FRIGHT FEST: SMALLS VISITS CANDLE COVE

Channel Zero is a new anthology horror show, where each season is it's own self-contained story. The first season is entitled Candle Cove. In it, Mike (Paul Schneider), a child psychologist, is haunted by recurring nightmares about a lost children's televised puppet/marionette show from the 80's called Candle Cove and a series of child murders that occurred at the time it was on. He lost his twin brother, Eddie, to the killing spree. Mike returns to his hometown in an attempt to gain some closure as well as solve the mystery of Candle Cove and the murders.

I wasn't expecting much out of Channel Zero: Candle Cove. It's a low-budget show that airs on the Syfy channel. That right there doesn't help to inspire confidence, considering Syfy's pretty bad track record. Luckily, the show tickled me in all the right areas. I love that it centers around a creepy children's program, and that all the effects I can remember were done practically. The puppets/dolls and creatures were all fantastically designed and looked downright haunting. The Tooth-Child, Jawbone, The Skin-Taker, and Pirate Percy are memorable characters/creatures that may haunt my nightmares for a while.

The show has quite a fine cast of actors, with the best being Paul Schneider, Fiona Shaw (who plays Marla, Mike's mother who assists him in his investigation). Both characters are haunted by the past, and have some skeletons in their closets. Paul Schneider makes for a likable and empathetic leading man. It was easy for me to put myself into his shoes, and as the show progressed I found myself rooting for him more and more. Fiona Shaw previously played Aunt Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films. Here, she gets to play quite a different character. She starts out as a woman who is still grieving the loss of her 2nd son, but changes a good deal by the time the show ends. It was a joy to watch her character grow stronger with each episode, and to see her eventually gain control and take charge.  The kid actors featured in this season were pretty ok, with the standout being Abigail Pniowsky, who plays Lily (Mike's daughter).

As for the rest of the cast, Marina Stephenson Kerr is very off-putting and creepy as Mrs. Booth, one of Mike and Eddie's old teachers who may know more about Candle Cove and the past murders than she is letting on. Luisa D'Oliveira plays Amy, a deputy who assists with the investigation and is a friend of Mike's. She is very likable, smart, efficient and doesn't really play your typical cop in a horror film. Shaun Benson plays Gary, another old friend of Mike's who is now the Sheriff. He likes Mike, but is distrustful of him due to some skeleton's in Mike's closet. Last but definitely not least is the beautiful Natalie Brown as Jessica, an old crush of Mike's who is now married to Gary. She's yet another very likable character in the show who I quickly grew to care about.

Candle Cove is genuinely creepy, unsettling, disturbing, effective and weird. I'd compare it favorably to The Twilight Zone in tone. Each episode only runs around 45 minutes in length, and there are only a total of 6 episodes making for a tight, focused little thriller. No time is wasted, and there are a good deal of twists, turns, and surprises throughout. Perhaps best of all, it wraps up in a satisfying way (ok, so it took a little while for me to warm to the answer of the mystery of Candle Cove. All that matters is that I was totally down with the explanation after thinking it over for a few). Channel Zero is off to an auspicious start, proving that effective horror can still be made on a low television budget.  I was surprised by how much Channel Zero: Candle Cove impressed me. It's a unique, different and memorable little horror show.  I know it will stay with me for some time. Sign me up for Season 2!

4.5 Stars

FRIGHT FEST: CULT OF CHUCKY

I'm done playing, so this will be a spoiler review.

In Cult of Chucky, Nica (Fiona Dourif) has been admitted to a medium security mental hospital after the events of Curse of Chucky. The murders in that film have been pinned on her, and she's begun to believe that she may really be crazy after all. When her therapist, Dr. Foley (Michael Therriault), brings in multiple Good Guy Dolls in an attempt to help her, murders begin to occur at the asylum. Has Chucky found a way to possess multiple dolls, or has Nica really lost her mind?

This film had only one requirement for me: It had to be better than Curse of Chucky. It's not. I was actually enjoying the proceedings for a decent amount of the run time, but by the time the last act rolls around I had given up on this franchise altogether. If this were a perfect world, the Chucky franchise would have ended a long time ago. I love the character of Chucky, but the recent Chucky films since Seed have failed to justify their existence.Seeing as this latest installment is directed and written Don Mancini (who has written every Chucky film, and directed Seed and Curse), the lack of quality shouldn't really be that surprising, but even compared to Curse this is still a large step down.

Fiona Dourif, Brad Dourif, and Alex Vincent are easily the best actors here (Jennifer Tilly is barely in the film, and does a pretty bad acting job). They aren't given much to work with, and they don't seem to be having fun here. Alex Vincent (Andy from Child Play's 1 and 2) does return with a decent amount of screen time but he acts more as fan service as he doesn't really do anything of importance here (He's set up like he's going to be the crazed Van Helsing of this film, but nothing is done with him). Fiona Dourif is a gorgeous actress who deserves better roles than this. Brad Dourif returns to voice Chucky once more, but there is a noticeable amount of time where he doesn't sound anything like Chucky. I don't know if it's old age, or if he's just tired of playing the role (the ending would seem to point to the latter option, as it sets up for a possessed Nica to be the killer in the next installment). Chucky can still be entertaining at times here, but it's not enough to save this bad movie.

As this is a spoiler review, I can reveal that Chucky does have the power to possess multiple dolls in this film (and that there isn't really a cult in the film, after all, it takes more than one or two people to make a cult). It's as stupid as it sounds. It's lazily explained (He gains this power by finding a new voodoo spell on the internet) and directly contradicts the already established rules of the character from the previous six films. Going this route feels like an insult to long time fans (as does the ending).

The animatronics/puppets this time around are fairly weak (Though I do commend Mancini and crew for sticking with practical effects) and the acting is poor all around. Cult definitely does have potential and promise (in better hands the multiple Chucky's could actually lead to a good twist, not here though), but it really does feel like they are making Chucky films just because they can now. This latest installment feels very much like a quick, cheap, poorly thought out and poorly executed cash grab.  Chucky has been out of his box for around 29 years now, but I say it's high time we stuff him back in and bury the damn thing six feet under. Maybe new blood could breathe life into this suffering franchise, but as long as Mancini has the helm I predict a bleak future for Chucky and his cult of fans.

1 STAR