Bride of Chucky (1998)

In the realm of completely unnecessary though unexpectedly entertaining horror sequels, Bride of Chucky stands out as one of the more enjoyable attempts to reinvigorate a heretofore thankfully dead franchise. Stylishly lensed by director Ronny Yu and cinematographer Peter Pau (the formidable duo who brought us the similarly lavish Hong Kong fantasy adventure The Bride with White Hair (1993)), the further exploits of everyone's favorite homicidal benefits immensely from both a fun, upbeat pace and a talented cast who are obviously in on the joke. Sharp-eyed horror fans are in for a treat as film references to countless genre classics abound, while less demanding casual viewers are sure to be entertained by the sheer goofiness of the whole thing. As a social satire, Bride of Chucky plays its targets fast and loose, offering knowing nods to the likes of The Jerry Springer Show, and possessing an irreverently infective devil-may-care attitude towards the all to comfortable conventions that the horror genre has fallen victim to in recent years. In stark contrast to the original Child's Play, Bride of Chucky isn't scary, and doesn't even purport to be. What viewers are treated to instead is a series of highly creative (and highly improbable) death scenes, a lovingly crafted homage to such varied horror films as The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Hellraiser (1987), and a pointed skewering of media overkill. Viewers who approach Bride of Chucky as a straight horror flick in the vain of the previous efforts of the series are sure to be disappointed, but those who are able to place it in an entirely different universe and read it in a new context will surely find this re-imagining of the concept a fun and worthy effort. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide