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TRAILER TRASH: “Seed of Chucky” directed by Don Mancini

Seed of Chucky or Cheese of Chucky?

By the end of 1998's terrible "Bride of Chucky", the re-animated doll possessed by the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray had killed his girlfriend Tiffany and re-animated her soul inside the body of a child's bridal doll.

We had hoped this unimaginative storyline brought the final death of writer and director Don Mancini’s impulse to continue his "Child's Play" filming spree. But like the ever revivable Chucky, Mancini has returned with a fifth installment, "Seed of Chucky". The trailer's snarling red-eyed fetus suggests Mancini has finally discovered something more horrible than yet another 90-minute doll killing spree: parenthood.

Sixteen years after the original "Child's Play" was released, and with few other writing credits to his name, Mancini could be accused of blatantly milking his only franchise. Perhaps he's the one currently selling all those "new in box" Chucky dolls on eBay for less than the price of a movie ticket.

Either way, if puppets and dolls killing people is your idea of rock 'em, sock 'em action, then come this film's Halloween release date consider Netflix-ing David Schmoeller's 1989 "Puppet Master" and all seven of its sequels instead.

This post is from a 2004 pitch for a series of columns in which I proposed to review awful movies by watching their trailers. It didn't sell.