Bride of Chucky

Bride of Chucky
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ronny Yu
Produced by	David Kirschner Grace Gilroy
Written by	Don Mancini
Based on	Characters by Don Mancini
Starring	Jennifer Tilly Brad Dourif Katherine Heigl Nick Stabile John Ritter
Music by	Graeme Revell
Cinematography	Peter Pau
Edited by	Randy Bricker David Wu
Production company	David Kirschner Productions[1]
Distributed by	Universal Pictures[1]
Release date	October 16, 1998 (1998-10-16)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25 million[2]
Box office	$50.7 million[2]

Bride of Chucky is a 1998 American comedy slasher film, the fourth installment of the Child's Play franchise and sequel to 1991's Child's Play 3. The film is written by Don Mancini and directed by Ronny Yu, and stars Jennifer Tilly (who plays and voices the title character Tiffany) and Brad Dourif (who voices Chucky), as well as John Ritter, Katherine Heigl and Nick Stabile.^[3]

Unlike the first three Child's Play films, this film takes a markedly 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 entry and onward, Chucky became the official brand name of the film. Instead, the film focuses entirely on the doll characters as antiheroes. It was followed by Seed of Chucky in 2004.

It is the last film in the series to be released by Universal Pictures until Curse of Chucky.

Plot

One month after the events of Child's Play 3, Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly), a former girlfriend and accomplice of serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif), acquires Chucky's remains from a police compound after bribing and murdering a police officer who removed the doll's remains from an evidence locker. Believing that Ray's soul still inhabits the doll, Tiffany crudely stitches Chucky back together and reenacts the voodoo ritual which had instilled Ray's soul inside the doll ten years ago but Chucky doesn’t seem to be budging, disappointing Tiffany.

When Damien arrives in Tiffany’s van, Chucky unexpectedly comes alive and smothers Tiffany's goth admirer Damien (Robert Arquette) to death with a pillow as Tiffany excitedly watches. Hoping to pick up where they left off, Tiffany presents Chucky with a diamond ring which he left for her the night he was killed. Upon realizing that Tiffany believed the gift to be an engagement ring, Chucky explains that he stole it from one of his wealthier victims when he was a notorious human serial killer. Chucky and Tiffany have an argument because Tiffany thought Chucky wished to marry her. Upon learning he had no intention of doing so, a heartbroken and enraged Tiffany punishes Chucky by locking him in a playpen. Later, she gives him a talking doll in a wedding dress to make fun of him. Chucky plans on killing Tiffany and transporting her soul into a the bride doll to understand what being a doll feels like. He escapes the playpen and intervenes Tiffany’s bath and attempts to use a knife but Tiffany kicks him. Chucky instead pushes the television set into the bathtub, electrocuting her. Chucky reveals his plan to Tiffany that they must retrieve a magical amulet that was buried with Ray's body in order to transfer their souls into the bodies of Tiffany's neighbor Jesse (Nick Stabile) and his girlfriend Jade (Katherine Heigl). Tiffany sends Jesse a message asking him to take the two dolls to Hackensack, New Jersey, in exchange for money. Eager to elope with Jade, Jesse accepts the offer. Jesse proposes to Jade and convinces her to go with him, but as they pack up, Jade's strict and overprotective uncle police chief Warren (John Ritter) plants a bag of marijuana in Jesse's van to frame him. To stop him sabotaging their plan, Chucky and Tiffany set up a car airbag to launch nails into his face and hide his body (referencing the Lead Cenobite with "Why does that look so familiar?"). 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, killing Norton in the process. Witnessing the explosion, Jesse and Jade flee the scene. They both begin to suspect that one of them might have caused the incident and begin to trust each other less, much to the amusement of Chucky and Tiffany. Despite their trust issues, Jesse and Jade stop at a wedding chapel/hotel and get married. Meanwhile, as Chucky and Tiffany are talking, they discover that Warren is still alive. Warren tries to escape, but he is killed by Chucky. While Jesse and Jade are at the hotel, a con artist couple steals Jesse's money. As the criminals make love in their room, Tiffany throws a bottle at the mirrored ceiling, killing the two con artists with falling shards of glass. Astonished, Chucky instantly proposes to Tiffany.

The next morning, a hotel maid finds the corpses of the couple, and Jesse and Jade drive away with their friend and confidante David (Gordon Michael Woolvett), who knew about their plan to elope and about the recent murders. David reveals that Jesse and Jade are the main suspects for all of the deaths and concludes that they are both wrong. Upon realizing their misunderstanding, Jesse and Jade resolve their differences. Just as Jesse and Jade realize that they are innocent, David finds Warren's body in the trunk and confronts them. The dolls then come alive and hold them hostage with guns, ordering them to keep driving. David alerts a police officer and is instantly killed by an oncoming truck. Horrified, Jesse and Jade drive away with the dolls.

Chucky and Tiffany reveal their plan to Jesse and Jade. They then direct Jesse to steal a mobile home to use as a new vehicle to evade the police. Tiffany prepares Jade for the body-switch, and cooks Swedish meatballs and cookies for Chucky, who comments to Jesse that he loves his married life. Through the driving mirror, Jesse notices a large stack of dishes by the sink and gets an idea; remembering what Tiffany said to him about when a woman cooks for a man he should do the dishes in gratitude. He comments to Chucky about Tiffany's lack of tidiness. Jade continues the ruse by commenting to Tiffany that Chucky is being ungrateful for her hard work and should help her.

Soon 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.

As Chucky begins the incantation, Tiffany kisses him as a distraction and stabs him in the back with his own knife, saying the two "belong dead". A shovel fight ensues, and Tiffany collapses after being stabbed in the heart. Jesse then knocks Chucky into his own grave with a shovel. A private investigator (Lawrence Dane) arrives and witnesses the scene. Jade grabs the investigator's gun and shoots Chucky several times in the chest, killing him. After contacting the police, the investigator tells Jesse and Jade that Chucky is responsible for the murders and sends the couple on their way home.

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

Release

Bride of Chucky was released in North America on October 16, 1998, and grossed $11.8 million on its opening weekend. It has a total North American gross of $32.4 million and another $18.3 million internationally. It is the most grossed film of the Chucky franchise and the second most financially successful Chucky film in the US.^[4]

To promote the film, Chucky made an appearance on an episode of WCW Monday Nitro. He interrupted a promo between Gene Okerlund and Rick Steiner and, in addition to promoting the film, mentioned that he was hoping for Scott Steiner to win an upcoming match between the brothers.

Reception

The film holds a 46% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 35 reviews and an average rating of 5.4/10.^[5] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.^[6]

Awards

Sequels

The film was followed by Seed of Chucky in 2004, Curse of Chucky in 2013 and Cult of Chucky in 2017.

In popular culture

Freddy Krueger's glove from A Nightmare on Elm Street, Jason Voorhees's mask from Friday the 13th, Michael Myers's mask from Halloween and Leatherface's chainsaw from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre appear in this movie during the thunderstorm. John Ritter's character's death is similar to the look of Pinhead (Hellraiser) and Chucky remarks, "Now why does this look so familiar?"

References

External links

• Bride of Chucky on IMDb
• Bride of Chucky at AllMovie
• Bride of Chucky at Box Office Mojo
• Bride of Chucky at Rotten Tomatoes

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