MALIGNANT takes control of you

MILD SPOILERS THROUGHOUT 

RATED- Unrated
RUN TIME- 84 Mins
WRITER(S)- Brian Avenet-Bradley
STARRING- Gary Cairns, Brad Dourif, and Nick Nicotera 
DIRECTOR- Brain Avenet-Bradley



Synopsis taken from IMDb
After the death of his wife, a grieving man becomes the victim of a horrific experiment to cure his addiction.




After Allex (Gary Cairns)  loses his wife tragically, he turns to the bottle and makes a bad habit of it. Being an alcoholic is affecting every aspect of his life, including getting him on his boss' bad side. It seems like a lot of people around Allex have noticed his addiction, yet no one has stepped in to help. That is until The Man (Brad Dourif), tries to help Allex in unconventional ways, that only makes things worse for wear.

CURSE OF CHUCKY brings the series back with a vengeance

RATED- UNRATED

RUN TIME- 97 MINS

WRITER(S)- DON MANCINI

STARRING- DANIELLE BISUTTI, BRAD DOURIF, AND ALEX VINCENT

DIRECTOR- DON MANCINI

Synopsis taken from IMDb
After her mother's mysterious death, Nica begins to suspect that the talking, red-haired doll her visiting niece has been playing with may be the key to recent bloodshed and chaos. 

It's been 9 years since this beloved series has been touched, and although there was some hate going around when the first trailer for "Curse of Chucky" was released, I remained optimistic. I had a strong feeling since I first heard of this film that it was going to be good, and I was right. It's great to hear such good things being said about this movie now that some have seen it! I think it's a breath of relief for most of us, because so many horror movies have a way of not living up to their hype, or simply aren't deserving of it.

Don Mancini not only wrote, but also directed this latest installment. Although Mancini takes credit for writing all of the films in the "Child's Play" franchise, this one takes things back to the way they were originally, before the series took a slight stumble down hill. While I'll be the first to admit that I liked "Seed of Chucky", I'll also admit that it wasn't a strong point for the franchise to end on. So, not only is it good to see Chucky return in all his former glory, but also to see the series go back to its scary roots and be taken more seriously than the last two sequels.

"Curse of Chucky" goes back to the opening of the original film, with Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) and, rewrites the timeline and history up until after "Child's Play 3". This not only provides us with a fresh story, but also ties in very well with the original three films, forgetting Bride and Seed ever happened. Nothing drastic is changed, just enough to allow things to go in a more idealistic way. I personally think that this is the film that this series needed, and brings it back to life with a great crimson vibrance! 

Brad Dourif takes up his mantel again as the voice of our favorite psychotic, murderous doll. Dourif also gets some screen time, playing a younger version of himself as Charles Lee Ray. These new scenes of him tie in directly with the new storyline for this motion picture. Brad's own daughter, Fiona Dourif is our lead lady in this film, Nica. A paraplegic who is tormented by the deadly, red-headed foe that is Chucky! As everyone around her starts to die, starting with her mother, all fingers eventually point to one suspect. 

Chucky still has his sense of personality, which is laced with some dark humor and dialogue but, it never goes too far on the comedy side. As a matter of fact, truth be told, the first 45 minutes are downright scary! For the first time in a long time, since probably the second film, I was actually creeped out! The malevolent feeling is back in the blood of this series, and I love it. I really like how Chucky is very in-your-face, and hands on. It really does cast him in his old light, the way we've wanted to see him for a while.

Not to mention the look of Chucky himself, which I've liked since I first saw the trailer. Despite some negative buzz going around about his new look, it holds up well. Going beyond that, the animatronics are very well done. I actually heard some people say that he "looks too real" based on what they saw in the trailers. And the thing is, they said it in a negative way. How that makes sense, I'll never know. 

If you ask me, the more real it looks, the better it is. People are inadvertently complimenting the hell out of this movie based on their own ignorance. Most of those who've gotten to see it already have changed their tune now.

The kills are top-notch! There's electrocution, as well as the good old trusty axe and knife used as heinous weapons in some creative, gory kills. And it's very suspenseful. The thrill of wondering who is going to die next and how, is back and what's not to love about that? There's also two cameos that I thoroughly enjoyed, but won't mention for the sake of spoiling it for others.

I'm not sure if the ending is intended for a sequel, or if it simply capped off the series and gave it the ending it deserved. That being said, I'd love to see another installment of this quality. And seeing as they're going strong, I'd highly suggest another sequel than an unnecessary reboot or remake. I'm just glad there's still a series out there that I follow that's not going the remake route, much like the "Scream" franchise is doing. So, I hope to see promise in the future, and I remain positive.  

I think in the end, I'd rank this as the third best film in the series of 6. Right after the original and Bride. I actually bounce back and forth between those two. It really depends on my mood, because they're extreme opposites due to the terror:humor ratio. "Curse of Chucky" rests right beside them, and above the others. 

And don't forget, stay tuned after the credits... 

Last Kind Words (2012)

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 87 MINS
WRITER(S)- KEVIN BARKER AND AMY RIHERD MILLER
STARRING- BRAD DOURIF, SPENCER DANIELS AND ALEXIA FAST
DIRECTOR- KEVIN BARKER



Synopsis taken from IMDb
17-year-old Eli has just moved with his family deep into the backwoods of Kentucky to work on the isolated farm of a local recluse. Inexplicably drawn into the strange forest that lies beyond the farm, Eli encounters the beautiful, sweet and mysterious Amanda, seemingly the perfect girl. But the discovery of decaying bodies hanging from the tree, he realizes that the forest- and Amanda- are harboring some very dark secrets. Suddenly, Eli is living in waking nightmare where the lines between life and death are scrawled in blood, and there's no escaping the terror from beyond the grave.




I'm a sucker for anything that Brad Dourif's in. What can I say? I'm a fan. I always talk about how underrated of an actor he is. People don't realize the potential and talent he has and that finds him often under utilized. What I like about him as an actor is that he's always genuine, and no matter what role he plays he's always empathetic and believable, because he comes off as a real guy and not an actor. When I found out he was in this, I knew I would be watching.

To my surprise, I didn't end up liking this movie too much I mean, it was well done and pretty decently acted. It severely lacks in scares though and that's what killed it for me. I only got a little creeped out once and it was very briefly when Eli angered Amanda by jumping the fence. Aside from that, this movie was actually sad, and seemed more like a drama than anything.

The story was nice, good ghost story, but it comes off like "Mama" in the sense that the point of the film is to make you sympathize with the characters, and leaves you nothing to be scared with. The first half hour of this film is good, and really builds up some suspense that it never delivers on.

I can 100% relate to Eli, granted that my growing up wasn't as bad. I know what it's like to eat a feces sandwich of life everyday due to being in a violent environment.  And the choice to somehow stay sane in your own head when all you want to do is break down, is a familiar feeling. Eli didn't become a troubled youth like most who deal with abusive households, he didn't become a criminal because daddy was a jerk. He took his verbal and physical beatings like a man and kept his chin up, which I relate to and respect. That is of course, until he makes a wimpy decision at the end that ultimately resolves in him giving up.

This particular film is a character film, the scares aren't as high up on the priority list as getting to know the character's is. I've got no problem with that as long as the movie is scary, which it's not. Instead I ended up finding myself feeling bad for most of the people in this movie, which I didn't care for.

Funny that the leads name is Eli, because his relationship with the ghost of Amanda is very similar to that of Eli and Oskar from the film adaptation of the groundbreaking vampire book,"Let the Right one In". I didn't really care for Eli and Amanda's relationship, because it was too soft and I couldn't help but wish that there was more to it other than sorrow.

There's a twist towards the end that I saw coming a mile away, and if you watched this film and didn't know it was coming, you must not have been paying attention. It's practically in big red blinking letters throughout the film. The fact that the twist was lackluster dropped the film down another peg...

What started off as a promising ghost story with real characters, turned into a slow, boring film that ultimately has no payoff. You just watch it and it's over. The characters are pushed on the viewers too hard, so you lose patience and stop caring. I guess the film ends differently than you'd expect, and it's all around negative and depressing movie. Funny thing is, I got too tired to finish this film the night I started it, but I couldn't wait to see how it concluded. I never would have guessed that my final opinion on this film would be so low.

This one is on Netflix instant now, and it may be for some of you, but it's not for me. It really is a shame that such a back story and character story was used on an uneventful ghost story. Oh well, I guess. Brad Dourif is still the man though.