Seed Of Chucky

We all know that in any successful horror franchises the villains never actually die. It's been 16 years since Chucky quite literally sliced his way onto the silver screen. Seed Of Chucky is the fifth installment in the popular Child's Play series that introduced audiences to a pop culture antihero and a horror icon.

For the uninitiated, Chucky was brought to life in the late Eighties, the brainchild of Don Mancini, screenwriter of all five movies, who makes his directorial debut with Seed Of Chucky. The continuing saga this time finds the demonic doll and his homicidal honey Tiffany on a wild ride through Hollywood, where production has started on a movie detailing the lethal exploits of the gruesome twosome.

Seed introduces Glen (voiced by The Lord Of The Rings star Billy Boyd), the shy orphan doll offspring, who was conceived at the end a previous sequel, Ronny Yu's Bride Of Chucky. Glen heads to Hollywood in search of his bloodthirsty parents and inadvertently brings them back from the dead. Much to Glen's horror, they proceed to conduct a ravenous rampage of destruction.

Glen has no concept of his parent's murderous tendencies and dreams of tranquil surroundings, while Chucky is horrified to learn that his son doesn't want to follow in his murdering footsteps. Twisted Tiffany, wife and mother, seems only concerned that their movie will star her favourite actress, Jennifer Tilly (playing herself).

Chucky is very much a collective team effort, as Brad Dourif once again returns as the voice of the devilish doll. His gruff, distinctive voice is perfect for Chucky's scary wisecracking antics. Tilly has a lot of fun with her persona in the film-within-a-film, playing a high maintenance diva from hell. As the voice of Tiffany, she is both threatening and apologetic, as she feels bad about all the killings, but will act without remorse towards anyone who mistreats her favourite acting idol.

Seed Of Chucky injects a fresh vein of dark humour into the writing and, set in Hollywood, targets the likes of Britney Spears, Julia Roberts and Martha Stewart to name but a few. At times, the script is outrageous, specifically with a few sight gags and the way that it taps into the family dynamics. As a father, Chucky faces the same trials and tribulations as his audience, albeit with buckets of blood.

Speaking of horrific moments, Seed is gushing with them and gore hounds will love the decapitations, disemboweling, slashing and hacking by the Ken and Barbie version of Bonnie and Clyde.

Mancini knows his horror and his visual style is distinctive. His choice of camera angles owes a lot to the influences of Dario Argento and Brian De Palma through the way in which the camera tracks its protagonist and is very operatic. The set design and colours are bold and rich and well shot by cinematographer Vernon Layton, who learnt his craft working on commercials for visionary helmer Ridley Scott.

I must admit to never following, or seeing the original movies in the series, with the exception of Bride, which, mainly due to its success, led to the release of Seed. I think the style and dark comedy will draw in a new audience and please diehard Chucky fans as well.

Good pacing and an alternative look at family values through the eyes of a maniacal family, that happens to be two-feet tall, makes fun, but forgettable, viewing.