Dolls are scary, right? If you steel yourself to see The Conjuring next month, you'll find that James Wan certainly thinks so, and of course it's also the main thrust of the Child's Play series, which (before its lurch into John Waters-approved lunacy with Bride and Seed Of Chucky) was at least supposed to be scary. Now with nowhere further to go down the comedy route, the series has gone back to that original vibe with **Curse Of Chucky{
The set-up this time has Chucky wreaking havoc within a dysfunctional family that has come together for a funeral (on a dark and stormy night in a gothic pile, as is traditional). Wheelchair-bound heroine Nica is forced to contend with her manipulative sister, adulterous brother-in-law and tiny niece, who arrive with their smokin' hot nanny. There's also a "meddling priest" in the mix. That won't end well.
Brad Dourif, of course, is back as the voice of the Chuckster: actually "Lakeshore Strangler" Charles Lee Ray, you'll recall, whose nifty voodoo abilities meant he was able to transfer his soul into a lump of plastic before Chris Sarandon shot him. He's joined this time by his daughter Fiona Dourif as the beleaguered Nica, along with Danielle Bisutti, Brennan Elliot and Chantalle Quesnelle, and there's a cameo for Candace Smith. Franchise honcho Don Mancini, who has written every instalment to date, and who also directed Seed, penned this one too and is behind the camera again.
Always intended to bypass theatres completely, Curse Of Chucky hits VOD in the States on September 24, with a DVD/Blu-ray on October 8. We don't have a UK release date yet, but it'll make its debut on these shores at London's Film4 FrightFest on August 22. So hey, it'll see a cinema screen after all.