[Blu-Ray Review] ‘Cult Of Chucky’ Unrated: Available On Blu-ray, DVD & Digital October 3, 2017 From Universal

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Cult Of Chucky (Unrated) [Blu-Ray]

Director: Don Mancini

Cast: Fiona Dourif, Michael Therriault, Alex Vincent

Release Date: October 3, 2017

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

Synopsis:

Confined to an asylum for the criminally insane for the past four years, Nica (Fiona Dourif) is wrongly convinced that she, not Chucky, murdered her entire family. But when her psychiatrist introduces a new group therapy tool — a “Good Guy” doll — a string of grisly deaths plague the asylum and Nica starts to wonder if maybe she isn’t crazy after all. Andy (Alex Vincent), Chucky’s now-grown-up nemesis from the original Child’s Play, races to Nica’s aid. But to save her he’ll have to get past Tiffany (Oscar®-nominee Jennifer Tilly), Chucky’s long-ago bride, who will do anything, no matter how deadly or depraved, to help her beloved devil doll.

The seventh entry in the fan-favorite horror franchise; ‘Cult of Chucky’ picks up following the events that concluded the previous film, with Nica (Fiona Dourif) now confined to a mental institute and thoroughly convinced that she murdered her own family and merely imagined Chucky as a way to cope with her terrible acts. Meanwhile, Chucky’s oldest nemesis Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) is now fully dedicated to stopping the doll’s ongoing murder spree while torturing the mutilated head which happens to be the one remaining (and living) part of the deadly doll after it was mailed to Andy (which occurred in the post-credit scene only featured in the Unrated cut of ‘Curse of Chucky’). Once another Chucky doll kicks off a murder spree at the institution where Nica is currently residing, Andy quickly realizes there is something far more sinister and complex occurring than he could have imagined and heads out to help regardless of the cost, while Chucky’s ever faithful companion (Tilly) simultaneously makes moves to help her psychotic lover on the other side of the fight.

Once again written and directed by series creator Don Mancini who does a tremendous job at the helm of ‘Cult of Chucky’ which marks the third consecutive film where he’s taken upon both duties, again guiding along his own screenplay with passion and ease while once again clearly proving he still has plenty of smart and unexpected ways to impress the fans. The film also owes a notable share of credit to the solid cast that includes numerous new and returning individuals to the franchise, including Brad Dourif naturally serving as the voice of Chucky, along with Alex Vincent reprising his role of Andy Barclay from the original ‘Child’s Play’ in addition to Fiona Dourif (Curse of Chucky), Michael Therriault (TV’s Reign), Adam Hurtig (Curse of Chucky), Elisabeth Rosen (Warcraft: The Beginning) and Jennifer Tilly (Bride of Chucky) along with more, and nearly all offering quite capable performances at the very least in each of their respective roles.

‘Cult of Chucky’ is another creepy, gory and dementedly hilarious installment in the long-running ‘Child’s Play’ franchise and not only is this seventh entry a great deal of fun, it’s likely the best one yet and manages once again to provide plenty of unique and original ways to move the story along. Just as with the previous few entries, ‘Cult of Chucky’ yet again manages to offer something surprising and fresh while also making certain to have fans laughing, cringing and just downright delighting in all of the wonderful on-screen insanity. Series creator Don Mancini once again returns as writer and director (as well as executive producer) and does a magnificent job guiding this fantastic new entry along and his capable work at the helm is only complimented a great deal more by a powerful cast that includes numerous new and returning individuals to the franchise including the long-awaited return of Alex Vincent reprising his role of the series’ original child protagonist Andy Barclay and in far more than a mere cameo role this time around. Fans of the franchise will definitely want to make a point of checking out ‘Cult of Chucky’ as soon as you have the opportunity to do so (the film will see a Netflix release the same date as Blu-ray, DVD and Digital and will also make its cable debut on AMC later in October for those unable to unwilling to purchase or rent a copy of the Unrated Blu-ray, although I would highly recommend the Blu-ray option personally). Not only is it another fantastic installment in the Child’s Play series, it still manages to offer up an original concept and plenty of surprises along with the blood soaked and hilariously twisted fun that fans love; it’s definitely not to be missed. I also want to make a point of strongly encouraging fellow fans of the franchise to make a point of watching the Unrated version if at all possible as similar to the crucial scene only featured in the unrated edition of the previous installment which set up Andy’s tremendously welcome return to the series, the added content included in the Unrated cut of ‘Cult of Chucky’ is a similarly important and incredibly fun addition that fans definitely won’t want to miss out on.

Overall, ‘Cult of Chucky’ is yet another outstanding addition to the franchise and quite possibly the best entry yet. It delivers all of the bloody mayhem and sadistic hilarity that fellow fans have come to love and still manages to offer something unique and unexpected for fans in the process which is no small feat, especially for the seventh film in a long-running horror franchise. ‘Cult of Chucky’ easily earns my highest recommendation for all fans of the series. The Chucky (or Child’s Play) franchise never seems to run out of clever ideas and fun new ways to excel the larger scope within and each subsequent installment manages to make itself very much its own film in addition to exceeding expectations around every turn. To put it as simply as possible, anyone that enjoys this series even half as much as me won’t want to dream of missing out on ‘Cult of Chucky’ (and I would strongly urge watching the Unrated cut if in any way possible) which is without question one of the best installments yet.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Cult of Chucky’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio on both the Unrated and R-Rated versions of the film. The video presentation looks pretty fantastic as a whole and delivers a sharp, detailed and smooth presentation from start to finish, with no notable faults to be uncovered along the way. It holds up impressively even during the numerous darkly lit and fast moving sequences and never causes anything occurring on screen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a solid high definition video presentation that should have little trouble satisfying fans of the franchise.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on both versions of the film. This lossless multichannel soundtrack provides a clean, crisp and quite aggressive audio presentation throughout. It consistently takes advantage of all five available channels in order to send bumps and other creepy auditory effects, along with crowd chatter, hospital activity and plenty more throughout the various speakers when appropriate, and always making certain that any dialogue that might be occurring simultaneously remains clean and fully audible at all times. Overall, this is a wonderful 5.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack that compliments the film splendidly and shouldn’t disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Cult of Chucky’ includes a few enjoyable extras that fans of the franchise should enjoy. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Don Mancini and Head Puppeteer Tony Gardner’, in addition to a few ‘Deleted Scenes’ from the movie with optional commentary by Don Mancini (running approximately 6 minutes in length combined). We are also treated to a few behind the scenes Feauturettes that include behind the scenes footage, interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus more. The included Featurettes are: ‘Inside the Insanity of Cult of Chucky’ (running approximately 7 minutes), ‘Good Guy Gone Bad: The Incarnations of Chucky’ (approximately 5 minutes) and ‘The Dollhouse’ (8 minutes).