Don Mancini, the driving force behind the Chucky movies, having written all the scripts, finally gets to settle in to the director’s chair as he continues to take the series in fun and interesting directions.

This one definitely plays a little more meta than other entries. Chucky (Brad Dourif) and Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) are back, but only because they are animatronics for a new Chucky movie. And that means Jennifer Tilly gets to play a heightened version of herself.

The film opens with the reminder of what happened at the end of Bride of Chucky… the birth! It seems Glen/Glenda (Billy Boyd) – a nice nod to Ed Wood – has been living in the UK, working as a ventriloquist’s dummy, and wondering who his parents are, and who he/she is, because they aren’t anatomically correct for either gender.

When he sees an entertainment report from the set of the new movie he heads off in search of his parents. And thanks to the amulet, he can bring his parents back to life. From there, the film gets even wackier as the film tackles, head on, the idea of gender identity, and accepting of who you are.

Jennifer Tilly is hilarious (and my crush is going strong and I love that we get more of her in this movie), as she not only plays the version of hereself, but voices Tiffany. She wants to get a role in Redman’s (Redman) new bible epic as the Virgin Mary, and she’s willing to do anything (wink wink) to get it.

Tiffany, meanwhile not only wants to transfer her soul into Tilly, but also have Chucky impregnante her (thanks to a turkey baster). It’s a little goofy, silly and a bit sexy, and it definitely isn’t the sttraight horror that the series started as.

But it’s very open about it’s gender fluidity, and makes it incredibly and delighfully mainstream, which is where it should be anyway. And it’s entertaining.

The nods continue with John Waters playing a tabloid photographer, who captures some highly inappropriate picstures of Tilly and Redman, but also Chucky.

There’s a lot of fun moments, and nods to horror films, and everything plays delightfully. I can see that this one wouldn’t be for everyone. But I found it frequently funny, entertaining, and delighfully bloody.

The animatronic and puppet work continues to be exceptional, some of the visual effects are iffy, but all the practical stuff is solidly done.

I like that Mancini has finally gottten to settle into the director’s chair and able to tell the stories he wants to tell.

I know I watched this one on video back when it first came out, but I didn’t recall it. But man, I got a kick out of it this time. So let’s see what happens in Curse of Chucky!