Susan Granger’s review of “Seed of Chucky” (Rogue Pictures/Focus Features)
Remember the two-foot-tall, serial-killing doll? Chucky first waddled onto the big screen in “Child’s Play” (1998) in which a toy doll’s spirit was overtaken by the evil, anger-filled soul of a psychopath. A cult villain, he’s now in his fifth incarnation and Don Mancini, creator of the Chucky franchise and screenwriter on the previous movies, has taken over as director. In the last installment, Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif) took a bride, Tiffany (voiced by Jennifer Tilly), and then they killed each other. But now there’s their orphaned doll, gentle Glen (voiced by “Lord of the Rings” star Billy Boyd), who uses a magic amulet to bring his parents back from the dead in order to make a movie. Immediately, they start to argue about whether anatomically incorrect Glen is a Glen or a Glenda, referring to the gender-blending “Ed Wood.” In addition to voicing Tiffany, Jennifer Tilly plays a has-been Oscar-winner named Jennifer Tilly who whines about Julia Roberts’ career since she’s been reduced to starring in this mess – which is all about the dolls’ plans to impregnate her with yucky Chucky’s sperm – and sleeping with a director, played by the hip-hop star Redman, who’s producing a Biblical epic about the Virgin Mary in which Tilly covets the plum part. “You have no self-esteem,” Tilly’s assistant (Hannah Spearritt) observes. “No wonder your career is in trouble.” Ain’t it the truth! There’s nothing scary about all of this – except the fact that it got made in the first place – and most of the humor falls thuddingly flat. A car carrying a Britney Spears look-alike goes off a cliff, and Santa Claus is burned in a graveyard. That’s funny? On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, I grudgingly give “Seed of Chucky” a gross 1. It’s so bad it shouldn’t even be rated.
