Child's Play 3: Look Who's Stalking

Child's Play 3 is a 1991 horror film. It is the sequel to 1990's Child's Play 2 and 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 it might have inspired the real-life murder of British child James Bulger, a suggestion rejected by officers investigating the case.
==Plot==
Eight years after the events of the second film, 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 inhabited the remains, and Chucky is soon revived in a new doll body. During the meeting, one of the members of the boards question about releasing the Good Guy dolls in the stores might caused problems to children; however, Mr. Sullivan tells them that Andy was a disturbed child and forgotten. Chucky is unwittingly given to Play Pals' CEO Mr. Sullivan, whom Chucky tortures and kills using various instruments. In the final moments of Mr. Sullivan's life, Mr. Sullivan realizes that Andy was telling the truth. Chucky then uses computer records to locate Andy Barclay.
Still troubled by his past encounters with Chucky, 16-year-old Andy has been sent to Kent Military School. Colonel Cochran, the school's commandant, begrudgingly enrolls Andy, but advises him to forget his "fantasies" about the doll. Inside the school, Andy befriends cadets Harold Aubrey Whitehurst (Dean Jacobson), Ronald Tyler (Jeremy Sylvers), and Kristin DeSilva, for whom he develops romantic feelings. He also meets Brett C. Shelton, the leader of the cadet corps who routinely bullies subordinates.
Soon a package arrives for Andy. Tyler sees a commercial for Good Guy dolls and would like one of his own. After accidentally dropping and ripping Andy's package, he realizes that the package contains a Good Guy doll. Excited, he takes the new toy to the cellar and unwraps it. Once freed, Chucky scolds Tyler for opening the package he was supposed to give to Andy. But realizing he has a new body, he decides that Tyler will be his vessel of possession instead, so he reveals his true identity to him. But just as Chucky is about to possess him, they are interrupted by Cochran, who confiscates the doll from Tyler. Cochran throws Chucky into a garbage truck, but Chucky escapes by yelling for help, luring the driver into the truck's compactor and crushing him. The garbageman's murder upsets Andy, who senses it may be the work of Charles Lee Ray. That night, Chucky attacks Andy, who bluffs by saying he would not hurt his way out of the doll's body, to which Chucky replies he beat Andy to the punch; he revealed himself to Tyler instead. But before Andy can attack Chucky, Shelton comes in and takes the doll from him. Andy tries to get the doll back by sneaking into Shelton's room, but Shelton catches him in the act. Upon realizing the doll has vanished, Shelton suspects it stolen and forces all the cadets to do exercises in the courtyard as punishment.
Andy tries to warn Tyler about Chucky, but is initially unheeded. At one point, Chucky lures Tyler into playing hide-and-seek in Cochran's office, where he attempts to possess the boy again. However, they are interrupted by DeSilva, who snuck into Cochran's office to find Andy's dossier, and, moments later, Cochran himself. Cochran is startled by a knife-wielding Chucky, who attempts to kill him. The resulting shock causes Cochran to suffer a fatal heart attack, much to Chucky's disbelief.
Despite Cochran's death, Shelton declares that the school's annual war games will proceed as planned. However, Chucky secretly replaces the paint bullets of the red team with live ammunition. When the simulation begins, Chucky accosts Tyler, then threatens the boy when he refuses to take part. Tyler stabs Chucky with a pocket knife and flees, trying to find Andy. Chucky then attacks DeSilva and holds her hostage, attempting to lure the teams into fighting each other to save her. Chucky forces Andy to exchange DeSilva 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 DeSilva close behind.
Eventually the chase leads the group into a haunted house at a nearby carnival. Tyler runs to the security guard for help, who is friendly to Tyler but mistakingly thinks that it was merely a bully making empty threats. Chucky appears and kills the security guard. In the ensuing melee, Chucky shoots DeSilva in the leg, leaving Andy to fight Chucky alone, but not before he applies a tourniquet to DeSilva. A scythe in the house cuts Chucky's face. 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. Afterwards, Andy is taken away by the police for questioning, but assures DeSilva that he will be okay, as he's "dealt with them before". As the police car drives away, DeSilva is taken to the nearby hospital and Tyler's fate is never revealed. At the end of the movie, a janitor walks around the park cleaning up the place while all the rides are shutting down. He then walks towards the haunted house, where Chucky was killed.
==Cast==
* Justin Whalin as Andy Barclay
* Perrey Reeves as Kristin De Silva
* Brad Dourif as Chucky (Voice)
* Jeremy Sylvers as Ronald Tyler
* Andrew Robinson as Sergeant Botnick
* Travis Fine as Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Brett C. Shelton
* Dakin Matthews as Colonel Cochrane
* Donna Eskra as J. Ivers
* Burke Byrnes as Sergeant Clark
* Matthew Walker as Major Ellis
* Dean Jacobson as Harold Aubrey Whitehurst
* Peter Haskell as Mr. Sullivan
* Alex Vincent as Younger Andy Barclay (archive footage; uncredited during the first part of the movie)
==Reception==
Child's Play 3 received negative reviews and 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 negative reviews, and horror fans regarded as the worst of the series until Seed of Chucky, which was released over 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 and Justin Whalin's portrayal of Andy Barclay achieved praise from some fans of the series, 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 poor reception, it was nominated for two Saturn Awards.
==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.
==Halloween Horror Nights==
In 2009, the climax of Child's Play 3 received its own maze at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, entitled Chucky's Fun House.
This is not the first time Chucky has been featured in Halloween Horror Nights. Curse of Chucky has been slated to receive its own scarezone in the 2013 lineup. Since 1992, Chucky has starred in his own shows, Chucky's In-Your-Face Insults and Chucky's Insult Emporium.
Category:Films