Curse of Chucky

Heeeee’s back. Twenty-five years ago Chucky the doll serial killer burst on the scene in the movie “Child’s Play.” Now, 40 later he’s back on Blu-ray and DVD in the sixth film of the series, “Curse of Chucky.” The theme of the films is Chucky’s indestructibility. He keeps killing and getting killed, resurrected to ever more violent mayhem. The creator of the series, Don Mancini, who was a film student when the idea hit him, says his original concept was to “make a statement about the role of marketing in society.” Mancini’s commentary on the popularity of other violent film killers of the time such as Freddy Krueger and Jason wasn’t expected to be a hit. But the plot of a Good Guys doll becoming a serial killer after a voodoo ceremony took hold on culture. To date the franchise has earned an aggregate $250 million.

Moviegoers may laugh or scream at the improbability of a doll becoming animated to slash and stab with demonic abandon, but I question whether victims of violent crime would find it so funny.  There is simply something sick about a society in which killing is allegorized in any way, let alone a lifelike doll. We have ritualized murder in our time with video games, television shows, and gangsta rap and wonder why we suffer the consequences of Newtown, Aurora, and the Navy Yard. Oh, I forgot, it’s the guns. Yeah, right. How about IT’S THE MOVIES! I certainly don’t lay all the blame for a violent culture at the feet of Hollywood. After all they are giving “us” what we want, what sells. True to some extent, but would it be too much to ask for a little social and spiritual responsibility from the makers of our movies? At least whoever chose the title of the sixth installment of this series got it right. Chucky is a curse.