The opening got my hopes up. Picking up from Curse of Chucky’s post-credits tag, Alex Vincent returns as Andy, now an adult suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. We meet him on a date that, of course, doesn’t go well. Andy returns to his isolated cabin. From a secret safe, he removes Chucky, now mangled and disfigured. Chucky cracks wise about the failed date and Andy tortures him with a blowtorch.

I loved this setup. A final showdown between Andy and Chucky. I was on board.

But then the film shifts. We rejoin Fiona Dourif from Curse of Chucky, now in a criminal institution. No problem, I can roll with this. Curse was one of my favorite entries. Her doctor transfers her to a lesser security prison. An isolated concrete fortress full of stark white hallways and snowy exteriors. I loved the snow.

But now the film meanders. We meet the other inmates and the chief doctor. Chucky shows up and stars offing inmates, framing Dourif’s character. Andy arrives for the finale as an afterthought. Not Scatman Crothers bad, but a head-scratcher.

This one proves an odd duck. The tone veers from antiseptic horror to black comedy. To wit, Chucky delivers the funniest line of the series when referring to another antagonist saying, “I’m not sure if I should kill him or just take notes!”

But the opening tease of a final showdown between Andy and Chucky never materializes, and the ending underwhelmed. Yes, it serves as a series finale, but it feels like they grafted the Andy bits onto another story. Said story isn’t bad, but not the finale I wanted.