Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
If you’ve found yourself wondering when Cult of Chucky comes out on Netflix, let us help you out. The seventh film in the ridiculously over-the-top franchise just landed on the platform, and believe it or not, it’s actually worth a watch. That’s right. In what marks what may be the first time in horror-sequel history, this surprising movie salvages the last few misfires of the franchise and manages to be both horrifying and hilarious in equal measure.
Let me preface this claim by stating I have never been keen on any of the Child’s Play movies. Call me old-fashioned, but I’d much rather watch a disturbed and/or vengeful grown man cut down teenagers for no good reason than a possessed, toddler-sized doll. But for all the inherent wackiness that exists within the Child’s Play franchise based on its premise alone, Cult of Chucky demonstrates a true self-awareness that its predecessors largely lack. How did we get here? How does this film have a better sense of tone than most of the reboots that have been carelessly tossed into theaters over the last few years? It may be a mystery for our time. If you need a little more nudging to hop over to Netflix and watch Cult of Chucky, hear me out.
To really enjoy this movie, you actually don’t need to have seen the six films that preceded it. (Trust me on this – I can hardly remember anything after the second one). The creator of the Child’s Play franchise, Don Mancini, penned Cult of Chucky, as he has every other film in the franchise, and that allows there to be a sense of tonal consistency (and interesting glimpse into his evolution as a writer). Context aside, here’s what goes down. The film startlingly kicks off with an awkward date conversation about the Second Amendment (which feels a little too on the nose), and then it literally tells you exactly what happened before this moment via flashback. If you love bad horror movie acting as much as I do, these first few minutes are a real treat. Basically, grown-up Andy Barclay (yes, the kid from the first movie who desperately wants a Good Guy doll for his birthday and pays for it later) now keeps the severed head of Chucky in a safe and tortures it when he’s pissed (but not before sharing some of his weed with the smack-talking serial killer).
Meanwhile, Nica Pierce, the paraplegic woman from Curse of Chucky who Chucky framed for murdering her family, is holed up in a mental hospital and now believes that she made Chucky up. On her way to becoming more stable, she’s transferred to a mental institution with less intense security, where she finds herself in a therapy group that utilizes a Good Guy doll (which freaks just about everyone out except a baby murderer named Madeleine, who basically adopts this doll as her baby). As you can imagine, total mayhem ensues, and it turns out that Chucky may not be as secure in Andy’s safe as he’d hoped. If you like sick twists, gruesome murders, surprise appearances, and unexpected character encounters, you’re going to love this movie. (Admittedly, I found myself both in tears from laughter and watching through my fingers during some scenes. It’s that kind of experience.)
Cult of Chucky is best consumed with a friend (or a few) and the intoxicant of your choice, but the delightful thing about this unabashed bloodbath is that it isn’t something to suffer through. Like the best kind of slasher flick, it clocks in at a succinct 91 minutes, fully leans into its batshit plot twists, and employs harrowing horrors and self-mocking sequences in perfect tandem. If any of the Child’s Play installments before this one made you question the franchise, Cult of Chucky will restore your faith in this deranged doll and all his unhinged antics. (And, like any other good slasher flick, the ending’s left wide open – so don’t say goodbye to Chucky just yet.)
