Chucky returns with bride Tiffany and androgynous child Glen/Glenda in a modern sendup of old Hollywood. A little bit of gore, some John Waters, and a healthy dose of Jennifer Tilly keep this film fresh and original despite its obvious 80s slasher gimmick origins. Universal has put together an excellent package for this HD DVD release that should please Chucky fans young and old. HD DVD dead? Oh well….worth a pickup at your nearest firesale.
I’ll be honest, as a longtime horror movie fan, I’ve never spent much time with the Child’s Playseries. Though I’ve caught bits and pieces on cable over the years, I’m not wholly familiar with the series in it’s entirety. I had planned to sit through some of the previous installments before reviewing the latest entry, but it hasn’t happened yet (though I’d still plan to). So for all practical purposes, consider this review from a Chucky newbie.

What I do know is that the series has moved farther away from the 80s style thrasher like say, Friday the 13th into purely dark comedy/parody territory somewhere between Scream and Scary Movie. While there are a couple good gore bits (I mean who can’t smile over watching John Waters (yes the man himself) as a paparazzi who gets his face melted off?), but the horror elements take backstage to the comedy from the get-go.

Rather than focus on Chucky, discarded child Glen/Glenda (get the Ed Wood joke here?) takes center stage. He/she discovers a movie is being filmed about who must be his parents. He treks to Hollywood to discover and revive Chucky and Tiffany(voiced by Tilly) who have been fashioned animatronically for a film. Glen/Glenda is a ringer for Ziggy Stardust era Bowie and Jennifer Tilly plays herself who is staring in the film as Tiffany. Still with me? Comedy and torture ensues as the gruesome family torment Tilly as well as co-star Redman (as himself).

While there are some genuinely funny moments with the dolls, the real star of the show is Tilly herself. I must admit a new-found admiration for the actress who obviously parodies herself in the film with plenty of in-jokes about being too fat and having an odd sounding voice.

From what I’ve heard from fans, Seed of Chuckycomes short of the the brilliance of Bride of Chucky, but I can’t speak to that myself. What I found was a fairly enjoyable, often funny poke at Hollywood as well as the genre. Glen/Glenda was only moderately interesting to me and assuming the series continues, I hope to see less of him/her and more of the evil parents. And of course more Jennifer Tilly.

Video

I was thoroughly impressed with the 1080p/VC-1 transfer. The film has an extremely vibrant, almost cartoony look, which holds up extremely well on high definition. The film has a slight softness to it, but is very consistent overall. Blood is bright red, and blacks are solid. Hopefully Universal can continue this level of quality when it eventually moves to the Blu-ray format. Often Universal’s catalog titles are mediocre at best, but this isn’t one of them.

Audio

The Dolby TrueHD track is a welcome surprise. It’s about time Universal started using lossless quality on catalog releases. Again, hopefully this will carry over into Blu-ray material.

As for the track itself, it’s a real winner. The balance seemed perfect to me. While the film isn’t really sound-heavy per se and doesn’t rely heavily on the audio track, the sound was unquestionably immersive and nicely handled. Dialog and discrete sounds were crystal clear.

Extras

I’ve mentioned in previous reviews that I’m not generally extras conscious with releases. I’d much prefer a good video/audio presentation than a bunch of throwaway extra features. But I have to say, the commentary with director Don Mancini and Jennifer Tilly is hilarious due to the presence of Tilly and her continued contributions to the campyness of the film. Do yourself a favor and check it out. Also is a great bit with Jennifer Tilly on the Tonight Show. The rest of the extras I suppose will be welcomed by fans including behind the scenes, “Family Hell-iday Slideshow”, and some deleted scenes.

Overall

I figured I would enjoy this film going into it based on my tastes, and I was right. Seed of Chucky is a nice mixture of dark comedy/gore, and it often laughs a lot at itself. This presentation by Universal leaves little to be desired with great audio/video and lots of fun with star Jennifer Tilly. Even if your not a fan, it’s worth at least a rental.