"Seed of Chucky" stands as the second film to come out in recent months that portrays puppets who have sex (the other being "Team America: World Police"), and God willing, it won't be the last.
When it comes to this underappreciated subgenre of puppet-comedy-horror romance, "Seed of Chucky" stands as a seminal movie. But with exception to a clever reference to Ed Wood's trash classic "Glen or Glenda," the film deteriorates into a series of juvenile gaffes, bland doses of gore and faux attempts at shock.
Honestly, are you even surprised?
"Seed of Chucky" appears to boil down to these basic instructions: Give Chucky a wife. Give Chucky a son. Give Chucky a knife. Watch as clothesline plot forms.
Oh, and let's not forget the presence of poor Jennifer Tilly, whose quasi-amusing scenes provide a nice counter to Chucky's corner of the tale.
In addition to supplying the voice of Chucky's wife, Tiffany, Tilly plays herself as the luscious bimbo who the tabloids adore.
She ought to be applauded for engaging in some good-natured digs at her image, which she accomplishes affably.
But she is a good sport to the point of being blind to the incompetent script. There should have come a time when she realized that a film in which she is tied to a bed and pumped with Chucky's, er, fluids, might not make the best rebound picture.
Like she should have, if you're on the quest for genuine scares, then you had best halt - you won't find them here.
And God bless 'em, until the persistent watch-checking during the repetitive final 20 minutes, the movie rarely takes itself too seriously. At times, it even aims for satire of the Hollywood system.
Unfortunately, the filmmakers face a crucial error: Simply setting the film in Tinseltown does not qualify it as satire. There must be wit behind the Britney Spears references, or it all goes to hell.
Ultimately, horror and comedy go mano a mano on the screen, both fighting for dominance. As a result, they end up destroying each other, and "Seed of Chucky" fails to expand its audience outside of its core fan base.
With a couple of exceptions, director Don Mancini has devoted his entire career to the Chucky movies. He has created quite the lucrative oeuvre, worthy for the audiences to respect him, even if they don't always understand him.
After all, even the Elephant Man had a mother.
Contact the A&E Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
