When it comes to horror movies, Chucky is right up their next to Freddy, Jason, and Michael. The first Child’s Play movie was released in 1988 from director Tom Holland. The film introduced a killer doll named Chucky, who came to life after a serial killer used dark magic to transfer his soul into a Good Guys doll.
The movie quickly spawned a franchise, one that is still getting sequels to this day. After a while, the Chucky films stopped getting theatrical releases, which sent the movies straight to DVD. The quality of the films have no doubt varied over the years, as they will with any franchise. Which are the best and worst movies from the series? Thanks to Rotten Tomatoes, we have the answer!
Child’s Play 3- 29%
With a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes, Child’s Play 3 is the lowest-rated entry to the franchise. The third Child’s Play movie is often considered the black sheep of the series. Child’s Play 3 was panned by fans and critics.
In Chucky’s third outing, Andy Barclay is sent to Kent Military Academy, since he is (quite understandably) unable to cope with what happened with Chucky. The film was poorly received and resulted in Mancini taking a break from the series for seven years until he released Bride of Chucky in 1998.
Seed Of Chucky- 33%
While Bride of Chucky slightly revived the series, Seed of Chucky brought it back down. Seed of Chucky takes place after the events of Bride of Chucky, with Chucky and Tiffany’s son/daughter being introduced. The film stretched the series even further into absurdity, which resulted in the franchise going on another hiatus until 2013, when Curse of Chucky was released.
The film did poorly with fans and critics and also pushed the comedy in the series farther than it had gone before. The film still earned money at the box office, but not enough for Rogue Pictures to keep releasing films on the big screen.
Child’s Play 2- 44%
With the success of Child’s Play, a sequel was quickly developed, which came out two years later in 1990. The film shows Andy being admitted into a foster home after his mother is taken away. Chucky is resurrected and eventually goes after Andy.
John Lafia directed Chucky’s second outing, and although he had been a writer on the original, the second film didn’t do as well with critics. Despite Chucky failing to connect with fans in his second movie, this was still the beginning of Chucky’s reign at the box office.
Bride Of Chucky- 46%
After a brief hiatus from the series, Don Mancini revamped the Child’s Play franchise with Bride of Chucky. This version of Chucky contained a lot more comedy and is memorable for introducing the character Tiffany, who was voiced by Jennifer Tilly. Bride of Chucky also gave Chucky a new story, rather than having him go after Andy Barclay for the fourth time. It deserves some kudos for trying to be creative with the concept, at the very least.
The film was directed by Ronny Yu, who would go on to direct Freddy vs Jason in 2003. Despite the film still having a below-average score on Rotten Tomatoes, it is still credited with making the series fresh, even if it was different than the original.
Child’s Play (2019)- 64%
People were livid when they heard Orion Pictures was remaking Child’s Play. Don Mancini and Brad Dourif weren't involved with the remake, which brought a high-tech Chucky into the fold. The film was distributed by United Artists Releasing since they own the rights to the first movie, but they were forced to change several things to make it different than Mancini’s series.
Instead of a Good Guy doll, Chucky is a Buddi doll: a new high-tech doll made by the Kaslan Corporation. The film featured Mark Hamill as the voice of Chucky, which likely attracted some fans. Despite receiving doubts by long-time horror buffs, Child’s Play turned out to be surprisingly good.
Child’s Play (1988)- 67%
For most long-running slasher franchises, the first film in the series is often the best-rated, but that isn’t the case with Child’s Play. The original film from 1988 is actually in the third spot on Rotten Tomatoes, and only a few percentage points above this year’s remake.
The first Child’s Play is among the best and most iconic slashers of the 1980s, with Don Mancini introducing a story about a serial killer who transfers his soul into a Good Guys doll. We all know the shtick, and it's one of the most common tropes in horror, but this classic certainly did it very well.
Curse Of Chucky- 76%
Nine years after Seed of Chucky was released, the series received a soft reboot in 2013. The film returned to the franchise's horror roots rather than combining horror and comedy. Chucky still had his dark one-liners, but the majority of the film was straight horror. This movie proved that, when he wants to, Chucky still has what it takes to terrify audiences.
The film was seen as a remake up until the final scene of the movie, when Chucky wipes off his makeup to reveal his scars from the previous films. While the film didn’t get a theatrical release like previous movies, Curse of Chucky could be considered a return to form.
Cult Of Chucky- 77%
The most recent film in Don Mancini’s Child’s Play series, Cult of Chucky, is the best-rated Child’s Play movie on Rotten Tomatoes. The film received mostly positive reviews upon its release, with horror buffs praising Don Mancini for his ingenious story that ties back to the original film. Alex Vincent returns as an adult Andy Barclay who has the original Chucky head locked up at his house.
The story also heavily revolves around the character Nica Pierce (played by Fiona Dourif) who was framed for murder after Chucky slaughtered her family in Curse of Chucky. In the end, Cult of Chucky was a fresh take on the series and opened the door for something the series will hopefully continue with Mancini’s upcoming Chucky TV show.