killer doll | the m0vie blog

327. Child’s Play 3 (#—)

Posted on July 1, 2023 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Charlene Lydon, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This week, Jack Bender’s Child’s Play 3.

After years of legal trouble arising from a high-profile controversy surrounding an alleged “killer doll”, Play Pals is back in business. However, the first doll off the line turns out to have a pretty mean attitude. Reconstituted from the remains of the original possessed doll, Charles Lee Ray once again finds himself trapped in a plastic body. Setting out to avenge himself on Andy Barclay, Chucky discovers that his old adversary has been sent to military school. This time, it seems, it’s war.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

Continue reading →

Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: andy barclay, Brad Dourif, charlene lydon, child's play, child's play 3, chucky, doll, gender, horror, killer doll, masculinity, military school, slasher | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Annabelle Comes Home

Posted on July 4, 2019 by Darren

At its core, Annabelle Comes Home is the Captain America: Civil War of the Conjuring Shared Universe.

That is a very strange sentence to type, and more than likely a very strange sentence to read. However, it speaks to very strange times. It seemed highly unlikely that The Conjuring would spawn Hollywood’s second most successful cinematic universe, despite efforts by various other studios to emulate the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, even the Warner Brothers trailers before Annabelle Come Home reinforce how dramatically the franchise has moved the needle. Blockbuster franchise horror cinema is a thriving market even outside these films. Later this year, Warners have IT: Chapter 2 and Doctor Sleep.

Hello dolly.

However, even the mere existence of Annabelle Comes Home is an illustration of the success of this particular horror franchise. This is a major cinematic release at the height of summer. It is not even counter-programming like, for example, Midsommar. This is event cinema. As with The Conjuring 2, this is also very clearly designed in the language of blockbuster cinema. Like Civil War, this is nominally the third film in its franchise; although the nature of that franchise has changed dramatically with each film. As with Civil War, the production team have tethered this sequel to the heart of the shared universe.

Annabelle Comes Home is a fascinating, if not entirely successful, slice of blockbuster horror that seems to exist primarily as a showcase for the success of its own franchise. It’s sturdily and reliably constructed, if a little lacking in its craft and technique. It balances this lack of finesse against a playful sense of humour and a slyly subversive sensibility, resulting a solid addition to the shared universe.