Child’s Play 3 (1991)

Directed by Jack Bender [Other horror films: The Midnight Hour (1985)]

If Child’s Play 3 has any real drawback, it would be that it lacks some of the spirit of the first two flicks, along with possessing some occasionally shoddy acting. To be honest, though, again, I was moderately surprised by just how solid this movie was upon rewatch.

The main problem, as I alluded to, is that this flick lacks much of the magic of the first two. Why exactly that is, I’m not sure. It did, to a certain extent, feel a bit rushed, and while there was a kid in danger, being at a military academy, it’s hard to compare that to Andy being locked in a mental institution with Chucky coming after him. There were some tense scenes throughout, but nothing that much felt like the first two films.

As for the kid, Jeremy Sylvers, he did pretty well with his role, though not nearly as well as Vincent did. And the character Botnick, played by Andrew Robinson (who, interestingly enough, played Larry in Hellraiser) was a bit over-the-top, enough so to make his scenes feel rather ridiculous.

But plenty of other actors did quite well: Justin Whalin (Andy), Perrey Reeves (De Silva), Travis Fine (Shelton), Dean Jacobson (Whitehurst), Dakin Matthews (Cochrane), and Peter Haskell (Sullivan, the only familiar face from the last film) all did varying well with their roles, though somewhat problematically, none of them really stood out one way or the other.

The kills throughout the film were pretty damn good. Some slit throats, a good garbage truck crushing, slow motion bullet wound (during a fantastic war game sequence), Child’s Play 3 didn’t skimp out on gore. Even Chucky’s demise (at least, insofar as this movie goes) was beautifully bloody. And that heart attack scene? I’m still laughing at that. Related, I still get a kick out of the “Hide the Soul” game (originally brought up in the second film); I remember, even as a kid, how funny that was.

The whole ending sequence (from the war games to the carnival) was fantastically fun. The haunted house finale, while not as good as the final fight in the second film, was an absolute blast, which included heavy duty fans, swinging scythes, and a mountain of skulls. While this doesn’t possess the charm of the first two movies, Child’s Play 3 is still a very solid sequel and film, and any fan of the first two flicks would do well to check this one out.

8/10

This has been covered on Fight Evil’s podcast, episode #20. Listen to hear Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and myself discuss this one.