Set eights years after Child's Play 2, this sequel sees Andy Barclay attending Military School and getting bullied by the drill sergeant ("poor man's Christian Slater" Travis Fine, who never really became as popular as he should have been). Meanwhile, the Play Pals company has reopened the Good Guy factory and is starting production of the doll once more. But when clearing away Chucky's grisly remains, some of his blood spills into a vat of molten plastic and he is born once more in a new body.

After a good old strangulation to get the circulation going he locates Andy at his military school and somehow figures out a way to mail himself there. However, once the package gets there it is promptly snatched by a very annoying, morbidly juvenile, and highly wimpy little kid called Tyler who has the same face as has-been 'singer' Craig David, only more annoying (if that is even possible). Since he has a new body Chucky reveals his birth name once more, hoping to get a fast and easy ticket out of his plastic shell. As before there are too many distractions.

And as before the film spends way too much time with boring humans who spend too much time lurking in the dark wondering why a doll seems to appear and reappear and not enough time with Chucky. He IS the star of the show and he should OWN this movie. Alias and Lost director Jack Bender never really gives him the chance. Which is a shame since the animatronics had improved over Child's Play 2 and Chucky was beginning to look nastily cute. And more and more like Brad Dourif if you look hard enough. Bender's direction is slick but lacks edge, invention or humor. He seems to be ignorant of the potential Chucky has and treats the film like another mechanical TV series with no spark or signature. I remember when I first watched the VHS tape as a kid I immediately noticed how darker and gloomier this movie is, which ultimately leads to an overwhelming downbeat, depressing atmosphere, that sort of does and sort of doesn't work.

The score is a major downer though. Greame Revell's wonderful orchestral adventure of Child's Play 2 has been replaced with a horrid synthesized, death-metal score filled with tacky and unimaginative stingers. Revell, fortunately, returned for Bride of Chucky.

Child's Play 3 is no more than a competent sequel. Writer Don Mancini said he wasn't even ready to do a 3rd movie but Universal forced him to before the second was even released. As he was out of ideas he claims this film to be his least favorite of them all. If a better director were involved it could still have been a good film instead of being a merely an above average (by a tiny, tiny bit) one.

Eight years have now passed since the events of "Child's Play 2", and Andy Barclay (Justin Whalin, 'Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman') is now a screwed-up teenager who gets shuffled off to a military school. (This, after a number of foster home experiences.). Surprise, surprise: the doofuses at Play Pal Toys Company are now confident all the bad publicity is behind them at this point, and resurrect the Good Guys doll line. Guess who's first off the assembly line? Reborn, Chucky manages to mail himself to the military school, but now sets his sights on a VERY impressionable youngster (Jeremy Sylvers, in his only feature film role) rather than Andy.

Given that regular series writer Don Mancini was under pressure to deliver a script, even before the first sequel hit theaters, it's understandable that he might not have had any real inspiration in knocking out this screenplay. It can definitely be a silly and contrived story, but as long as you're a fan of the Chucky character, "Child's Play 3" doles out adequate entertainment. It does give the ultra-psychotic killer doll a steady supply of chump victims to dispatch, and also gives our hero some human antagonists in the form of the bullying Shelton (Travis Fine, "Girl, Interrupted") and Sergeant Botnick (veteran movie villain Andrew Robinson, "Dirty Harry"), a barber who clearly loves his job way too much. There's time for some humor, especially in the case of the colonel (Dakin Matthews, "True Grit" 2010) and his fate when HE sees Chucky in action for the first time. Andy also gets his first love interest in De Silva, a tough, comely female cadet (Perrey Reeves, "Old School").

Yeah, the whole amusement park finale may be truly over the top and ridiculous, but it adds a dopey amount of fun to the proceedings. This is truly the kind of setting where a character like Chucky doesn't feel out of place.

Debuting film director Jack Bender (whose career is mostly in TV) may be no Tom Holland (or even John Lafia, the director of the first sequel), but he makes all of this watchable enough, in a true "turn off your brain and enjoy the mayhem" fashion. It's still the least film in the initial trilogy.

Brad Dourif, as always, is a total hoot voicing the crazed anti-hero / star of this series.

Six out of 10.

Just when you MIGHT have thought - after watching an excruciatingly long death sequence in Child's Play 2 - that Chucky was no more - he's back(and with the cliché) with a vengeance. How is he resurrected? Well, apparently when eight years have passed the toy company reopens their Good Guy doll factory, removes the cobwebs off of all the old stock, pick the mutilated, dead Chucky doll up and pop him in a vat of boiling plastics. The springs of Lourdes never had so much healing power! This revives Chucky, and he instantly becomes his mean, killing machine of old and wants to find Andy Barclay to take his soul. Andy, played by Justin Whalin, is an older teenager now and enrolled at a military academy. Well, not to get too bogged down in a script that doesn't really merit such an intense analysis - Chucky finds Andy and continues to basically do what he did in the two earlier films. Lots of killing. Lots of wisecracks and that cackling laugh. Lots of the same. I did like this film more though than the second installment. First of all, the director did NOT repeat the problem of an overly long, seemingly never-ending death scene. The military school makes for an interesting backdrop to the story. The young actors do credible jobs. There are some interesting , quirky characterizations from the rest of the cast with Andrew Robinson stealing his scenes as a barber who really enjoys shaving the heads of the cadets. In fact I loved the little ponytails hung on the walls of his salon. A neat little addition. The story is nothing special though, and the film is very formulaic. It is entertaining if you - like me - have limited expectations.