''Seed of Chucky'' is a 2004

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

slasher film A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...

. It is the fifth film in the ''Child's Play'' series, following ''

Bride of Chucky ''Bride of Chucky'' is a 1998 American black comedy slasher film written by Don Mancini and directed by Ronny Yu. The fourth installment in the ''Child's Play'' franchise, it stars Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif, John Ritter, Katherine Heigl, and ...

''. The film was written and directed by

Don Mancini George Donald Mancini (born January 25, 1963) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He is best known for creating and writing the Child's Play (franchise), ''Child's Play'' franchise (1988–present). Career Having been a horror ...

in his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

, and stars

Jennifer Tilly Jennifer Tilly (born Jennifer Ellen Chan; September 16, 1958) is an American-Canadian actress and professional poker player. Known for her distinctive breathy voice and comedic timing, she is the recipient of a Saturn Award, and a GLAAD Award, ...

, Redman, Hannah Spearritt,

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

, Billy Boyd and

Brad Dourif Bradford Claude Dourif (; born March 18, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for voicing Chucky in the ''Child's Play'' franchise (1988–present), portraying Gríma Wormtongue in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series, and his Academy A ...

. The film is set six years after ''Bride of Chucky'' and follows a young doll named Glen/Glenda, the child of Chucky and Tiffany, resurrecting their parents, causing chaos. The film, shot in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, continues the series' evolution from the pure horror genre of the first three films to a hybrid

horror-comedy Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, paro ...

. It was the last ''Child's Play'' film from the original continuity to be released in theaters, with all future installments to be released

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

until the 2019 remake. The film was followed by another sequel, '' Curse of Chucky'', released in 2013. ''Seed of Chucky'' grossed over $24 million against a $12 million budget. Like its predecessor, the film received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Six years after the previous film, the benevolent and

genderfluid Gender fluidity (commonly referred to as genderfluid) is a non-fixed gender identity that shifts over time or depending on the situation. These fluctuations can occur at the level of gender identity or gender expression. A genderfluid person m ...

living-doll child of Chucky and Tiffany is being held captive by "Psychs", an abusive

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

ventriloquist Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...

who exploits him for his act. Psychs has mockingly named the doll "Shitface" and regularly mistreats him. Despite his peaceful nature, Shitface has violent nightmares about

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

. Shitface sees a preview on television for

's new film ''Chucky Goes Psycho'', which features Chucky and Tiffany dolls repaired from their original remains. Realizing he is their child, Shitface escapes Psychs and tracks the Chucky and Tiffany dolls to a prop room in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. Shitface uses the ''Heart of Damballa,'' a voodoo amulet, to resurrect them. Chucky is shocked at having a child while Tiffany is overjoyed. Confused about their child's ambiguous gender — his body having no

genitals A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

—Chucky renames Shitface "Glen," while Tiffany renames them " Glenda." Chucky and Tiffany decapitate a special effects technician with a wire. Jennifer finds the beheaded body and calls the police. Chucky, Tiffany, and Glen/Glenda sneak a ride to her home in her

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...

. Having witnessed his parents murder the technician, Glen/Glenda asks them why they kill. Chucky and Tiffany are taken aback by the question. Tiffany, feeling parental responsibility, tries to force Chucky to stop killing for the sake of their child; Chucky falsely promises to do so. Meanwhile, Jennifer tries to get a role as the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

in rapper Redman's feature-film

. She invites him to her home, intending to seduce him for the role, much to the disgust of her assistant Joan. Chucky and Tiffany make plans to transfer their souls into Redman and Jennifer. Tiffany knocks them out and uses a

turkey baster Basting a turkey with a turkey baster Basting is a cooking technique that involves cooking meat with either its own juices or some type of preparation such as a sauce or marinade, such as barbecue. The meat is left to cook, then periodically coa ...

inseminate Insemination is the introduction of spermatozoon, sperm (in semen) into a female or hermaphrodite's reproductive system in order to Fertilization, fertilize the ovum through sexual reproduction. The sperm enters into the uterus of a mammal or the ...

Jennifer with Chucky's semen, intending to use her baby as a host for Glen/Glenda's soul. Chucky takes Glen/Glenda on a secret joyride to kill Pete Peters, a paparazzo who had been following Jennifer around. Glen/Glenda accidentally causes Peters to fall and be soaked in

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...

, killing him. Glen/Glenda is horrified while Chucky is delighted. Jennifer awakens and senses that she is pregnant, believing Redman is responsible. Redman explains this is impossible, as he previously had a

vasectomy Vasectomy is an elective surgical procedure that results in male sterilization, often as a means of permanent contraception. During the procedure, the male vasa deferentia are cut and tied or sealed so as to prevent sperm from entering into ...

. He fires Jennifer from his film, dismissing pregnant women as not attractive enough for his vision. Tiffany guts Redman in anger over his

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

, which Glen/Glenda witnesses. The next day, Jennifer wakes up to find herself with a full pregnant belly, a consequence of the voodoo magic. Chucky captures Jennifer and her lovelorn

chauffeur A chauffeur () is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or a limousine. Initially, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to s ...

Stan to take Redman's place. Jennifer's assistant Joan tries to help, but she is killed by Glenda, revealing that Glen and Glenda are two separate souls in the same body; Glen is a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

, while Glenda is a

psychopath Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality, is a personality Construct (psychology), construct characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, along with boldness, bold, disinhibited, and egocentrism, egocentric traits. These traits are often ma ...

. Jennifer gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl, and Tiffany realizes that both Glen and Glenda can inhabit the two children. However, the chaos causes Chucky to have an epiphany: he has finally accepted his life as a living doll and no longer wishes to become human. Disgusted, Tiffany rejects Chucky and decides to leave him. Enraged, Chucky throws a knife at Jennifer to stop Tiffany from leaving him, but Stan jumps in the way, sacrificing himself to save her. The police arrive, forcing the dolls to flee. Jennifer is rushed to the hospital. Tiffany drugs Jennifer and begins to possess her, but Chucky breaks in and kills Tiffany with an axe. Devastated, Glen snaps and attacks Chucky, striking him with the axe. Chucky assumes it's Glenda, but Glen reveals it is actually him and not his murderous twin. Glen dismembers Chucky, who praises Glen for his actions before being decapitated. Realizing what he has done, Glen breaks down in tears as Jennifer comforts him. Five years later, Jennifer is raising Glen and Glenda, who transferred their souls into the bodies of her two children. During a birthday party for the twins, a nanny quits because Glenda scares her. Jennifer beats her to death in a rage, revealing that Tiffany had successfully transferred her soul into Jennifer's body. Meanwhile, Glen opens a birthday present to find Chucky's severed arm, which springs up and grabs him.

Cast

Production

Production on a new film called ''Son of Chucky'' began on October 18, 1998, two days after the successful release of ''

,'' whose director

Ronny Yu Ronny Yu Yan-Tai () is a Hong Kong film director, producer, and movie writer. He has worked on both Hong Kong and United States, American films. He is mostly known for his work in the American horror film, horror genre, such as ''Bride of Chucky ...

was unable to return due to scheduling conflicts. Don Mancini, who is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

and was interested in exploring LGBT-related themes in the next film, decided to write a screenplay inspired by the 1953 cult classic '' Glen or Glenda'' in which Chucky's son is an innocent person suffering from

gender dysphoria Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to inconsistency between their gender identitytheir personal sense of their own genderand their sex assigned at birth. The term replaced the previous diagnostic label of gender i ...

. He also decided to continue the shift in the series towards comedy after noting that horror villains such as Michael Myers,

Jason Voorhees Jason Voorhees () is a fictional character and the antagonist of the Friday the 13th (franchise), ''Friday the 13th'' series. He first appeared in ''Friday the 13th (1980 film), Friday the 13th'' (1980) as the young son of camp-cook-turned-kil ...

, and

Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the antagonist of the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' horror film franchise. Created by Wes Craven, he made his debut in Craven's '' A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit of a ...

became less scary as they became more familiar with audiences.

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

, which produced the previous three films and had expected a more conventional slasher film with the son being a murderous villain, rejected the script with the note "This is too gay." Production ultimately resumed when the project was approved by

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American independent film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as a unit of Universal Pictures, which is itself a unit of Comcast's division NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and fore ...

after the successful release of ''

Cabin Fever Cabin fever is the distressing irritability or restlessness experienced when a person, or group, is stuck at an isolated location or in confined quarters for an extended time. A person may be referred to as stir-crazy, derived from the use of ''s ...

'' in 2003, and was ultimately released through Rogue Pictures. Mancini claimed in a podcast that prior to casting Redman, he had offered to cast

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

as himself but he declined. ''Seed of Chucky'' was filmed almost entirely in

at Castel Studios in order to save costs. Mancini tried to replicate the look of older horror films by shooting the film mostly on sound stages and was additionally influenced by the filmmaking styles of

Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (; born September 11, 1940) is an Americans, American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for work in the suspense, Crime film, crime, and psychological thriller genres. ...

and

Dario Argento Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. His influential work in the horror film, horror and giallo genres during the 1970s and 1980s has led him to being referred to as the "Master of the ...

. All of the animatronic and makeup effects were the handiwork of Effects Designer

Tony Gardner Tony Gardner (born 10 January 1964) is an English actor and doctor. He sits on the national governing body of the actors' trade union Equity. Early life and education He attended St Augustine's Catholic College in Trowbridge. Career Gardne ...

, who also appears in the film as himself in a cameo, and his company Alterian, Inc.

Release and reception

Box office

''Seed of Chucky'' opened at #4 with $8,774,520 on November 11–14, 2004. When the film closed on December 23, 2004, the domestic gross was $17,083,732 and $24,829,644 worldwide. In Australia, ''Seed of Chucky'' opened at #8 with $260,958 for the week of February 6–8, 2005 behind ''

Million Dollar Baby ''Million Dollar Baby'' is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, scored by and starring Clint Eastwood from a screenplay by Paul Haggis. It is based on stories from the 2000 collection ''Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner' ...

'' (#2), and ''

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow ''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'' (often shortened to ''Sky Captain'') is a 2004 science fiction action-adventure film written and directed by Kerry Conran in his directorial debut, and produced by Jon Avnet, Sadie Frost, Jude Law a ...

'' (#6). In Australia, ''Seed of Chucky'' was distributed by

United International Pictures United International Pictures (UIP) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures that distributes their films outside the United States and Canada. UIP also had international distribution rights to certain Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M ...

. In France, ''Seed of Chucky'' opened at #11 with $694,948 for the week of March 2–8, 2005. It opened behind '' Le Couperet'' (#2) and the remake of '' Assault of Precinct 13'' (#4). In France, ''Seed of Chucky'' was distributed by SND Distribution. In the United Kingdom, ''Seed of Chucky'' opened at #10 with $202,022 for the week of May 13–15, 2005. It opened behind ''

Monster-in-Law ''Monster-in-Law'' is a 2005 romantic comedy film directed by Robert Luketic, written by Anya Kochoff and starring Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda, Michael Vartan and Wanda Sykes. It marked a return to cinema for Fonda, being her first film in 15 ...

'' (#2), ''

The Jacket ''The Jacket'' is a 2005 American science-fiction psychological thriller film directed by John Maybury and starring Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Kris Kristofferson and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It is partly based on the 1915 Jack London novel ' ...

'' (#8), and '' A Good Woman'' (#9). In the United Kingdom, ''Seed of Chucky'' was distributed by

Momentum Pictures Momentum Pictures was a film distributor owned by Entertainment One, a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios. Prior to 2013, it was a brand of Canadian distributor Alliance Films used for its releases in the United Kingdom, and was one of the leading ...

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds a 37% approval rating based on 78 reviews, with a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

of 4.60/10. The critical consensus reads: "Give ''Seed of Chucky'' credit for embracing the increasing absurdity of the franchise — even if the end results really aren't all that funny or entertaining." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, it has an average score of 46/100, indicating "mixed to average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

gave the film two stars out of four stating, "''Seed of Chucky'' is actually two movies, one wretched, the other funny." In 2023, ''

Out Out or OUT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films *Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 *Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander *O ...

'' described the film as a "

campy Camp is an aesthetic and sensibility that regards something as appealing or amusing because of its heightened level of artifice, affectation and exaggeration, especially when there is also a playful or ironic element. ''Camp'' is historically ...

cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...

Awards

Sequels

The film was followed by '' Curse of Chucky'' in 2013, '' Cult of Chucky'' in 2017, and the TV series '' Chucky'' in 2021.

References

External links

* * * {{David Kirschner 2004 films 2004 horror films 2004 directorial debut films 2004 black comedy films 2004 comedy horror films 2000s slasher films 2004 LGBTQ-related films 2000s pregnancy films 2000s parody films American sequel films American comedy horror films American pregnancy films American LGBTQ-related films American black comedy films American slasher films American splatter films British comedy horror films British LGBTQ-related films British black comedy films British slasher films British splatter films Films set in Los Angeles Films set in Somerset Films shot in Bucharest Films about home invasion Films about Voodoo Films about non-binary people Films set in 2004 Films set in 2009 Metafictional works Parodies of horror Slasher comedy films Child's Play (franchise) films Films scored by Pino Donaggio Films directed by Don Mancini Films with screenplays by Don Mancini LGBTQ-related horror films Rogue (company) films 2000s English-language films Cultural depictions of Britney Spears Romanian comedy horror films Romanian black comedy films Films about assassinations 2000s American films 2000s British films Relativity Media films Resurrection in film English-language comedy horror films Saturn Award–winning films