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Seed of Chucky

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Tom Neven

Movie Review

Chucky and his bride, Tiffany, are dolls. Not just any dolls, mind you. They’re possessed by the spirits of two serial killers. For them, killing is just a “hobby,” as Chucky puts it.

In this, the fifth installment in the Chucky series, Chucky and Tiffany have a long-lost child in England, but he apparently has not inherited their murderous bent. He’s a gentle doll who literally will not harm a fly. Horrific nightmares disturb his sleep, though, so he’s determined to find his “parents” to learn more about his past.

He finds them, “dead” so to speak, wired-up animatronic puppets playing themselves in a Hollywood version of an urban legend about murderous dolls. Using magic, the child brings them back to life, and they waste no time in murdering a makeup artist. Chucky is happy to return to his deadly ways, but star-struck Tiffany, thrilled that Jennifer Tilly (playing herself as a has-been actress) is staring in the movie, determines to go straight. In the meantime, their androgynous doll-child is starting to become sexually confused. Chucky wants him to be a boy and calls him Glen; Tiffany wants her to be a girl and calls her Glenda.

Chucky, disappointed that Glen doesn’t share his taste for blood and guts, tries to introduce him to the ways of mass murder. Tiffany joins a 12-step program for serial killers. Jennifer unwittingly becomes host to the warped family.

Positive Elements

None.

Spiritual Elements

A magical amulet and incantation bring the Chucky and Tiffany dolls back to life. Once “alive” again, they are intent on transferring the spirits of their inner mass murderers into Jennifer and her boyfriend.

Jennifer hopes to be cast as the Virgin Mary in a biblical epic to be directed by rapper Redman. A movie mogul says, “Mel Gibson isn’t the only guy in Hollywood that God’s been talking to.” Glen believes he sees a guardian angel in one of his dreams. Tiffany balks at having to trust in a “higher power” in her 12-step recovery program. A woman says that God is punishing her.

Sexual Content

Vile stuff. Chucky must masturbate so that the dolls can artificially inseminate Jennifer. Tiffany “gets him started” by exposing her anatomically correct breasts. Chucky then flips through porno mags (no explicit nudity seen). A paparazzo outside the house sees his explicit motions in silhouette through a bedroom shade. Chucky then holds up a cup of sperm. We later see them impregnating Jennifer using a turkey baster. During the procedure, Chucky makes lewd motions towards Jennifer’s clothed breasts.

We see the outline of a woman taking a shower and, later, full breast nudity. Jennifer is fond of very low-cut dresses and blouses, and shows a lot of cleavage throughout the movie. (This leads to several crude breast jokes.) She offers to have sex with a movie producer to get the role of the Virgin Mary, apparently not getting the irony of prostituting herself to play a virgin. An actress and a chauffeur begin to make out in the front seat of a limo. Jennifer and Redman start to kiss and fondle on a couch. When Jennifer’s assistant upbraids her for sleeping with the director, Jennifer says, “I’ll never get cast in sexpot roles if they know I haven’t [had sex] in a year.”

The camera lingers on Glen/Glenda’s sexless naked crotch. The Tiffany doll says she’s being “fingered.” A man complains that he’s suffering sexual impotence.

Violent Content

Chucky and Tiffany live up to their reputations as mass murderers. A man’s head is severed with piano wire; blood spurts from his neck as his head flies up into the air and then bounces several times on the floor. Later, a woman thinking it is a movie prop holds it up and even kisses it.

There are many scenes of Chucky plunging a large knife into victims’ chests or slashing their throats, complete with spurting blood. Chucky says that killing “helps me relax.” A man has sulfuric acid poured on his head, and we see his face disintegrate. Chucky and Glen then have their photo taken with the grotesque figure.

A man is disemboweled, and we see his steaming guts splatter onto the floor. A woman is set afire, and her flaming body plummets over a balcony. We later see her blackened, smoldering corpse on the floor below. Blood pools around a dead woman’s head.

Chucky kills Tiffany by burying a hatchet in her head. Glen takes the hatchet and buries it in Chucky’s chest and then uses it to cut off his limbs and head. Both dolls bleed profusely.

Chucky, driving a stolen Hummer, runs the car of “Britney Spears” (played by a look-alike) off the road; he laughs, “Oops, I did it again.” A man is bitten on the finger by a rat. Redman is hit over the head with a metal sculpture and knocked out.

Crude or Profane Language

Thirty-plus uses of the f-word, at least twice in a sexual context. “S—,” “a–hole” and “d—” are used at least a dozen times each. God’s and Jesus’ names are abused throughout. A man makes an obscene gesture.

Drug and Alcohol Content

The dolls toast with stolen champagne. Later, they try to incapacitate two people by spiking a bottle of wine with an entire container of sleeping pills. Two people drink wine over a meal.

Other Negative Elements

A movie prop room features statues and masks of grotesque monsters. The Glen/Glenda doll often urinates in its pants. Later, a real boy does the same thing, with urine puddling around his feet. Fat jokes and anorexia jokes punctuate the dialogue.

Conclusion

As were its predecessors, Seed of Chucky is wretched, repellent and repugnant. Yet amazingly, the four previous Chucky outings have earned more than $180 million at the box office. Chucky is the subject of a rap song, “Fire Ina Hole,” by Redman and Method Man, and he has numerous fan sites on the Internet. He was the guest commentator for CBS’ NFL pregame show on Halloween. He’s the “complimentary” nickname of Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden. And at the showing I attended, a woman sat soaking it all in with a boy who wasn’t much older than five.

Writer/director and creator of Chucky, Don Mancini, is proud of his handiwork. He told The Washington Post, “What is it about dolls? It’s a primal thing, I think, like the scary-clown phenomenon. A distortion of the human form. They look human, but they’re not. Dolls are also supposed to be symbols of innocence, childhood and happiness, and when you twist that and make it scary, it’s just wrong. And very effective.” He added, “Metaphorically, [Seed of Chucky] is about family discord and domestic abuse. If you were to do this story with real people it would be disturbing and very sad.”

It’s disturbing and very sad as is. Its only values are murder and hatred with a dash of sexual confusion thrown in. I couldn’t help note the irony of the standard disclaimer than ran with the credits: “No animals were harmed in the making of this movie.” The filmmakers responsible for prolonging Chucky’s lurid legacy are apparently more concerned about their movie’s impact on the health and wellbeing of the beasts of the field than with all the human souls it will unquestionably harm.

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Tom Neven