For this list, I will be ranking the installments of the Chucky franchise. I will be ranking the films in the Chucky canon as well as the television series. At the time of writing this, the third season is coming up this week so it will be exempt from this ranking. I will be counting the television series as a whole body of working rather than splitting it up by season or episode. So without further ado, let's get into it, Dollface!
Honorable Mention: Child's Play (2019)
It didn't feel right putting this in the ranking with the rest of the group considering it is its own separate thing. That being said, it didn't feel right to exclude it either. So I settled for an honorable mention where I will share my thoughts on this project. I actually really love this film. I think it was a phenomenal retelling of a great story that alters the right things to bring it to modern day. The Good Guy doll is more technological than spiritually cursed which I think makes it scarier since it seems more realistic. I also adore this cast, I mean Aubrey Plaza, Brian Tyree Henry, and Mark Hamill? Come on. I also love a lot of the subtle additions here. I watched every entry in this franchise this year (2023) so it wasn't something I was obsessed with prior to this film's debut. From what I can tell it seems to get a lot of unnecessary hate. My little rant over, let's get into our actual list!
8. Child's Play 3 (1991)
Quite frankly, I find this to be the most forgettable entry in the franchise. I think the premise is intriguing, but I was getting tired of seeing Chucky hunting Andy down. The coolest thing about this film are the various set pieces, but I think it's safe to say, I was much more excited to see where this film franchise would go after this one. I don't have much to say here, it's one of those movies I kind of forgot about as soon as it was over, which says a lot.
7. Curse of Chucky (2013)
I understand and respect what this film was trying to do, but for me, it just falls flat. It simultaneously seems to honor, yet ignore all the films that came before. It also takes around 45 minutes for Chucky to fully reveal himself, which is a weird choice for the 6th installment in this franchise. We know who Chucky is and what he does, so why treat us like we don't? This was probably better for new fans of the franchise, but then again, you have cameos from Jennifer Tilly and Alex Vincent which just raise far more questions than this film cares to answer.
6. Seed of Chucky (2004)
This film has parts I love and parts I hate. When this film is about this doll trio being a family, it is truly at its best. It offers something we normally don't see from our horror villains, them trying to live their life with their families. Navigating life as a spouse and a parent, and all that comes with that. If this would have focused more on the three of them trying to be a family and Glen/Glenda's identity, it had the potential to be the best of the franchise. The meta Hollywood stuff with Jennifer Tilly being an in universe character, separate from Tiffany Valentine is where this one starts to lose me about. Although I think it leads to some fun stuff in the television series later, here it is just a little too mind-boggling.
5. Bride of Chucky (1998)
What would Martha Stewart do? This was quite the welcome readjustment for the franchise after a disappointing third installment. It introduces the phenomenal Jennifer Tilly to the franchise, who is my favorite part of this story. I was tired of seeing the cat and mouse game between Andy and Chucky, it just wasn't as captivating anymore. Giving Chucky a love interest was inspired.
4. Child's Play 2 (1990)
An incredibly solid follow up to the original with exciting new settings and characters. The finale is probably the best of the franchise. It is also still exciting to see Andy separated from those who protected him in the first film, which makes Chucky all the more menacing.
3. Child's Play (1988)
2. Cult of Chucky (2017)
Easily my favorite entry of the franchise, the right amount of horror, camp, and comedy. I LOVED this one, and I think bringing all the different eras together was amazing. Seeing the different ways characters from different generations interact is fascinating. It also introduces more new rules to the franchise like how Chucky is able to transfer himself into other dolls, but also humans with Nica. Fiona Dourif was great in the last one, but here she's out of this world. I love seeing Andy and Kyle take things into their own hands. I just love this movie and this is the gold standard for films in this franchise.
1. Chucky (2021-Present)
Oh boy! Such a welcome refreshing take on this franchise. I believe everything that I loved from Cult of Chucky is present here. The new characters are the best and most well-defined of the series. I was excited for this series to continue to see the continuation of the stories of Andy, Kyle, Tiffany/Jennifer, Nica, and other legacy characters, but I became just as invested in the new characters. I do believe season 2 lost it's way a little, especially with the newer characters, but it still had exciting moments and episodes. There was a lot of great stuff here. I am eager for the third season which starts in a couple days, at the time of writing this of course. There is so much to love here!
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