Canon-Strike XI: Never Ending Horror

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 42 - New Nightmare
Three years after the death of Freddy, the franchise was over but the studio was still keen to cash in on it. Craven took the opportunity to sell them on the idea of a seventh movie that would utilise the concept he'd pushed for several times before. Originally planned to be titled A Nightmare on Elm Street 7: Ascension, the film became New Nightmare and used Craven's original design for Freddy returning him to being a less comical character focused on real evil. Playing with the meta concept, Freddy stalks the real life actors of franchise having escaped the 'movie' world of the original six films. The film won itself some of the highest praise of the franchise but stumbled at the box office becoming the lowest grossing entry. Freddy wouldn't return until the already covered Freddy vs Jason that takes place in the original canon and marks the characters, and Englunds, final entry in its original form.




Freddy's Best Entry?

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 43 - A Nightmare on Elm Street
After several years of development the planned sequel to FvJ, which would have been Freddy vs Jason vs Ash, failed to enter production and with Englund's advancing age being a factor the decision was made to reboot the property. Michael Bay had been working through several properties in the genre and came around to this one next casting Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy. The film returned to the plot outline of the original film but altered the depiction so that Freddy had molested the children and lacked his humourous characteristics. The film scored relatively weak reviews with Haley being the most liked aspect though the film went on to become the highest grossing in the franchise. Due to the concerns over the critical response no sequel moved forward and Wes Cravens Estate has since regained the rights to the franchise, no further movies emerging since then.




A New Nightmare?

[Neon Ignition]

I like the spin that New Nightmare puts on the franchise, especially given how the meta angle wasn't a common one back at the time. Perhaps the biggest issue is that it does that element well but doesn't capture the scares.


For the reboot, the casting wasn't great with very CW network vibes in that regard with that same issue carrying over the music video editing too. I think the biggest issue was how they fumbled Freddy. Haley's acting was fine in the role but the trouble with making Freddy an abuser is that it makes him irredeemably unlikeable, but without making him more scary either. The original angle of him being portrayed by the parents as a child killer with just the slightest hint of ambiguity over that worked best as it made both the scenario and Freddy feel a little bit grounded and the motivations justifiable. But with the reboot he's bad but then doubled down and doubled down and if the film, as it does, fails to make the teens likeable then the audience is left with nothing,

[Dogg Thang]

Let me catch up with all this later! I have thoughts and have wanted to reply since you got onto Elm Street but I’m struggling to find time. Struggling generally but that’s way less important than opinions on Elm Street.

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 44 - Child's Play
A widowed mother tries to cheer her only son up by gifting him a toy doll not knowing that the doll she has brought into her home has been possessed by the soul of a cruel criminal. With Charles 'Chucky' now being able to hide in his new form, he sets about killing those around him whilst working to possess the body of the young boy. The film went on to become a cult hit spawning a long run of content that continues successfully to this day.




Does this Offering Make You Wanna Play?

[wakka]

This film casts a long shadow but when I watched it (many years ago) I found it kind of underwhelming. There's not a lot of action, frankly, and it's just not really scary.

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 45 - Child's Play 2
The original doll is reassembled by the Play Pals Corporation in an attempt to prove that there were no faults with it to cause the deaths in the orignal film. This resurrects Chucky and he sets out tracking Andy down intending to finish what he started. The film embraces Chucky's presence more given the audience was now familiar with the character with fans somewhat mixed on which of the first two films is the better entry.




The Making of Chucky?

[QualityChimp]

Of all the murderous paedophiles, Freddy is my favourite. :/

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 46 - Child's Play 3
Released a mere nine months after the second film, this next entry jumps an entire eight years on with Andy much older and when Good Guys resumes production of their dolls a drop of Chucky's blood leads to a new possessed doll being created. Hunting Andy down at a military school, Chucky faces off against him once more leading to him being chopped to pieces. This entry is the lowest scored and Mancini's least favourite entry saying that all the best ideas went into the second film with this suffering due to the studio wanting it out in such a tight timeframe. The film was banned in the UK for a while after media stories that it had inspired the Bulger killing, despite the police ruling this out as a falsehood.




Child's Play Compared to the Prior Two?

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 47 - Bride of Chucky
Whilst CP3 was made just nine months after CP2 yet set 8 years later, Bride of Chucky was made a full seven years later and yet is set just one month after the events of the third movie. Chucky's girlfriend Tiffany gathers the remains of Chucky and casts a ritual to resurrect him once more having stitched the doll back together. Before long Chucky has transferred Tiffany's soul to a doll and the pair are hunting the couple next door to possess their bodies. The film took a sharp swing toward humour after Mancini was inspired by the arrival of Scream and felt the franchise would be best served by reinventing itself in the mould of what was popular rather than sticking with the same template as the films before it. Reviews were mixed but quickly fans took to the film and it's considered the best entry by many.




Were you Wedded to the Idea of this Sequel?

[Atticus]

I don't really remember them individually, having only seen them once, but I had a good time watching the Child's Play films. Defo better than I was expecting.

[Neon Ignition]

The third film is a weak one, pretty much for all the reasons Mancini raises himself. It probably would have been better just to phone in a copy/paste sequel so the main thing is that it at least attempted to take a swing with the time jump even if it doesn't last. Bride on the other hand works well because by embracing the humour it means the franchise embraces the real secret of the franchise - that it was never scary to begin with. With that out of the way they get to have a lot more fun with the concept.

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 48 - Seed of Chucky
Having given birth of Chucky's child at the end of the previous film, Tiffany and Chucky's child resurrects the pair. The film continues to play with the comedy meta angle with Tiffany and Chucky terrorising Hollywood and Jennifer Tilly playing a fictionalised version of herself in addition to the killer doll. The film arrived a standard three years later but was actually slowed down reaching screens because Universal rejected the increased elements relating to LGBT+. The film was a success but scored weaker reviews and would be the final canonical entry to release at cinemas.




An Offspring that lives up to its Name?

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 49 - Curse of Chucky
When the franchise next returned it was Direct to DVD but despite this Mancini remained at the helm and decided that it was time to recentre Chucky to bring back a sense of threat to the character. A disabled woman named Nica receives a Good Guys doll in the post and the next day finds her mother dead. More of her family arrive to offer support and Chucky begins to bump them off with it eventually revealed as to why she and her family have been selected by the doll as targets. The film was a big hit both in sales and with critics who praised the franchises return to its original form, re-opening the path to more installments.




Did it Break the Long Running Franchise Curse?

[Neon Ignition]

I think with these I agree with the general review consensus. Seed is a weak entry, it circles CP3 levels feeling fairly cheap and mis-focused. I had very low expectations of Curse given the series shift to non-theatrical scale release but it surprised and worked well as a reset of sorts reflecting how good the series has been on responding at the right time by redirecting itself to remain relevant.