Bride of Chucky

Bride of Chucky

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ronny Yu
Produced by David Kirschner
Grace Gilroy
Don Mancini
Written by Don Mancini
Based on Characters by
Don Mancini
David Kirschner (Chucky & Peachey dolls)
Starring Jennifer Tilly
Brad Dourif
Katherine Heigl
Nick Stabile
John Ritter
Music by Graeme Revell
Cinematography Peter Pau
Edited by Randy Bricker
David Wu
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
 October 16, 1998
Running time
 89 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $25 million
Box office $50.6 million

Bride of Chucky is a 1998 American comedy horror film distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the fourth installment of the Chucky franchise. The film is written by Don Mancini and directed by Ronny Yu. It stars Jennifer Tilly (who plays and voices the titular character Tiffany) and Brad Dourif (who voices Chucky), as well as John Ritter, Katherine Heigl, and Nick Stabile.

Unlike the first three Child's Play films, this film takes a more humorous turn and often into self-referential parody. It does not continue on with the concept of a child victim in possession of the doll, thus the absence of Child's Play in the title. From this movie and onward, Chucky became the official brand name of the film series. Bride of Chucky follows the events of Child's Play 3 in continuity, but not tonally or in a continuation of those films' overall plot (where Chucky pursued the character Andy Barclay in the first and second films and later Tyler in the third film). This film also marks Chucky's new permanent look, a more frightening appearance in which his face is covered in stitches, staples, and scars following his fate in Child's Play 3. Although made seven years after, the setting is one month following the events depicted in Child's Play 3.

Plot

One month after Chucky's demise in the last film, Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly), a former girlfriend and accomplice of serial killer Charles Lee Ray, acquires Chucky's remains from a police compound. Believing that Ray's soul still inhabits the doll, Tiffany crudely stitches it back together and reenacts the voodoo ritual which instilled Ray inside the doll ten years ago.

The incantations seemingly fail to produce results, but Chucky unexpectedly springs to life and smothers Tiffany's admirer Damien, as she excitedly watches. Later, Tiffany and Chucky have an argument because Tiffany believed Ray wanted to marry her. Upon learning he had no intention of doing so, Tiffany locks Chucky in a playpen, and gives him another doll in a wedding dress to make fun of him. Chucky escapes the play pen and kills Tiffany by electrocuting her. He then uses the same voodoo ritual to transfer her soul into the bride doll so she could feel what he went through as a living doll. Still intent on becoming human again, Chucky plans to retrieve the magical amulet that was buried with Ray's body, and use the bodies of Tiffany's neighbor Jesse (Nick Stabile) and his girlfriend Jade (Katherine Heigl) as hosts for their souls.

Tiffany sends Jesse a message asking him to transport the two dolls to New Jersey in exchange for money. Jesse convinces Jade to go with him. As they pack up, Jade's overprotective uncle Warren plants a bag of marijuana in Jesse's van to frame him. Chucky and Tiffany set up a car airbag to launch nails into his face, then hide the body. The oblivious Jesse and Jade return and begin their trip.

Outside a convenience store, they are pulled over by Officer Norton, who searches Jesse's car and finds the marijuana. As he goes back to his patrol car to report it, Chucky causes the car to explode, and Jesse and Jade flee the scene. They stop at a wedding chapel/hotel and get married. Meanwhile, Warren, still alive, tries to escape but is stabbed and killed by Chucky. While Jesse and Jade are at the hotel, a con artist couple steal Jesse's money. As the criminals have sex in their room, Tiffany throws a bottle at the mirrored ceiling. The falling shards of glass kill the two con-artists. Amazed, Chucky proposes to Tiffany.

The next morning, a maid finds the corpses of the couple, and Jesse and Jade drive away with their best friend David, who knew about their plan to elope. David reveals that Jesse and Jade are the main suspects for all of the deaths. He finds Warren's body in the car and confront them. The dolls come alive and hold them hostage with guns, ordering them to keep driving. David alerts a police officer and gets hit by a passing truck. Horrified, Jesse and Jade drive away with the dolls.

Chucky and Tiffany reveal their plan, and direct Jesse to steal a mobile home to use as a new vehicle to evade the police. While Tiffany prepares Jade for the body-switch, Jade convinces her to turn on Chucky. A fight between Tiffany and Chucky ensues. Jade locks Tiffany into an oven, while Jesse pushes Chucky out the window. Chucky shoots at Jesse, causing the mobile home to run off the road and into a ditch. Chucky forces Jade at gunpoint to take him to his grave site, while Jesse takes Tiffany and follows them. Chucky orders Jade to open the casket and take the amulet, which she does. Jesse then appears with Tiffany and they trade hostages, but Chucky throws a knife into Jesse's back, and ties up the couple for the ritual.

Before Chucky begins the incantation, Tiffany distracts Chucky, then unsuccessfully attempts to kill him. After a fight, Tiffany is stabbed in the heart and collapses. Jesse knocks Chucky into his grave, then grab Chucky's gun and shoot him to death. A private investigator (Lawrence Dane) arrives and witnesses the scene. The investigator contacts the police, telling them that Chucky is responsible for the murders and sends Jesse and Jade on their way.

As the investigator inspects Tiffany, she gives birth to a baby doll before finally dying. The baby doll then attacks the investigator and the scene cuts to black.

Cast

Soundtrack

  1. Rob Zombie - "Living Dead Girl"
  2. The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - "Boogie King"
  3. White Zombie - "Thunder Kiss '65"
  4. Coal Chamber - "Blisters"
  5. Monster Magnet - "See You in Hell"
  6. Judas Priest - "Blood Stained"
  7. Type O Negative - "Love You to Death"
  8. Slayer - "Human Disease"
  9. Stabbing Westward - "So Wrong"
  10. Powerman 5000 - "The Son of X-51"
  11. Bruce Dickinson - "Trumpets of Jericho"[1]
  12. Static-X - "Bled for Days"
  13. Motörhead - "Love for Sale"
  14. Kidneythieves - "Crazy"
  15. Graeme Revell - "We Belong Dead"

Box office and reception

Bride of Chucky was released in North America on October 16, 1998 on 2,467 movie screens. It managed to pull in $11,830,855 on its opening weekend, with a total North American gross of $32,383,850 and another $18,288,000 internationally. Its worldwide gross was $50,671,850, making it the most financially successful Chucky film to date, beating the original Child's Play by 6 million dollars.

Critical reception was mixed. The film received overall better reviews than its 1991 predecessor, with praise directed towards the roles of the antagonists by Jennifer Tilly and Brad Dourif, as well as its dark humor and self-referential parody. However, the film disappointed some fans of the series, due to the sudden change in tone from full fledged horror to horror-comedy and no appearance or mentioning of the character Andy Barclay from the previous three films with only a reference in a newspaper article in the beginning of the movie. The film currently holds a 44% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 34 reviews.

Awards

List of awards and nominations
Award Category Winner/Nominee Result
Saturn Award Best Horror Film Bride of Chucky Nominated
Best Actress Jennifer Tilly Nominated
Best Writer Don Mancini Nominated
Fantafestival Best Actress Jennifer Tilly Won
Best Special Effects Bride of Chucky Won
Gérardmer Film Festival Special Jury Prize Ronny Yu Won
MTV Movie Awards Best Villain Chucky Nominated

Sequels

The film was followed by a sequel in 2004, Seed of Chucky and another sequel in 2013, Curse of Chucky.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0225503/

External links

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