It’s challenging to find a figure with the durability and capacity to address enduring sociological issues as Chucky in long-running horror franchises.
The small redheaded doll has appeared in a variety of genres, from psychological thrillers to campy bloodfests to dark comedies, all of which centre around the vague idea of a doll that is animated by a wicked spirit. Chucky is innocent and adorable, which allows him to enter private family homes where other monsters would not, giving him an edge of surprise that he repeatedly uses. The eight full-length films from the franchise, together with two short films, are included in the list below, listed in the order in which they were released. In addition to these movies, Chucky has served as the inspiration for comic novels, video games, and a TV series that will premiere in the fall of 2021.
The 2019 movie is a remake, not a sequel carrying on the previous three decades of the franchise, therefore it may be watched as a standalone without caring about the rest of the chronology. Since there are no prequels yet, it is recommended to watch the movies in the sequence of their release.
Bride of Chucky (1998)
Bride of Chucky is where the series really takes a turn for the hilarious. It was already very saturated with camp. The Andy Barclay character finally gets a break after ten years. Instead, this episode centres on Chucky’s relationship with a doll that Tiffany Valentine, his former lover and accomplice, animated (Jennifer Tilly). The fourth movie in the series, Bride of Chucky, plays more like a parody of the prior three in terms of commercial success. This humorous scene, which occurs somewhat in the midst of the franchise, gives the violence a more fun feel.
Child’s Play (1988)
In the opening scene of the original Child’s Play (1988) movie, a serial killer and voodoo practitioner (Brad Dourif) transfers his soul into a doll after narrowly escaping death from a police officer’s bullet wound to the chest. He is able to continue carrying out the murders he would have carried out in his original body while he is inside the doll, where he infiltrates the life of a little child named Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent). This Tom Holland-directed movie had a very strong box office performance. In fact, it was so effective that it gained a cult following, which helped the evil doll gain enough momentum to start a long-running franchise.
Child’s Play 2 (1990)
The second movie follows the first chronologically, and in the Child’s Play universe, the same amount of time passed between releases. Child’s Play 2, which picks up two years after the events of the first movie, finds Andy in foster care because his mother was forced into an institution following the events of the first movie’s battle with Chucky. Chucky is brought back to life by an odd electrical breakdown, allowing him to resume his old mission of harassing and pursuing Andy. Child’s Play 2 addresses anxiety surrounding childhood as well as the ways that adults and those in positions of power are reduced to a childlike understanding of the mechanical functions around them, from the dolls that are shipped from a warehouse to the electrical spark that can bring a dead serial killer back to life. This is similar to how later instalments of the Child’s Play franchise addressed anxiety surrounding childhood.
Child’s Play 3 (1991)
Andy simply can’t seem to get any luck. The youngster, now sixteen and being portrayed by Justin Whalin, is prepared to kill Chucky this time. The Good Guys factory is trying to re-mold its toys after all the bad press the business received from the first two movies, but the melting wax contains a trickle of Chucky’s blood, which is enough to make the new doll come to life. This is the final movie in the series to have the name Child’s Play, and it was directed by Jack Bender. From this point on, Chucky is the identifiable thread running through the titles of the movies.
Child’s Play (2019)
Convenience can also be a monster. Chucky reacts to a rising dread of machine domination in this relaunch. The Chucky franchise faced a studio reset that ignored the previous continuity after three decades of the same canon (and the paranormal elements of the original franchise). This signifies that it stands alone and has no connection to the preceding movies. The film opens in a Chinese factory where a worker is forced to endure appalling working conditions while making Buddi dolls, artificial intelligence toys that can utilise the internet to operate all of the different smart technology in a consumer’s house. He designs Chucky to lack all of the standard safety mechanisms before killing himself, which results in Chucky’s typical violent immorality. The 2019 film Child’s Play confirms that the Chucky, who has now terrorised audiences for thirty years, is flexible in his ability to capture historically specific fears, including not only those associated with autonomous inanimate objects but also those associated with those that we have given life to through quick technological advancement.
Chucky Invades (2013)
Four brief clips were made available as teasers before Curse of Chucky was released on DVD. The segments, collectively known as Chucky Invades, feature Chucky invading four distinct horror movies: Psycho, The Purge, Mama, and Drag Me to Hell. These brief vignettes show how dedicated the franchise is to the ridiculousness of the genre. Chucky may be seen for the subversive, generically undefinable character who has come to be loved and reviled in perhaps equal measure when projected directly onto the far more serious footage of the movies he invades.
Chucky’s Vacation Slides (2005)
A year after it debuted in theatres, Seed of Chucky was released on DVD and Blu-ray, and those who did so received a bonus feature: the short film Chucky’s Vacation Slides. In it, Tiffany sees there are corpses behind Chucky, Tiffany, and Glen as they are browsing at pictures of their family trip. She thought Chucky had stopped killing people after the last movie’s climax, so when she learns otherwise, she decides to leave him and take Glen with her. Chucky waits until the pizza delivery man, his next victim, comes while keeping an eye on the pictures.
Cult of Chucky (2017)
In the previous film, the doll was inexplicably mailed to its original owner, Andy Barclay, who then fatally shot him. Four years later, Andy is still in possession of the head. However, Andy decided that simply killing Chucky wasn’t enough and has since tortured the head that was deciphered, causing it to become more and more grotesque. Of course, nothing seems to be able to stop Chucky, and when he gets at the mental institution, Nica, a survivor from the previous family, is being persuaded that she was the one who truly carried out the killings and that Chucky was merely a reflection of her subconscious. The subsequent showdown, which includes appearances by the majority of the original ensemble, is tumultuous yet nostalgic.
Curse of Chucky (2013)
Director and writer Don Mancini makes a comedic-slasher foray before returning to horror with Curse of Chucky. This plot is more simpler and more in line with the original 1988 version, which is where it all began. Chucky inexplicably arrives in the mail for an unaware family, and once inside, he starts his slasher routine by killing each member of the family one at a time. There are intriguing similarities between Chucky being delivered to a family’s doorstep and this being the first Child’s Play movie to be released directly to video, eschewing theatre promotion. Even in this more subdued fashion, the movie still has a tendency to be self-referential.
Seed of Chucky (2004)
Seed of Chucky, the follow-up to Bride of Chucky, is exactly what it sounds like—grotesquely—and possibly most famous for the dolls’ use of a turkey baster to fertilise a human lady with Chucky’s sperm. Even though it’s less successful commercially, the movie keeps Bride’s emphasis on humour and parody. Glen, the son of Tiffany and Chucky, sets out to discover more about the parents he never knew in the opening scene of Seed of Chucky. This slasher-comedy served as Don Mancini’s directorial debut. Don Mancini authored every film in the series except from the last, 2019 reboot. It’s noteworthy that it was the final Chucky movie to be screened in theatres.
What’s Next?
Chucky (2021)
You might still feel the need for a new Chucky instalment even after watching all of these installations. You’re fortunate in that instance. On October 12, 2021 at 10 p.m. ET, Syfy and the USA Network will debut the TV series Chucky. Many of the recognisable cast members, including Dourif and Jennifer Tilly, are expected to return for this new programme, which will give viewers another opportunity to peek inside the extraordinarily bizarre mind of writer and creator Dan Mancini. Additionally, it will provide viewers a chance to return to the frightening timeline created in the earlier films after the film reboot.
