Film Analysis: Bride Of Chucky (1998)

FILM ANALYSIS: BRIDE OF CHUCKY (1998)

Ronny Yu (1988)

BBFC 18 (15 re-rating) , MPAA R 

Opening Length: 6 minutes

Budget: $25 million 

Box Office: $50 million

Theatrical Distribution: US emphasis and internationally

Production Company: David Kirschner Productions

Distributor: Universal Pictures and Good Machine

Synopsis: Chucky, the doll possessed by a serial killer, discovers the perfect mate to kill and revive into the body into the body of another doll. (IMDB) 

LINKS: wikipedia , IMDB , Box Office Mojo 

Trailer: 

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Possible Influences For My Film: The use of a blue tint and the dutch angles, a female killer.  The shots using the lockers, and the way the throat slashing is created.                

Companies/Idents: 

This was the only ident shown, as the distributor, also one of the big 5. The ident lasted 15 seconds, which is conventional for a main ident in a film. 

The use of a single ident is unusual, however as this film is from the 90s and of a larger budget it was common to only show one ident at that time. 

Titles:

The titles before the opening shot show the distribution and production companies first. The font is elongated to connote horror, and the serif font is almost a bubble, showing the comedy element. The uppercase highlights the companies, and the sentence case shows the linking words.

The light blue colour denotes coldness, and is conventional for a horror film. 

The first name shown is Ronny Yu, the director. It is conventional to highlight the director in the opening, and is repeated twice. 

The first title that appears is of the main star, in the same font as before and in the bottom left hand corner. 

The main title of the film, is in two fonts. The cursive for the word "bride" connotes femininity and is in binary opposition (Barthes) to the word "Chucky", which is uppercase and ragged, connoting masculinity. 

Opening Shot: 

The first shot is a Extreme Long Shot (ELS) of an exterior of a building and an American flag waving in the wind. The rain serves as pathetic fallacy, and the thunder and lightning create a suspenseful atmosphere. 

Mise-En-Scene/ First Five Shots: 

The shot is at a dutch angle, signifying that something is wrong. The blue tint denotes coldness and eeriness, as well as the supernatural. The evidence depository creates mystery and intrigue. 

The next shots show evidence lockers filled with masks as well as various weapons. The masks shown here are of Jason Voorhees (Friday The 13th, 1980) and Micheal Myers (Halloween, 1978). These are both postmodern and intertextual references, and would be recognised by horror cinephiles and an older audience. The dutch angles denote that something is wrong. 

There is a close-up (CU) of a hand pressing a buzzer. This builds up narrative enigma, as exposition is being withheld from the audience. 

The ELS reveals exposition, and shows a police office and a locked evidence section. The low angle is almost at a worm's eye, and is at the same level as a child (or doll). The angle is tilted, and the character is revealed to be a police officer, but there is still narrative enigma as his face has not yet been seen. 

This shot reveals the officers face, but the dark lighting still keeps some narrative enigma. The officer looks around before going in, revealing to the audience that he should not be there. 

Sound: 

There is an audio-bridge overlapping the beginning idents of long drawn out strings, resembling the Jaws (1975) or Psycho (1960) themes, which could be an intertextual reference. The heartbeat style of the music suggests a chase, as well as creating suspense within the audience.

General notes: 

- Inside locker shot is simple and effective (to recreate)

- Ellipses created with cuts and closing doors, they move in complimentary directions

- Large range of shots in a short sequence, shorter shots appeal to teen target audience

- Adult authority (police) seen as useless, convention of teen slashers

- Use of abandoned interior with sounds of thunder can be recreated

- Foreshadowing used "curiosity killed the cat"

- Jump scares; truck almost crashing, dropping a cigarette

- Cuts disguised using hands, blood seen on them (to recreate) 

- High heels creating noise

- Male gaze (Mulvey) appeal of female protagonist, comedy of using the murder weapon (nail file) for her nails