Chucky Week: Hollywood's horrific living doll

When your chief villain is not only a seemingly harmless doll at the outset, but a deadly doll with a moniker that is based on three notorious serial killers, you know you're in for a movie a little different from the Tinseltown dream factory.

Director Tom Holland unleashed Don Mancini's blood curdling creation Charles Lee Ray (voiced by the demonic Lord of the Rings refugee Brad Dourif) back in the late '80s on the back of Freddie, Jason et al. A worldwide gross of $44m from a $9m budget meant it was only the start for the diminutive life curtailer.

The Hollywood tagline crew thought long and hard, OK for about two seconds, when they came up with "Look out Jack! Chucky's back!" for the inevitable sequel, helmed by rookie lens finagler John Lafia.

The ginger-haired loon welcomed our very own English rose Jenny Agutter into his playpen of doom for the second time around, as he carved up six humans en route to another profitable theatrical and video run for Universal.

The toy torturer didn't have to wait long to get his tiny mitts on another artery slicing piece of steel with an eight-year gap in the actual storyline leaving Andy (now played by Justin Whalin) as a teenager who has enrolled in military school.

Kudos to the tagliners for the "Look Who's Stalking!" hook, however this feeble effort nearly put the final nail in the Chucky coffin thanks to a pretty dismal $20m worldwide gross. It was also at the centre of the media controversy surrounding the Jamie Bulger murder in the UK.

The budget for the return of the Chuckarino was considerably larger fourth time around with an actual cast that could count Awards kudos, rather than a truckload of turkeys on their CV. Jennifer Tilly, John Ritter and an early Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up) celluloid outing gave the fright flick an air of respectability.

The murder moppet was joined by fellow mannequin Tiffany for a Route 66 carnagefest that managed to double its budget and breathe new life into the ailing franchise thanks to a pretty funny script.

Creator Don Mancini bossed the fifth sojourn for the rubber nutter from the director's chair with Tilly joined by Brits Billy Boyd (Lord of the Rings' Pippin), serial schlock offender Jason Flemyng and strangely S Club's Hannah Spearritt.

Add in rapper Redman, camp icon John Waters and a plot that takes the ferocious figurines to Tinseltown to create Hollywood havoc, and you have a fun, if twisted, fifth flick that doubled its budget and kept the franchise off life support. Who knows when Chucky will return? (Maniacal laugh, pause, villainous stare)