Rating: 4/5
Hooptober 3.0 | 4/31 | Franchise 4/7
In Bride of Chucky, Tiffany doll gave birth before dying in a graveyard. Now, we take its perspective and see wrapping paper torn aside to reveal a blonde girl and her parents. The girl’s smile quickly drops as disgust takes over at the unusual creature before her. Both parents are unsure of the gift’s origin, but the girl throws it into her toy chest.
Later that night, still from the toy’s perspective, we emerge from the toy chest and grab the knife protruding from the birthday cake — an insane way to store a knife. The toy stabs the father in the chest. It rushes up the stairs to the mother showering. Before the toy can stab her, she screams and falls out of the shower, hitting her head. The toy chuckles as blood pours from the woman’s head, confirming the kill. We get a brief glimpse in the mirror of our toy — it is no longer a baby, but a six-year-old child. Before they can stab the little girl, they pee their pants.
The toy wakes up just before a performance as a ventriloquist dummy for Psychs. Psychs named the toy Shitface. They are performing at the International Ventriloquists Competition in Glastonbury, England. Six years ago, Psychs found the doll in a graveyard in the US. Though Shitface has murderous dreams, they are peaceful. They know they’re an orphan and, judging by the imprint on their wrist, that they are Japanese.
A news reporter gives a breakdown of the new horror movie, Chucky Goes Psycho, based on the urban legend of Chucky and Tiffany, two dolls possessed by serial killers. The filmmakers used the remains of the original dolls to make the props. Backstage, actress Jennifer Tilly sneaks a candy bar before going to costume. There, she complains about the shit roles she gets. When she hears Redman is directing a Biblical epic and is looking for a Virgin Mary, she jumps at the opportunity.
Shitface watches this news report from their cage. When they see the Made in Japan imprint on Chucky’s wrist, they realize these are their parents. They concoct a plan to escape their cage and find their parents. Using the Heart of Damballa their parents left behind, Shitface reawakens them. The film follows the family as they plot a way to take Jennifer Tilly and Redman’s bodies and impregnate Jennifer Tilly to give Shitface a body. That is if they can stop killing for, like, one second.
The film has a candy-colored brightness, like Hollywood seen through rose-colored glasses. It gives the film a kid’s movie aesthetic while heightening the grotesque murders.
The film explores gender dysphoria as Shitface was born without genitals. Tiffany believes Shitface is their daughter and calls them Glenda, and Chuck believes Shitface is their son, so he calls them Glen. The naming is a nod to the Ed Wood movie Glen or Glenda. As for Shitface, they feel like both and cannot decide.
It also uses murdering as a stand-in for queerness — something they believe they should be ashamed of, yet isn’t something they control and not something they should “hide in the closet.” This idea is less developed than the Glen or Glenda aspect, which they handle quite well.
To signal the camp vibe they’re going for, John Waters shows up as reporter Pete Peters. He gets a few hilarious scenes.
Like the previous movie, this goes for black comedy over all-out horror. The earlier film had some difficulty signaling that transition, but it allows this movie to go all out as a queer cult joyride.
I had a great time watching this! I’m curious to see where the next two direct-to-video movies take the story.