Every Film in the 'Child's Play' Franchise, Ranked

Image via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director: Don Mancini

Release Date: November 12, 2004

An absolute shit-tier film in every way. Creator Don Mancini leaned heavily into the comedic turn for the diminutive psychopath and his wife Tiffany—taking cues from movies like Kramer v Kramer, and featuring appearances from John Waters and Redman (who both admittedly have gnarly deaths). The movie also introduces Glen/Glenda, the titular “Seed,” who is dealing with gender identity issues, in a plot that’s surprisingly progressive for its time—if it wasn’t bogged down by terrible one-liners (the Britney Spears gag was about half a decade old BEFORE the movie came out), physical comedy that doesn’t land (Chucky masterbates in this movie…seriously) or shoehorned into a movie that doesn’t know what it wants to be. The late turn into comedy for the franchise ultimately cost it the goodwill of a lot of fans until the straight-to-DVD release of Curse of Chucky nearly 10 years later.

Director: Ronny Yu

Release Date: October 16, 1998

Bride of Chucky is an extremely sharp turn in the road for the Child’s Play franchise, tossing the Andy Barclay storyline completely—as well as the straight-faced self-seriousness that the movies had been known for—instead turning into a horror-comedy that winks at its audience. Jennifer Tilly debuts in the franchise as Tiffany, Chucky’s estranged girlfriend who brings him back to life. She’s the heart of this movie in a lot of ways, acting as a competitive foil for Chucky, who is far behind the curve when it comes to modern-day terror and mayhem after his long layoff. Though the comedic entries of the series are far from my favorite, there’s a lot to love with Bride—the kills are enjoyable, and there are some legitimately funny gags here as well as the introduction of Chucky’s iconic stitched look which would carry over into every movie after this.

Director: Jack Bender

Release Date: August 30, 1991

Hastily released after the second movie, Child’s Play 3 is a movie of extremes—desperately clinging to the lore that the movie has created for no reason other than the position Chucky and Andy right back into each other's worlds. There’s really no reason that Chucky, this time resurrected by having his blood fall into the superheated plastic that literally killed him in the last movie, should even be going after him anymore, yet here he is hacking and slashing away in a military school. The movie screams cash grab, from the reprisal of the kid that Chucky must possess to be human again, a few tame kills that fall short of the previous movie’s excellence, and a lengthy third act that once again dismembers Chucky in graphic detail. Everything about Child’s Play 3 just feels limp, which was a byproduct of the tired slasher genre at the time. I have to dock extra points for the extremely tone deaf “Chucky’s gonna be a bro” line, which wasn’t funny then, and is even more unnecessary today.

Director: Don Mancini

Release Date: October 3, 2017

Picking up right after the ending of Curse of Chucky, Cult of Chucky expands on the now massive Child’s Play universe—bringing together the franchise's heroes Nica & Andy Barclay, and upping the stakes on Chucky’s endgame. Taking place in a mental institution, which answers the question of where these protagonists go when they tell police that a doll was trying to kill them and their friends, Cult lets Chucky run amok in an environment where he’d easily be able to take advantage of everyone and everything in his grasp…and he does. Some of the kills here are downright brutal (there’s a glass ceiling death that is particularly frightening), and the interplay between the disembodied head of Chucky and Andy is some real Silence of The Lambs shit that I dig a lot.

I think my only issue with the movie is how much it fucks up towards the end in support of the upcoming TV series, which I’m sure will answer the questions I have. It feels like a stopgap in some ways, but yet another home run in the straight-to-DVD era of the franchise.

Director: Lars Klevberg

Release date: June 21, 2019

Possibly the most divisive entry on this list, the 2019 reboot of Child’s Play had a dramatic berth pre-release. Tied up in a confusing rights issue (of which Orion/MGM had rights to the first film in the franchise, and Universal has everything else), the movie has been mostly rejected by die-hard fans and ignored by creator Don Mancini—but hear us out; the Lars Klevberg-directed slasher retains the ballsy dark comedy of the originals and manages to make you think a little bit, too. The movie takes big swings; by infamously eschewing the voodoo doll trope for a commentary on society’s obsession with apps/technology that isn’t too far off from Manicini’s satire on consumerism from the original film. This plot, and ultimately replacing Chucky’s modus operandi into that of a killer robot, was seen as major issue pre-release. However, the movie stands as the strongest in the franchise, thanks to some pretty inspired casting (Bryan Tyree Henry and Aubrey Plaza stand out in their roles), and freakishly creepy voice work from Mark Hamill, who replaces Brad Dourif as the voice of the crimson haired slasher Chucky. There are some glaring issues—some of the comedy falls flat, the new design of Chucky is downright laughable, and the plot picks up too many of the same beats from the first movie; but as a whole, the Child’s Play takes a chance with the genre and has some of the most goriest crowd-pleasing violence since the second movie. Even if you were on the fence, give the movie a chance, if only to hear Chucky reference Tupac Shakur in one of the movie’s most hilarious moments.

Director: Tom Holland

Release Date: November 9, 1988

The original Child’s Play is a simple formula—a mom buys her son a doll that just so happens to be possessed with the soul of a serial killer, but the lore and tropes it created have lived on through this franchise and so many others. The movie is a proper slow burn, which definitely only works the first time you watch it, making you question the plausibility of Chucky actually being alive—until Andy’s mother realizes that he’s been moving without batteries in one of the best twists in horror history. There are a few things that haven’t aged particularly well—namely the voodoo doll kill that comes completely out of nowhere—but as a first entry, Child’s Play carefully establishes the blueprint that these movies have lived off of for over thirty years.

Director: Don Mancini

Release Date: September 24, 2013

Years after Seed of Chucky nearly nuked the franchise into oblivion, Don Mancini took the reins back on his creation with Curse of Chucky. A lower budget affair than the other movies, Mancini cut the comedy stuff out and returned Chucky to his horror roots, playing off an eerie mystery that surrounds a new cast of characters with a sinister link into his past. In a lot of ways, Curse is a remake of the first movie—there’s a slow burn to Chucky’s reveal, a new child he wants to possess, and some really tight visual tricks and gags that say a lot without having everyone in the movie breaking the fourth wall. And it’s a great idea that reinvigorates the series, especially with the inspired casting of Brad Dourif’s daughter Fiona who plays the wheelchair-bound protagonist Nica. There’s a level of dread and danger here that wasn’t prevalent in any of the past entries, and even if it isn’t the full-on horror/comedy mix, Curse still pays tribute to the past with nods to the other movies in some very interesting ways—including a return of one of its most central characters.

Director: John Lafia

Release Date: November 9, 1990

Child’s Play 2 is the Aliens of the franchise in terms of how it takes the concept of the original and turns it up to 1000. Though it brings back Andy, it doesn’t waste time getting to the good shit—which is, of course, Chucky doing his thing. While the first movie was light on the fatalities, Child’s Play 2 sees Chucky at the height of his wisecracking, murderous powers. What I love the most about the movie is how it really goes all-in on its kills with childhood devices; Chucky uses ball inflation tools, yo-yos, and even a ruler to dispatch people, which is a far cry from how pedestrian the kills were in the original.

Visually, the movie is also more vibrant, lending itself to an extremely strong third act in a factory filled with Good Guy dolls, and leading to the most violent and badass death for Chucky. It’s hard to find many things wrong with Child’s Play 2 when comparing it to other movies in the franchise—it fully realizes the whole “killer doll” idea, without the forced comedy, less of an emphasis on the voodoo stuff (even though it is still there), and a set of protagonists that you can root for.