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 as the voice of Tiffany, Brad Dourif as the voice of Chucky, John Ritter, Katherine Heigl, and Nick Stabile. Unlike the first three films, "Bride of Chucky" takes a markedly humorous turn towards self-referential parody. It does not continue the concept of a child in possession of the doll, but focuses mainly on Chucky.
The film was released on October 16, 1998, and grossed $50.7 million worldwide on a budget of $25 million. It was followed by "Seed of Chucky" (2004).
Plot.
One month after the events of "Child's Play 3", Tiffany Valentine (Jennifer Tilly), a former lover and accomplice of serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif), bribes a police officer into giving her the dismembered children's doll parts from an evidence locker then murders him. Believing that Ray's soul still inhabits the doll, Tiffany crudely stitches Chucky back together and reenacts the voodoo ritual which had instilled Ray's soul inside the doll ten years ago. Though her incantations initially fail, Chucky unexpectedly comes alive and smothers Tiffany's goth admirer Damien (Alexis Arquette) to death with a pillow as Tiffany watches in excitement.
Hoping to pick up where they left off, Tiffany presents Chucky with a diamond ring which he had left for her the night he was killed. Upon realizing that Tiffany believed the gift to be an engagement ring, Chucky explains that he stole it from one of his wealthier victims when he was a notorious human serial killer and was never intent on marrying Tiffany. Enraged and heartbroken, Tiffany punishes Chucky by locking him in a playpen. Later, she gives him a talking doll in a wedding dress to taunt him. Chucky escapes the playpen and murders Tiffany by pushing a television set into her bathtub and electrocuting her. He then transports her soul into the bride doll. Chucky reveals his plan to the enraged Tiffany that they must retrieve a magical amulet that was buried with Ray's body in order to transfer their souls into the bodies of Tiffany's neighbor Jesse (Nick Stabile) and his girlfriend Jade (Katherine Heigl). Tiffany sends Jesse a message asking him to take the two dolls to Hackensack, New Jersey, in exchange for money. Eager to elope with his girlfriend, Jade, and having been foiled in the past by her strict and possessive uncle, Chief Warren Kincaid (John Ritter), Jesse accepts the offer. Warren plants a bag of marijuana in Jesse's van to frame him. To stop him from sabotaging their plan, Chucky and Tiffany rig a trap which embeds several nails into Warren's face, then hide his body. 
Jesse and Jade return and begin their trip. The two are then pulled over by Officer Norton (Michael Louis Johnson), who searches Jesse's car and finds the marijuana. As he goes back to his patrol car to report it, Chucky sneaks over to the officer's squad car, stuffs a wadded-up shirt into the gas tank, and lights it on fire, killing Norton in the process. Witnessing the explosion, Jesse and Jade flee the scene. They both begin to suspect that one of them might have caused the incident and begin to trust each other less, much to the amusement of Chucky and Tiffany. Despite their trust issues, Jesse and Jade get married. Warren, who is still alive, tries to get away, but Chucky kills him. While Jesse and Jade are at a hotel, a con artist couple steals Jesse's money. As the criminals make love in their room, Tiffany murders the con artist couple by throwing a champagne bottle to the mirror ceiling above the couple and glass shards slice them to pieces and burst open the water bed. An astonished Chucky grabs the ring from the disembodied finger and instantly proposes to Tiffany, and the dolls begin to have intercourse. The following morning, the hotel housekeeper goes to the room to clean only to find the couple's bodies all stabbed with glass, causing Jesse and Jade to drive away with their friend David (Gordon Michael Woolvett), who knew about their plan to elope and about the recent murders. 
David reveals that Jesse and Jade are the main suspects for all of the deaths and concludes that they are both wrong; upon realizing their misunderstanding, Jesse and Jade resolve their differences. Just as Jesse and Jade realize that they are innocent, David finds Warren's dead body in the trunk and foolishly confronts them, holding them at gunpoint and alerting a police officer. The dolls then come alive and hold them hostage with guns. A shocked David backs onto the highway, where he is instantly killed by an oncoming vehicle. Horrified, Jesse and Jade drive away with the dolls. Chucky and Tiffany reveal their plan to Jesse and Jade. They then direct Jesse to steal a mobile home to use as a new vehicle to evade the police. Tiffany goes to bake cookies after opening the door to show the bodies of the elderly couple on the toilet in the bathroom. Chucky orders Tiffany to wash dishes, causing a fight between Tiffany and Chucky to ensue. Jade locks Tiffany into an oven, while Jesse pushes Chucky out the window. Chucky shoots at Jesse, causing the mobile home to run off the road and into a ditch. Chucky forces Jade at gunpoint to take him to his grave site, while Jesse takes the charred Tiffany to follow them. Chucky orders Jade to open the casket and take the amulet, which she does. Jesse then appears with Tiffany and they trade hostages, but Chucky throws a knife into Jesse's back, and ties up the couple for the ritual.
As Chucky begins the incantation, Tiffany kisses him as a distraction and stabs him in the back with his own knife, saying the two "belong dead". Tiffany collapses after being stabbed in the heart. Jesse then knocks Chucky into his own grave with a shovel. A private investigator Lt. Preston (Lawrence Dane) arrives and witnesses the scene and holds them at gunpoint. But when he sees Chucky walking around in the grave, Jade grabs Lt. Preston's gun and shoots Chucky several times in the chest, killing him after revealing he'll be resurrected soon. After contacting the police about the truth, Lt. Preston sends the couple on their way home. As he inspects Tiffany's unconscious body, Tiffany springs awake and starts screaming, giving birth to a baby doll before finally dying. The baby doll then arises to attack Lt. Preston. Lt. Preston’s fate becomes unknown as the screen cuts to black and the closing credits roll.
Production.
After the release of "Child's Play 3", Don Mancini and David Kirschner decided that the series required a new direction, and decided against returning the character of Andy Barclay. Work on the film began in 1996, inspired by the release of "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer". Ronny Yu was hired to direct the film after Kirschner and Mancini were impressed by his film "The Bride with White Hair", and accepted in exchange for greater creative freedom and the ability to hire his collaborators Peter Pau and David Wu from Hong Kong. Mancini claims to have decided to create the character of Tiffany after seeing a copy of "Bride of Frankenstein" in a video store. Jennifer Tilly was cast as the character largely due to her role in "Bound".
Release.
"Bride of Chucky" was released in North America on October 16, 1998, and grossed $11.8 million on its opening weekend. It has a total North American gross of $32.4 million and another $18.3 million internationally. It is the most grossed film of the "Chucky" franchise and the second most financially successful "Chucky" film in the US.
To promote the film, Chucky made an appearance on an episode of WCW Monday Nitro. He interrupted a promo between Gene Okerlund and Rick Steiner and, in addition to promoting the film, mentioned that he was hoping for Scott Steiner to win an upcoming match between the brothers.
Reception.
The film has a 49% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 39 reviews, with an average rating of 5.60 out of 10. The site's critics consensus reads, ""Bride of Chucky" is devoid of any fright and the franchise has become tiresomely self-parodic, although horror fans may find some pleasure in this fourth entry's camp factor." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
Sequels.
The film was followed by "Seed of Chucky" in 2004, "Curse of Chucky" in 2013, "Cult of Chucky" in 2017, and the TV series Chucky in 2021.