Tags:
Film: Child’s Play 3
Year: 1991
Director: Jack Bender
Writer: Don Mancini
Starring: Justin Whalin, Perrey Reeves and Jeremy Sylvers
Review:
In this third installment of the franchise, our favorite killer doll Chucky is back once again. The factory where he was killed has been reopened and we see that his body is still there. It is melted down to become the first one off the assembly line. The official synopsis for this film is Chucky returns for revenge against Andy, the young boy who defeated him and who has since become a teenager.
This film is interesting in that it comes out a year after the previous one, but they actually jump ahead a few years. The company that makes the Good Guy Dolls has stopped, but decided to start up again as the dolls at one point were their bestsellers and can make them money again. The first one off the line is given to the head of the company, Sullivan (Peter Haskell). He is murdered that night as Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif) tries to find Andy who has continued to elude him.
What I really like about this film is the setting. Andy (Justin Whalin) has bounced from foster home to foster home. He is now going to Kent Military Academy. The colonel in charge, Cochrane (Dakin Matthews), gives him a talking to on his first day. He tries to settle in with his roommate, Whitehurst (Dean Jacobson), while dealing with the student in charge Shelton (Travis Fine). He also takes a liking to a cute soldier, De Silva (Perrey Reeves).
This becomes even more of a nightmare though when Chucky mails himself to the academy. There is a turn of events when a younger boy, Tyler (Jeremy Sylvers), opens up the package. Chucky realizes that since he has a new body, he can reveal his secret to him and try to take over this body instead. Writer Don Mancini has written every film in this series, so I will give him credit that he still didn’t violate continuity here. I actually don’t mind this angle here either. Something else I really like about this film too is the war games that the students are supposed to play. It is set up with Chucky to be a blood bath, but the film really dropped the ball. That did disappoint me. There is also the plot hole of how could Chucky package himself up and mail the box to this school?
I will say about this film though, it does well in the editing and pacing. I thought the film moves along at a good pace while building tension. Going to the carnival for the climax at the end isn’t bad either. Chucky’s death is a little odd, but it does have a soft spot for me. That might be because I remember seeing this when it first came to VHS and watching it quite a bit.
The acting of the film wasn’t really all that bad either. I don’t think Whalin was better than Alex Vincent at the role, but he does well at playing a trouble teenager. Reeves was cute in this role and I thought she was solid as the rough girl who isn’t putting up with anyone’s shit. Sylvers was fine as the naïve child. Fine is great as the jerk. I thought he fit this role really well. Jacobson was also good. Shout out to Dourif, as he once again kills it with his voice acting. I will say that this film does go a little overboard with the cheesy lines for Chucky but I can’t hold that against Dourif. The rest of the cast round out the film for what they needed as well.
Effects for the film are good for the most part, but I do have some issues. I will say that the blood and death scenes are really well done. They seem to be practical and most of Chucky’s movements were done practically again. I was on board for this. Now this one did use computers for the mouth of doll and I thought it came off as a little weird. I couldn’t stop staring at it.
The soundtrack of the film doesn’t really stand out, but I think that the selections for the film were fine. They definitely fit the scenes for what they needed and help to build tension. There was a point where it tries to go for a jump scare and that was the only point that I was disappointed in what they were trying to do.
Now with that said, I do feel that this film isn’t as good as the previous two, but it is still enjoyable. I like where they took the story and the setting of the film. It is good that Mancini who wrote the previous two continued to write this one so there is no continuity that is being ruined. I do feel that this film did miss the mark on some concepts that were introduced though that could have really made this film better. The acting I felt was good across the board. I did have issues with some of Chucky’s lines getting a little too cheesy. The effects were good except for what they did with Chucky’s mouth. The soundtrack doesn’t stand out, but it does fit for what they were going for. Overall I’d say that this film is above average and not a bad one to watch if you like the series.
My Rating: 7 out of 10