The Child’s Play franchise, also known as the Chucky franchise, has delighted horror and slasher fans for over thirty years. Following the original film’s premiere, Chucky (Brad Dourif) became a horror icon, spawning a franchise consisting of nine movies, a TV series, and a short film. Check out our guide to find out where to watch every entry in the Child’s Play franchise in order.
The franchise started with the premiere of Child’s Play in 1988. The film follows Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent), a young boy gifted a Good Guy doll for his birthday. Unbeknownst to him and his mother, Karen (Catherine Hicks), the doll is inhabited by the spirit of serial killer Charles Lee Ray and comes to life to terrorize them. Child’s Play was a success, earning praise for its unique and terrifying puppetry and bold decision to make the primary victim of the film a child.
The film received a direct sequel, Child’s Play 2, which takes place two years after the original movie and sees Chucky reanimated. He quickly finds Andy and terrorizes him and his new friend Kyle (Christine Elise). The third movie, Child’s Play 3, premiered less than a year later and featured an eight-year time skip, focusing on a teenage Andy (Justin Whalin) who deals with Chucky while enrolled in Kent Military School. Unfortunately, both sequels failed to replicate the original’s box office success and were criticized for rehashing the same horror and slasher elements from the first film.
Hence, Child’s Play went on a seven-year hiatus before returning with Bride of Chucky. In the movie, Ray’s ex-girlfriend Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) revives Chucky before becoming a doll herself. Not only did the film garner praise for its dark humor and gain a cult following, but it was also praised for improving the franchise by shifting focus to the dolls and including LGBTQ+ representation with Tiffany, who is bisexual.
The fifth installment, Seed of Chucky, continues the dolls’ storyline with Chucky’s son, Glen (Billy Boyd), resurrecting Chucky and Tiffany, who are appalled to learn their offspring has no violent tendencies. However, the final two canon films, Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky return to the source material. In Curse of Chucky, Chucky finds a new family to terrorize, while the franchise comes full circle in Cult of Chucky with the return of Andy (Vincent). The sixth and seventh installments received the most positive critical reception in the franchise as the movies covered new ground and brought a new sense of terror to Chucky.
While Cult of Chucky played out like a finale and the next film was the reboot Child’s Play (2019) with Mark Hamill as Chucky, the original storyline continued with the TV series Chucky. The series sees Chucky fall into the hands of a teenage boy, Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur), who struggles to resist Chucky’s influence while navigating high school and relationships.
How to watch the Child’s Play movies and TV shows in order
Watching the Child’s Play movies and TV shows in order is quite simple, as the chronological and release date order are the same. The only outlier is Child’s Play (2019). Since it’s a standalone reboot unconnected to the TV show and prior films, it can be watched anytime. There is also one canon short film viewers can enjoy. See below for the release date/chronological order of the Child’s Play franchise:
- Child’s Play (1988)
- Child’s Play 2 (1990)
- Child’s Play 3 (1991)
- Bride of Chucky (1998)
- Seed of Chucky (2004)
- Chucky’s Vacation Slides (2005)
- Curse of Chucky (2013)
- Cult of Chucky (2017)
- Chucky (2021)
Where to watch the Child’s Play movies and TV shows online
Check out our list below to find out where to stream the Child’s Play movies and TV shows online in the United States!
