Chucky gets Tilly

BRIDE OF CHUCKY (1998)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Bride of Chucky" is another one of those guilty pleasures - you know, a movie that you're ashamed for having liked because everyone else hates it. This 1998 sequel is campy, dumb, unscary, but always teeming with a tongue-in-cheek attitude that is refreshing to watch back in the days of late 1990's "Scream"-like homogenized horror movies.

This time, Chucky (voiced by the ever-reliable Brad Dourif) is assembled out of broken doll parts by his girlfriend Meg (the big-breasted Jennifer Tilly). She reads a book called "Voodoo for Dummies" and presto, Chucky is back with several scars running through his once cute Good Guys Doll appearance. No matter, he's back in business and kills Meg and then transfers her spirit into a female doll named Tiffany! Why? I wish I knew, but this isn't the kind of movie that thrives on logic.

The plot has to do with two teenagers in love who run away to Niagara Falls to get married for two reasons - to escape the girl's domineering father (John Ritter), the Chief of Police of a small town; and because her beau is about to collect a reward at a New Jersey cemetery (!) by bringing two dolls courtesy of Meg. Guess who the two dolls are? Oh, and guess who the girl is? A younger Katherine Heigl, back when she was willing to take a role that did not advance the state of dumb teenage girls in movies (oh, how I'd like to kick her for her comments post-"Knocked Up").

"Bride of Chucky" is certainly original and miles ahead of the last two Chucky fests, which helped destroy the horror genre before "Scream" came along. This is due partly to series creator and writer Don Mancini, who brings a level of wit and satire to the proceedings. The dialogue is chock full of references to "Natural Born Killers," Martha Stewart, "Boogie Nights," "Bride of Frankenstein," and several infamous horror icons.

The performances are crude but always riotous, including scene-stealing Jennifer Tilly and her whiny voice that carries the day, and a Marilyn Manson look alike that is hilariously played by Alexis Arquette. Brad Dourif's high-pitched laugh and various asides redeem what could have been schlocky junk. The teenagers are throwaway roles that could have been slipped in by any number of anonymous teenage actors from the "Dawson's Creek" variety.

"Bride of Chucky" is campy, outrageous fun that keeps moving at a fast clip (thanks to solid direction by Ronny Yu) and was part of the string of postmodernist takes on horror movies. It's not real horror but it will do as a worthy follow-up in the Chucky series.