I have made no bones about dreading watching Seed of Chucky (2004). Most Chucky and horror fans groan when it is mentioned. While researching Bride of Chucky (1998), I found some interviews with Don Mancini and a podcaster discussing each of movie in the Chucky franchise and what Mancini said about Bride of Chucky (1998) and Seed of Chucky (2004), made watching the latter a lot easier and even enjoyable (mostly). Mancini described Bride of Chucky (1998) as “a parody of the romantic comedy” and Seed of Chucky (2004) as “a parody of a family film.” It made sense and it allowed me to shift my thinking from seeing Seed of Chucky (2004) as a comedy with aspects of a horror movie instead of a horror movie with comedic parts.
Once I shifted my thinking, my entire experience changed. It reminded me more of Idle Hands (1999). With all of the allusions to the horror movies, this becomes sort of a comedic love letter to the horror genre. I was shocked that I did not quite “get it” when I first watched it years ago, but now it seems obvious. The opening credits roll over Chucky’s (Brad Dourif) sperm fertilizing Tiffany’s (Jennifer Tilly) egg. Not only is that a sentence I never thought I would type, but it is an obvious reference to Look Who’s Talking (1989) that had a very similar opening. In retrospect, it is like Mancini is telling us from the very start of the film, “Hey! This is a comedy!”
The previous film ended with a baby creature being born of Tiffany and this film takes place about 6 years later. Glen (Billy Boyd) is working as “Shitface” with a ventriloquist in England who found him in a cemetery in the US. The cemetery presumably being the one he was born in and that Charles Lee Ray is buried in. Glen is subject to abuse and nightmares that he is killing people. The fact that he is called “Shitface” is an interesting reference to Tiffany who called Jesse “Sweetface” in the previous movie. “Sweetface” is also what Tiffany will call Glen later in the movie.
Glen sees Chucky and Tiffany on television as a promotional piece on an entertainment news program for the horror film that is being shot. He runs away from the ventriloquist and mails himself to the set, much like Chucky mailed himself to Andy in Child’s Play 3 (1991). He discovers that Chucky and Tiffany are just lifeless puppets, but he awakens them with the Heart of Damballa Amulet he has had since birth. The benevolent Glen is terrified when he realizes his parents are homicidal maniacs who cannot decide if he is their son “Glen” or their daughter “Glenda.” For most of the movie, Chucky and Tiffany try to fight their addiction to killing, but not very well. Witnessing the murders spirals Glen into a meltdown and his own killing split personality “Glenda” emerges.
That part of the story is pretty hard to watch except for a cameo by John Waters who plays a paparazzi. He adds some witty laughs and has a death worthy of the franchise. He makes the best out of one of the worst scenes in cinema to date: Chucky masturbating to a copy of Fangoria. The scene is as awkward feeling as any masturbation scene is, but there is something especially odd about watching a possessed child’s doll rubbing one out.
The subplot of the film is really where the gold is. Similar to Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994), we are watching a film being shot within a film. Jennifer Tilly plays a hilarious version of herself playing Tiffany in Chucky Goes Psycho. Tilly is who saves this film for me. She is an actress who struggles with her a weight and losing parts to Julia Roberts, who she says sleeps with directors to get roles. Tilly has decided to sleep with Redman who is directing a Bible film and Tilly wants the role of the Virgin Mary. Her willingness to poke fun at herself, career, and Hollywood as a whole makes Chucky Goes Meta worth watching.
While watching this film, it is easy to wish you were watching Chucky Goes Psycho as it looks like it could be a lot better than the actual movie! This is just the most glaring reference to Psycho (1960). A fly lands on Glen and during an inner monologue, he comments that he could not hurt even a fly which is similar to a scene at the end of Psycho (1960). The death of a mother in Chucky Goes Psycho looks like the infamous shower murder scene. Also in the fake Chucky movie, we see an opening shot/murder shot from Chucky’s point of view as he is walking around the house. It looks a lot like the opening of Halloween (1978). These shots tease us and make us long for a different movie altogether!
Tiffany decides she wants to take over Tilly’s body and wants Chucky to artificially inseminate Tilly and for him to takeover Redman’s body or the body of the chauffeur that is in love with Tilly. This movie abandons the rules of the franchise that there is a short window to transfer your body out of the dolls and you must transfer into the body of the first person you reveal yourself to. The worst continuity sin this film commits is when Chucky decides he is happy being a doll and never aging! This goes against the plot of all the films and is infuriating!
Chucky gets killed as usual, Tiffany successfully transfers her soul into Tilly’s body (I guess Voodoo for Dummies worked better than studying under a Voodoo priest) after Tilly gives birth to twins. We do not see when or how Glen/Glenda transfers into their bodies, but the film implies it just happened somehow. At the end of the film, we find out Glen is still sweet and easily scared, but Glenda is terrifying. Chucky’s arm somehow gets wrapped up as a birthday present for Glen and we discover that this is NOT over for him.
I hope that once the human race is removed from this planet and whatever comes next does not judge us as a species by this film if it survives! It is not as painful as I remembered it, but you just have to not take it too seriously and try to enjoy it in the spirit in which it was made. The best parts of this Chucky film do not include Chucky. Jennifer Tilly in her human form steals the show and reminds us that she is not just a bombshell, she is pretty freaking hilarious. Watch it for Tilly, watch it for the allusions to great horror films, and watch it for the John Waters murder scene. If you are a real weirdo, I guess you could even watch it for the masturbating scene.