Child's Play 3

Child's Play 3
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Jack Bender
Produced by	David Kirschner & Robert Latham Brown
Written by	Don Mancini
Starring	Justin Whalin Perrey Reeves Brad Dourif Andrew Robinson Perrey Reeves Jeremy Sylvers Peter Haskell Dakin Matthews Travis Fine Dean Jacobson Matthew Walker
Music by	Cory Lerios John D'Andrea
Cinematography	John R. Leonetti
Editing by	Scott Wallace Edward Warschilka
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	August 30, 1991 (1991-08-30)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$13 million
Box office	$20,560,255

Child's Play 3, also known as Child's Play 3: Look Who's Stalking as a parody of Look Who's Talking, is a 1991 horror film. It is the third installment in the Child's Play series with Brad Dourif returning as the voice of Chucky. The film became notorious in the United Kingdom, when it was suggested that it may have inspired the real-life murder of British child James Bulger, a suggestion rejected by officers investigating the case. The film was seen to be darker and more violent than its predecessors.

Plot

In 1998, eight years after the events of Child's Play 2, Play Pals (Good Guys) has recovered from bad publicity arising from Chucky's murder spree. The company releases a new line of Good Guy dolls and recycles Chucky's remains. However, the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray still inhabits the remains, and Chucky is soon revived. One of the workers of Play Pals suggested that the Good Guy dolls should not be sold immediately due to the last two films. Chucky is unwittingly given to Play Pals' CEO Mr. Sullivan (from Child's Play 2), whom Chucky tortures by hitting him in the face with a golf putter, throws a dart into his back and another dart into his hand before strangling him to death with a yo-yo. Afterwards, Chucky uses computer records to relocate Andy Barclay (Justin Whalin).

Andy, now sixteen, has been sent to Kent Military School (filmed at the now-closed, historic Kemper Military School). Colonel Cochran (Dakin Matthews), the school's commandant, begrudgingly enrolls Andy. However, Cochran disbelieves Andy's story about Chucky, and advises he forget his "fantasies" about the doll. Inside the school, Andy befriends cadets Harold Aubrey Whitehurst (Dean Jacobson), Ronald Tyler (Jeremy Sylvers), and Kristin DeSilva (Perrey Reeves), for whom he develops romantic feelings. He also meets Brett C. Shelton (Travis Fine), a lieutenant colonel who routinely bullies the cadets (similar to R. Lee Ermey's character from Full Metal Jacket).

Not long after Andy arrives, Ronald is asked to deliver a package to his room. Ronald realizes that the package contains Chucky and, excited, takes the new toy to the cellar. Once freed, Chucky realizes that he can possess the first person who learns his true nature. He reveals his secret to Ronald, thus making him eligible. Just as Chucky is about to possess Ronald, they are interrupted by Cochran, who takes the doll away. When Andy sees Cochran carrying Chucky across the campus, he is horrified. Cochran throws Chucky into a garbage truck, but Chucky escapes by luring the driver into the truck's compactor and crushing him. That night Chucky attacks Andy and tells him his plans for taking over Tyler's soul but before Andy can attack Chucky, Shelton comes in and confiscates the doll from him. Andy tries to get the doll back by going into Shelton's room, but only succeeds in waking him up, and Shelton then forces all the cadets to do exercises until he gets it back.

Andy tries to warn Ronald about Chucky, but is initially unheeded. Chucky lures Ronald into playing hide-and-seek in Cochran's office, making another attempt to possess the boy again. However, they are interrupted by De Silva and, moments later, Cochran himself. When the cadets leave, Cochran is confronted by a knife-wielding Chucky. The resulting shock causes Cochran to suffer a fatal heart attack. Later the campus barber, Seargent Botnick, finds Chucky and tries to give him a haircut, but Chucky kills him by slitting his throat with a straight razor. Whitehurst sees this take place, but doesn't mention it.

Despite Cochran's death, Shelton declares that the school's annual war games will proceed as planned, with Andy and Shelton on opposing teams. However, Chucky secretly replaces the paint bullets of one team with live ammunition. When the simulation begins, Chucky accosts Ronald, then threatens the boy when he refuses to take part. Ronald stabs Chucky with a pocket knife and flees, trying to find Andy. Chucky attacks Kristen and holds her hostage, attempting the lure the teams into fighting each other to save her. Chucky forces Andy to exchange Kristen for Tyler.

Suddenly, the red team descends upon the area and obliviously opens fire with their live rounds. Shelton is killed in the crossfire. Amidst the chaos, Tyler makes a quick getaway, but before giving chase, Chucky tosses a live grenade at the quarreling cadets. Recognizing the danger, Whitehurst bravely leaps on top of the grenade and sacrifices himself to save the others. With no time to mourn his friend, Andy heads off in pursuit of Chucky, with Kristen close behind.

Eventually the chase leads the group into a haunted house at a nearby carnival. Ronald tries to get a security guard to help him, but Chucky kills the guard off screen and kidnaps Ronald. In the ensuing melee, Chucky shoots Kristen in the leg, leaving Andy to fight Chucky alone. In some point, Chucky stands under the grim reaper statue and gets part of his face sliced off by the moving scythe. When Tyler is inadvertently knocked out, Chucky seizes the opportunity to possess him, but Andy intervenes, shooting him several times. Enraged, Chucky attempts to strangle Andy, but Andy uses Tyler's knife to cut off Chucky's hand, dropping him into a giant fan which slices him to pieces with Andy and Tyler looking down at the scattered remains. Afterwards, Andy is taken away by the police for questioning, while Kristen is taken to the nearby hospital. Tyler's fate is never revealed.

Cast

• Justin Whalin as Andy Barclay
• Perrey Reeves as Kristen De Silva
• Brad Dourif as Chucky
• Andrew Robinson as Sergeant Botnick
• Travis Fine as Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Brett C. Shelton
• Dakin Matthews as Colonel Cochrane
• Burke Byrnes as Sergeant Clark
• Matthew Walker as Major Ellis
• Jeremy Sylvers as Ronald Tyler
• Dean Jacobson as Harold Aubrey Whitehurst
• Peter Haskell as Mr. Sullivan

Reception

Released less than a year after Child's Play 2, the film was a box office disappointment, grossing $20.5 million worldwide. Some critics felt the film itself was darker, despite some scenes of Chucky's humour. Critics and fans criticized the story for taking place at a military academy. Mainstream critics gave the film mixed to negative reviews, and horror fans regarded it the worst of the series until Seed of Chucky was released 13 years later. Series creator Don Mancini said that this was his least favorite entry in the series, adding that he ran out of ideas after the second film. Although Brad Dourif was again praised for his voice-acting of Chucky, the film holds a "rotten" rating of 23% on Rotten Tomatoes. Due to the negative feedback, Don Mancini would not make another entry in the Child's Play series until seven years later, with Bride of Chucky.

Despite this film's failure, in 2009, a haunted house inspired by the climax of this film ("Chucky's Fun House") was featured in Halloween Horror Nights.

James Bulger controversy

The film also has become controversial because it has been indirectly linked to the brutal murder of James Bulger. The killers, who were 10 years old at the time, were said to have imitated a scene in which one of Chucky's victims is splashed with blue paint. Although these allegations against the film have never been proven, the case has led to some new legislation for video films. Psychologist Guy Cumberbatch has stated, "The link with a video was that the father of one of the boys - Jon Venables - had rented Child’s Play 3 some months earlier. However, the police officer who directed the investigation, Albert Kirby, found that the son, Jon, was not living with his father at the time and was unlikely to have seen the film. Moreover, the boy disliked horror films—a point later confirmed by psychiatric reports. Thus the police investigation, which had specifically looked for a video link, concluded there was none.

External links

• Child's Play 3 at the Internet Movie Database
• Child's Play 3 at AllRovi