Child's Play 3

Child's Play 3 is a 1991 American slasher film and the third installment in the Child's Play film series. The film is written by Don Mancini and directed by Jack Bender, with Brad Dourif returning as the voice of Chucky. Although released only nine months later, the story takes place eight years following the events of Child's Play 2 and one month before the events of Bride of Chucky (which was made seven years later). It was executive-produced by David Kirschner, who produced the first two Child's Play films.

Child's Play 3
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJack Bender
Produced byRobert Latham Brown
Written byDon Mancini
Based onCharacters
by Don Mancini
Starring
Music by
CinematographyJohn R. Leonetti
Edited by
  • Scott Wallace
  • Edward A. Warschilka Jr.
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures[1]
Release date
  • August 30, 1991 (1991-08-30)
Running time
90 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States[1]
LanguageEnglish
Box office$20.5 million

The film became notorious in the United Kingdom when it was suggested it might have inspired the real-life murders of British children James Bulger and Suzanne Capper,[2] suggestions rejected by officers investigating both cases.[3][4][5][6]

Plot

Eight years after Chucky's second demise, the Play Pals company has recovered from the bad publicity brought about by Chucky's murder spree and resumes manufacturing of the Good Guys dolls. The company restores the abandoned factory (where Chucky's mutilated body still remains) and starts releasing a new line of Good Guys dolls. However, the workers accidentally mix Chucky's blood into a vat of plastic. Since the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray still inhabits the remains, the mixture causes Chucky to be reborn. Chucky is unwittingly given to Play Pals' CEO Mr. Sullivan, whom he kills with a variety of toys. He then uses computer records to locate Andy.

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Andy Barclay, still troubled by his past encounters with Chucky, has been sent to Kent Military Academy after failing to cope in several foster homes. Colonel Cochrane, the school's commandant, begrudgingly enrolls Andy but advises him to forget his "fantasies" about the doll. Andy befriends cadets Harold Aubrey Whitehurst, Ronald Tyler, an 8-year-old cadet he met on his way to Kent, and Kristin DeSilva, for whom he develops romantic feelings. He also meets Brett C. Shelton, a lieutenant colonel who routinely bullies the cadets.

Shortly after Andy arrives, Tyler is asked to deliver a package to his room. Tyler realizes that the package contains a Good Guys doll and, excited, takes it to the cellar to open it, only to have Chucky burst free from the package, intending to possess his now teenaged nemesis. When Chucky sees that Andy is not there, he is furious that Tyler took the package. Remembering the rule from his late voodoo instructor John Bishop that he can possess the first person who learns his true nature and that he has a new body, Chucky tells Tyler his secret, and decides to make Tyler his new target. Just as Chucky is about to possess him, they are interrupted by Cochrane, who takes the doll away. Cochrane throws Chucky into a garbage truck, but Chucky escapes by luring the driver into the truck's compactor and crushing him. That night, Chucky attacks Andy and tells him his plans for taking over Tyler's body instead of Andy’s and tells Andy to stay out of his way. Before Andy can attack Chucky, Shelton comes in and takes the doll from him. Andy tries to get the doll back by sneaking into Shelton's room (where Chucky steals a dagger from a wooden wall mounted plaque containing blades), but Shelton catches him in the act. Upon realizing the doll has vanished, Shelton suspects it stolen and forces all the cadets to do exercises in the courtyard as punishment.

Andy unsuccessfully tries to warn Tyler about Chucky. At one point, Chucky lures Tyler into playing hide-and-seek in Cochrane's office, where he attempts to possess Tyler again. However, they are interrupted by DeSilva and Ivers, and, moments later, Cochrane himself. When the cadets leave, Cochrane is suddenly confronted by a knife-wielding Chucky. The resulting shock causes Cochrane to suffer a fatal heart attack. The next morning, Andy tries to convince Tyler that Chucky is evil, but Tyler refuses to believe him. Meanwhile, Chucky kills the camp barber Sergeant Botnick by slashing his throat with a razor after Botnick tries to shave Chucky's hair off.

Despite Cochrane's death, Sgt. Clark declares that the school's annual war games will proceed as planned, with Andy and Shelton on the same team. However, Chucky secretly replaces the blank paint bullets of the Red team with live ammunition. When the simulation begins, Chucky accosts Tyler. Finally realizing that Andy was telling the truth about Chucky, Tyler stabs Chucky with a pocket knife and flees to find Andy. Chucky then attacks Kristin and holds her hostage, attempting to lure the teams into fighting each other to save her. Chucky forces Andy to exchange Kristin for Tyler.

Suddenly, the Red team descends upon the area and obliviously opens fire with their live rounds, with Shelton being killed in the crossfire. Amidst the chaos, Tyler makes a quick getaway, but before giving chase, Chucky tosses a live grenade at the quarreling cadets. Recognizing the danger, Whitehurst (who had been too scared to say anything after discovering Chucky's existence) bravely leaps on top of the grenade and sacrifices himself to save the others. With no time to mourn his friend, Andy heads off in pursuit of Chucky, with Kristin close behind.

Eventually, the chase leads the group into a fake haunted house at a nearby carnival. Tyler tries to get a security guard to help him, but Chucky kills the guard offscreen and kidnaps Tyler. In the ensuing melee, Chucky shoots Kristin in the leg, leaving Andy to fight Chucky alone. Chucky also gets half his face cut off by a scythe. When Tyler is inadvertently knocked out, Chucky seizes the opportunity to possess him, but Andy intervenes, firing at him several times and landing two shots. Enraged, Chucky springs back and attempts to strangle Andy, but Andy uses Tyler's knife to cut off Chucky's hand, then hurls the killer doll onto a giant fan which ultimately destroys him. Afterwards, Andy is taken into custody by the police for questioning and Kristin is rushed to the hospital, leaving Tyler's fate unknown as the carnival shuts down.

Cast
Justin Whalin portrays a 16-year-old Andy Barclay in Child's Play 3

Live action

Puppeteers

Development

Child's Play 3 immediately went to production after the success of its predecessor. It was released exactly 9 months after the second movie, which caused pressure to Don Mancini to draft a storyline on such a tight schedule. He initially wanted to introduce the concept of "multiple Chuckys" in the movie, but due to budget constraints the idea was eventually scrapped.[8] Mancini later used this concept for the 2017 sequel Cult of Chucky.

Novelization

A tie-in novel was later written by Matthew J. Costello. Just like Child's Play 2, this novel had some of the author's own parts. In the beginning (unlike the film's), in the Play Pals factory, a rat scours for food and chews on Chucky's remains. Blood then leaks out of the remains and somehow leaks into another doll. Chucky's death in this book is also different. In the novel, Andy shoots Chucky in the chest and causes his body to fall to the floor, and watches his head shatter to blood, metal and plastic.

Release

Child's Play 3 opened in second place behind Dead Again to $5.7 million over the 4-day 1991 Labor Day weekend, which the Los Angeles Times called "slow numbers".[9] It finished its theatrical run with $15 million in the US, and a total of $20.5 million worldwide.[10]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, reports that 29% of 14 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 4.02/10, making it the poorest reviewed film in the series on that site.[11] Chris Hicks of the Deseret News called it "perverse" and criticized the film's plot.[12] Caryn James of The New York Times called the Chucky doll "an impressive technological achievement" but said the film "misses the sharpness and dark humor" of the original film.[13] Variety called it a "noisy, mindless sequel" with good acting.[14] Richard Harrington of The Washington Post wrote, "Chucky himself is an animatronic delight, but one suspects the film's energies and budget have all been devoted to what is essentially a one-trick pony."[15] Stephen Wigle of The Baltimore Sun called it "fun for any fan of the slasher genre".[16]

Series creator Don Mancini said that this was his least favorite entry in the series, adding that he ran out of ideas after the second film.[17] He elaborated further in 2013 stating that he was not pleased with the casting, particularly with Jeremy Sylvers and Dakin Matthews as Tyler and Colonel Cochrane respectively; he felt that the former was too old for the role and the latter was not the "R. Lee Ermey" archetype he was hoping for.[18]

Mancini would not make another entry in the Chucky series until seven years later, with Bride of Chucky. In a 2017 interview, director Jack Bender also dismissed the film by calling it "kinda silly".

Awards
List of awards and nominations
AwardCategoryRecipientsResult
Saturn Award Best Horror Film Child's Play 3 Nominated
Best Performance by a Younger Actor Justin Whalin Nominated
Fangoria Chainsaw Award Best Supporting Actor Andrew Robinson Nominated

Home media

Child's Play 3 was originally released on home video in North America on March 12, 1992 and on DVD on October 7, 2003. It was also released in multiple collections, including The Chucky Collection (alongside Child's Play 2 and Bride of Chucky), released on October 7, 2003;[19] Chucky - The Killer DVD Collection (alongside Child's Play 2, Bride and Seed of Chucky), released on September 19, 2006;[20] Chucky: The Complete Collection (alongside Child's Play 1 and 2, Bride, Seed and Curse of Chucky), released on October 8, 2013;[21] and Chucky: Complete 7-Movie Collection (alongside Child's Play 1 and 2, Bride, Seed, Curse and Cult of Chucky), released on October 3, 2017.

James Bulger murder

A suggested link with the film was made after the brutal United Kingdom murder of James Bulger. The killers, who were ten years old at the time, were said to have imitated a scene in which one of Chucky's victims is splashed with blue paint. Although these allegations against the film have never been proven, the case led to some new legislation for video films.[22] Psychologist Guy Cumberbatch stated, "The link with a video was that the father of one of the boys – Jon Venables – had rented Child's Play 3 some months earlier."[23] However, the police officer who directed the investigation, Albert Kirby, found that the son, Jon, was not living with his father at the time and was unlikely to have seen the film. Moreover, the boy disliked horror films—a point later confirmed by psychiatric reports. Thus the police investigation, which had specifically looked for a video link, concluded there was none.

Sequels

The film was followed by Bride of Chucky in 1998, Seed of Chucky in 2004, Curse of Chucky in 2013 and Cult of Chucky in 2017.

Halloween Horror Nights

In 2009, the climax of Child's Play 3 received its own maze at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, entitled Chucky's Fun House.

This is not the first time Chucky has been featured in Halloween Horror Nights. Curse of Chucky has been slated to receive its own scarezone in the 2013 lineup.[24] Since 1992, Chucky has starred in his own shows, Chucky's In-Your-Face Insults and Chucky's Insult Emporium.

See also
  • Dolly Dearest, another 1991 horror movie about a killer doll released two months after Child's Play 3.

References
  1. "Child's Play 3 (1991)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  2. Thompson, Kenneth (2005). Moral Panics. Routledge. p. 100. ISBN 9781134811625.
  3. "No conclusive link between videos and violence". BBC. 1998-01-07. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  4. Kirby, Terry; Foster, Jonathan (1993-11-26). "Video link to Bulger murder disputed". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  5. Elstein, David (22 December 1993). "Demonising a decoy". The Guardian. London.
  6. "U.K. Proposes Rules, Penalties On Rental Of Violent Videos". Billboard. New York. 23 April 1994.
  7. Cheng, Cheryl (2015-07-30). "N. Brock Winkless IV, the Puppeteer of Chucky in 'Child's Play,' Dies at 56". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
  8. Bibbiani, William. "The Chucky Files- Don Mancini on CHILD'S PLAY 3 (1991)". YouTube. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  9. Fox, David J. (1991-09-04). "Weekend Box Office : 'Dead' Enlivens Labor Day Business". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  10. "Child's Play 3". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
  11. "Child's Play 3 (1991)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
  12. "Child's Play 3". Deseret News. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  13. James, Caryn (1991-08-30). "Child's Play 3". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  14. "Child's Play 3". Variety. 1990-12-31. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  15. Harrington, Richard (1991-08-30). "'Child's Play 3'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
  16. Wigle, Stephen (1991-08-30). "'Child's Play 3': Chucky's back--more amusing and disturbing than ever". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  17. Zupan, Michael (2013-10-11). "Chucky: The Complete Collection (Blu-ray)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
  18. Bibbiani, William. "The Chucky Files- Don Mancini on CHILD'S PLAY 3 (1991)". YouTube. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  19. Goldman, Eric (2006-09-08). "Double Dip Digest: Child's Play". IGN. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
  20. Jane, Ian (2006-09-21). "Chucky: The Killer DVD Collection". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
  21. Zupan, Michael (2013-10-11). "Chucky: The Complete Collection (Blu-ray)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
  22. Morrison, Blake (2003-02-06). "Life after James". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  23. Faux, Ronald; Frost, Bill (1993-11-25). "Boys guilty of Bulger murder". The Times. London. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  24. "Horror | SYFY WIRE". Fearnet.com. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
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