#32 - Child's Play 3 (1991)

Child's Play 3 (1991)

(dir. Jack Bender)

Eight years after the events of the first two films, Andy, now 16, finally leaves foster care and enrolls in a military school. Meanwhile, the toy company who made the Good Guy dolls decides to bring them back for the '90s, and reopens the factory where Chucky was defeated last time. Despite the literally hundreds of existing dolls and doll parts that are still laying around, they decide to melt down the disgusting hunk of blood and plastic that used to be Chucky and use that to make a new doll instead. Once resurrected, Chucky sets out to hunt down Andy and claim his body... again.

I have heard that this is the worst film in the series, so I went in with zero expectations, and actually thought it was alright. It doesn't live up to the first two at all, but it also is not nearly as bad as the worst films in some other major horror franchises (I'm looking at you, Halloween... and Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street and Hellraiser and, well, basically all of them). The first two acts are dull and pretty lousy, but much like the second film it picks up substantially towards the end. The climax is set in a carnival haunted house ride, and I thought it was fun - Chucky performing a voodoo ritual on the top of a mountain of (fake) skulls was pretty great. Note that I am a sucker for bright colored lights, though.

Overall this is just a mediocre film and I wouldn't recommend it unless you really want to watch all of the Child's Play films, but you could also do a whole lot worse. If this is the worst one in the series, then I'm really looking forward to the rest.