Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden isn’t having the greatest year, but his plastic, pint-sized doppelganger, Chucky, is alive (again) and well — and he’s gone Hollywood.
“Seed of Chucky,” the fifth film in the series about the homicidal, seemingly immortal doll, bears more of a resemblance to “Scream” than to any of its predecessors. The original movie, 1988’s “Child’s Play,” had some darkly funny lines but its premise was truly scary; the idea of a toy coming to life and wreaking havoc is a legitimate childhood fear. (Admit it: “The Twilight Zone” episode with Talking Tina still freaks you out 40 years later.)
This time, though, Don Mancini (who has written all the Chucky movies and makes his directorial debut) dives into deep camp, cramming the screen with pop culture references and Hollywood in-jokes. One need only witness the presence of camp director John Waters, playing a paparazzo who stalks camp queen Jennifer Tilly, to recognize the direction we’re headed.
Tilly — who provides the voice of Chucky’s wife, Tiffany, and starred in “Bride of Chucky” six years ago — plays herself here in a movie-within-the-movie: a big-screen rendering of the Chucky urban legend, titled “Chucky Goes Psycho.”
Rapper Redman also shows up and plays himself; the running joke with him is that the co-star of the movie “How High” is planning to direct his own movie, about the Virgin Mary, in which Tilly the sex kitten is dying to play the lead.
There are references to everything from Martha Stewart and Britney Spears to “The Shining” and “Chinatown.” Ryan Seacrest blares from a clock radio and an “Access Hollywood” correspondent reports from the movie set. You half expect Gruden himself to appear, he’s been described so often as a Chucky look-alike. (The ending clearly sets up a sixth installment in the franchise, though, so there’s still time.)
So yeah, “Seed of Chucky” is incredibly knowing. But Rogue Pictures, which is releasing the movie, didn’t know that it would be OK to show it to critics before opening day. It’s a tactic reserved for truly abominable films, and it was unnecessary here.
Even the title sequence is funny: Tiny Chucky sperm swim furiously toward their eggy destination to create the titular spawn. But when Chucky and Tiffany finally meet the child they never knew they had — because, you know, they died at the end of the fourth movie and have come back to life here — they find that their offspring is sexually ambivalent and speaks in a British accent (Billy Boyd, who played Pippin in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, provides the voice).
Chucky (voiced as always by the sardonic Brad Dourif) insists that the child is a boy, despite his anatomical incorrectness, and wants to name him Glen. Tiffany sees the softer side of her child and wants to name her Glenda (an homage to Ed Wood). Chucky wants Glen to be a killer like his old man; Tiffany wants a more wholesome life for Glenda and insists that they go through a 12-step program for their homicidal tendencies.
Both agree that they need to transfer their souls to human bodies because they’re sick of being dolls, and they go after Tilly and Redman. Among the truly twisted images that appear during this pursuit: Tiffany flashes her naked doll breasts, Chucky — um — provides a sperm sample, and Tiffany injects it into a tied-up Tilly using a turkey baster.
If nothing else, “Seed of Chucky” truly earns its R rating with great enthusiasm and creativity.