A ’90s Horror Comedy That Inspired A Generation Of Goths Is Now On Netflix
Were you a goth teen in the '90s? Then you probably loved this horror comedy that's now streaming on Netflix.
This favorite of goth teens everywhere is now streaming on Netflix.
Imagine young me donning black, wide-leg jeans, black jelly bracelets, and dying my hair black in my bathroom sink. That’s a little glimpse into the total goth experience of my youth, and part of the phenomena was underpinned by a series of movies that cataloged the goth experience. We collectively loved The Craft, A Nightmare Before Christmas, and other dark and spooky fare that could be found emblazoned on the T-shirts of Hot Topics everywhere. But the true gem of the ’90s was a hilarious horror sequel that flipped a once-terrifying series into goth gold. That’s right: We’re talking about the 1998 cult classic and favorite of an entire generation of goth teens, Bride of Chucky.
Leading up to Bride of Chucky’s release, the Child’s Play series was responsible not for fun goth shenanigans, but for being the origin story to so many people’s fear of dolls. Alas, when a serial killer jams his soul into a little doll, you aren’t exactly going to be happy seeing that two feet of rubber and plastic walking toward you with a butcher knife in his little fist. So when Bride of Chucky came out in 1998, many hardcore horror fans were disappointed to see that the new sequel would have a silly approach to the series.
In this bonkers sequel, Chucky meets his ex girlfriend and biggest fan: Tiffany, played by Jennifer Tilly. After finding the remains of the doll, she does some quick surgery on its remains and a few incantations and voila, Chucky is back ala Frankenstein’s Monster. But when life isn’t all rosy between a grown human woman and a murderous doll, he kills her and turns her into a doll herself. It sounds gruesome, but frankly she learns to love her new form, and so the pair become a killer couple.
Why was this such a hit with the goth teens of the ’90s and early 00’s? You can thank the silly premise, a character who relishes in the dark side, and a fellow goth character in Alexis Arquette’s Damien Baylock. We were all smudging black liner around our eyes and quoting the movie after watching it on VHS for the 100th time.
Alas, you don’t need a VHS copy anymore. Bride of Chucky and the rest of the Child’s Play series are now on Netflix. Check it out for some pointers on how to be a ’90s and 00’s goth teen.
