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Ranking the Child’s Play Franchise

The Chucky franchise has delivered both thrills and laughs for decades now. This is a very entertaining horror comedy series that managed to stay relevant throughout these years thanks to many changes in direction, tone and approach. It’s an uneven, silly series, but one that for the most part was quite solid. Here is my ranking of all Child’s Play movies.

8. Child’s Play 3

Chucky is fun and memorable in Child’s Play 3, but everything else surrounding him was terrible in what is the absolute nadir of this franchise. The storytelling was beyond messy with the first act being ridiculous and the third act being rather odd. None of it worked and it was all awfully lazy. It doesn’t usually lands on the bottom of other people’s lists, but it deserves it, so it gets it on my list.

7. Seed of Chucky

A very inferior sequel to a much better movie that will get a strong showing later on this list, Seed of Chucky has a very funny family drama at its center with the two dolls being quite amusing, but the kid doll character did not work, and the horror elements were ridiculous and not effective at all. This flick tried to deal with too much story, making for a chaotic and silly sequel.

6. Child’s Play 2

Child’s Play 2 is a mediocre sequel that tarnished everything that was great about the original – its atmosphere, mythology and restraint. Here, there is no mystery and everything is so obvious and convenient in both its slasher scenes and in its main storyline. Brad Dourif’s vocal performance was terrific and Chucky was great here, but otherwise this movie is overrated and it doesn’t deserve a higher placement on this list.

5. Cult of Chucky

Cult of Chucky is most definitely the strangest of the Chucky movies, which says a lot. Though the slasher elements were sidelined here, the movie is memorable in its odd atmosphere and a unique emphasis on psychological horror instead of slasher comedy. The first half is slow and uneventful, but the insane and unhinged second half was a lot of fun. It’s a movie that did not quite work, but I still appreciated it for its different take on this franchise.

4. Curse of Chucky

Released in 2013, Curse of Chucky represented a fine return to form for the franchise. After a couple of overly comedic sequels, this one went back to the horror roots of the series where it delivered in spades. Chucky here is  both menacing and quite funny. The other characters are underutilized, but the minimalist plot is mostly well crafted and the ending is terrific. Given its premise, it could have been even stronger, but overall this entry was a solid one.

3. Child’s Play (2019)

One of the most underrated movies in this franchise is the most recent reboot released in 2019. It took a modern spin on the formula through its high-tech concept, which mostly worked. The 80s family movie approach was also lovely here. Yes, Chucky was sidelined here unfortunately and the third act was a mess, but for the most part this was a very entertaining, competent flick that gave reboots a good name.

2. Bride of Chucky

The Child’s Play franchise has always had a silly premise, so taking it in a decidedly comedic, campy territory worked in this instance. The result was Bride of Chucky a stupid, but highly entertaining movie that is particularly memorable for Jennifer Tilly’s Tiffany character and many sequences of ridiculous, glorious mayhem. This was the height of the comedic tone in this franchise and it’s a shame that they never fully revisited it.

1. Child’s Play

The obvious number one pick has to be the original 1988 movie. While it has its flaws for sure, it is undeniably the most accomplished of the bunch due to a solid narrative and a great emphasis on slower pace. It builds up tension before exploding in the final act. It’s such a well made movie that is particularly memorable for its iconic mythological opening and the best use of Chucky yet. It will be very hard to top this first movie for decades to come.