknown buyer, only to be murdered by Tiffany Valentine, who mails Chucky to Alice. After smothering Alice's grandmother to death, Chucky begins to enact a voodoo chant to transfer his soul into Alice's body.

In a post-credits scene, Chucky is mailed to Andy Barclay, now an adult. However, Andy is able to get the drop on him and shoots him with a shotgun.

Production
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.

A sequel entered the production in 2012, entitled Curse of Chucky, and was intended for a direct-to-video release.

Filming
The film began production in early September 2012 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and ended in mid-October.

Release
Curse of Chucky had its world premiere on August 2, 2013, at the Fantasia Festival, in Montreal, and its European premiere at the London FrightFest Film Festival on August 22, accompanied by screenings of the original trilogy of Child's Play films. The DVD/Blu-ray was released on October 8, 2013, and domestically grossed $3,821,602 in the first month.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, 75% of 20 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 favorable 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, "Chucky fans should rejoice... Curse of Chucky is clearly going to re-ignite the franchise for years to come." Ryan Larson of Shock Till You Drop also wrote a mostly positive review, saying, "the movie does so much right that it's easy to overlook the very few flaws it has. The pacing and writing coincide to create a fun blood-soaked jaunt that never gets boring or dull." He goes on to praise the director, pointing out that "Mancini (pulling double duty as writer as well as director) does a great job at introducing and ushering off characters in a fashion that doesn't bog the film down with a bunch of characters who get three minutes of film time before getting the axe, or butcher knife in this case. The kills are kitschy, but in the best way possible, waxing nostalgic of the slasher films of the late eighties and early nineties."

In Brazil, Chucky inspired two episodes of the "Hidden Camera" (Câmeras Escondidas) show broadcast by the local SBT channel.

Accolades
At the film's world premiere at the Montreal Fantasia Festival, it received a Gold Award for Best International Feature.

The film also received a nomination for Best DVD or Blu-ray Release at the 40th Saturn Awards.

Sequels
The film was followed by Cult of Chucky in 2017 and the TV series Chucky in 2021.