A Brief History of Chucky:
Child's Play (1988) (D: Tom Holland, W: Don Mancini, John Lafia, Tom Holland)
Humble Beginnings with mild thrills and mild laughs.
★ ★ ★ - Okay
Child's Play 2 (1990) (D: John Lafia, W: Don Mancini)
Strange the let the OTHER writer direct this by-the-numbers sequel. No scarier than a jack-in-the-box, and not that funny.
★ ★
Child's Play 3 (1991) (D: Jack Bender, W: Don Mancini)
Mancini's script is there, but hack director doesn't get the joke. Treats Chucky like any human-sized slasher.
★ ½
Bride of Chucky (1998) (D: Ronny Yu, W: Don Mancini)
After a long break, Don Mancini takes a Producer credit and puts Chucky on the right path. A perfectly cast Jennifer Tilly and fun kills by Ronny Yu (Freddy vs. Jason).
★ ★ ★ - Good
Seed of Chucky (2004) (D: Don Mancini, W: Don Mancini)
Mancini isn’t a strong director his first time out lacking the scares, surprise or tension needed for a horror film. The script here is his most comedic, too much so, with way too many meta jokes, most of which don’t land.
★ ★
Curse of Chucky (2013) (D: Don Mancini, W: Don Mancini)
While Seed is a bad film by itself, as part of the series it's cool to see Mancini learn from his mistakes. This Chucky is slightly less funny and a lot more scary. Folds some new characters neatly into Mancini's overall vision.
★ ★ ★ - Good
Cult of Chucky (2007) (D: Don Mancini, W: Don Mancini)
I've read some other opinions that were more favorable because it's clear that Mancini is doing whatever he wants. It's like how Mitch Hurwitz never tried to make Arrested Development more accessible. You were either on board or you're not. It's unusual to see a slasher that's not corporate product or a bunch of fan service.
★ ★
While that's not a majority of positive recommendations, there's a personal touch to the series that reminds me of what James Gunn was doing with Guardians of the Galaxy.