Cult of Chucky a fine fit in popular slasher series

Cult of Chucky a fine fit in popular slasher series

It seems strange to say about a movie marketed to audiences primarily interested in gory murders. But the thing that distinguishes Don Mancini’s Cult of Chucky from any number of other direct-to-DVD sequels is... love.

Cult of Chucky is the seventh movie about the killer doll inhabited via voodoo by the spirit of crazed serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif), first seen nearly 30 years ago in the Tom Holland film Child’s Play. Mancini wrote the screenplay to that movie when he was still a student at UCLA and has maintained the screenwriting credit over the entire series. He took a more hands-on responsibility as director of the last three movies: Seed of Chucky (the 2004 film was shot in Romania), Curse of Chucky (shot in Winnipeg in the fall of 2012) and now Cult of Chucky (which wrapped its shoot here earlier this year).

That long-term commitment gives Mancini an imperative to keep the franchise fresh, though the budgets of the past two films were a modest US$5 million apiece. Hence, in a series where the movies seem to come in matched sets, the broadly comic self-parody of Bride of Chucky/Seed of Chucky have given way to the more gothic set pieces of Curse of Chucky/Cult of Chucky, even as they reintroduce us to callback characters. Returning to the franchise are Jennifer Tilly (as Chucky’s equally depraved soulmate Tiffany) and Alex Vincent as Andy Barclay, the grown-up, messed-up little boy from the very first film.

This film still focuses on troubled paraplegic heroine Nica (Fiona Dourif), framed for the murders in the last chapter and now occupying a sterile asylum tucked away in a wintry hinterland (Winnipeg is, again, well cast). A sketchy psychiatrist (Michael Therriault) has convinced Nica she was indeed responsible for the Curse of Chucky mayhem and to help make his case, he’s brought along a Chucky doll.

MPI lowers speed limit on tech upgrade with ‘IT roadmap’ following Project Nova debacle

Manitoba Public Insurance is now using an “IT road map” and phasing in new technology and systems after pulling the plug last year on its failed $164-million overhaul known as Project Nova, its annual report says.

Real journalists matter in an AI world

An algorithm can decide what you see, but it doesn’t report the news. Nunatsiaq News, an award-winning newspaper in Nunavut, recently reported that a so-called “news” website was posting AI-generated articles about the north by stealing real news stories produced by real journalists.

The articles were supposedly written by Nunavut correspondent Leah Qammaniq — a fake journalist, with a fake photo and a fake bio.

Governor General Louise Arbour warned us of fake news in her installation speech in June. She said, “We must continue to protect the public space in which our national debates take place: from schools and universities to the media, political parties, unions and civil society organizations …With instant access to vast amounts of information, it is very tempting to pay little attention to the reliability of sources. The lines between knowledge and belief, between truth and falsehood, between facts and assumptions, are increasingly blurred. AI could be threatening not only the way we live and work, but also the control we exercise over our own destiny.”

The Government of Canada has recognized the problem as well. Its recent discussion paper, Enhancing trust in artificial intelligence through increased transparency, stated, “Canadians encounter news reporting, product reviews, and audio-visual content across the internet, often without any indication of whether it was written by a person, generated by an AI system, or produced through some combination of both … A particular concern within this broader landscape is that generative AI greatly enables the creation and dissemination of deceptive or misleading content.”

Pimp sentenced to 11 years in prison

A man who picked up a vulnerable 17-year-old child-welfare ward on the streets of Winnipeg and coerced her into providing sexual services for several months has been sent to prison for more than a decade.

After a trial, Hassan Kargbo, who’s in his early 30s, was found guilty of sexual exploitation, making child sexual abuse and exploitation material, receiving a material benefit from sexual services provided by a person under 18, procuring a person under 18 and advertising sexual services.

Provincial court Judge Julie Frederickson sentenced him to 11 years behind bars late last month.

“Mr. Kargbo picked up a young Indigenous girl walking over the Osborne Street bridge and quickly got her involved in drug use and escorting,” Frederickson said in a written decision.

Stevenson set for first Jets start against Penguins

DETROIT — Clay Stevenson, the stage is yours.

As the Winnipeg Jets wrap up a two-game road trip on Monday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the newest member of the team will be between the pipes after Stuart Skinner got the call in the first two outings of the campaign.

There will be an element of familiarity for Stevenson, as PPG Paints Arena is where he made his first NHL appearance with the Washington Capitals on April 17, 2025.

“There is some comfortability in that building,” said Stevenson, who made 33 saves in a 5-2 loss to the Penguins in that NHL debut. “It’s always a great challenge to play against (Sidney) Crosby and (Evgeni) Malkin and those guys. It’s an honour to get into the crease anytime.”