Child’s Play, a beleaguered franchise eyes a necessary facelift

Editor’s Note: The following essay contains massive spoilers for the entire Child’s Play franchise

There’s little doubt that what Tom Holland and Don Mancini achieved with the 1988 slasher flick Child’s Play was groundbreaking. The two-man creative team gave birth to an outlandish killer doll series, an obvious response to the popularity of the devilishly comedic Freddy Krueger, the knife-fingered maniac of the Nightmare on Elm Street juggernaut. What would soon become one of the most prolific fictional killers in cinema history started as a hyper-charged, insanely-tense, low-budget affair of one child’s encounter with The Lakeshore Strangler. Charles Lee Ray was his name, and his bloodlust (and zingy one-liners) would be the catalyst for over thirty years of carnage, for better and (most certainly) for worse.

Child’s Play ⏤ starring Alex Vincent as the sprightly protagonist Andy Barclay and Catherine Hicks as his overworked jewelry counter clerk of a mother, with Brad Dourif voicing the murderous Good Guy doll ⏤ completely busted down the door on possessed reanimation toys. In the decades prior to 1988, ventriloquist puppets were the most often utilized embodiment of evil, from Otto in 1929’s The Great Gabbo to Hugo in 1964’s Devil Doll and Fats in 1978’s Magic. But it wasn’t until 1987’s Dolls, spotlighting Mr. Punch and his ragtime band of malefactors, that children’s toys would take centerstage as the playfully spooky antagonist. A year later, screenwriters Mancini and Holland (who also directs this first entry) upended expectations in concocting Chucky, revamping the popular, real-life toy line My Buddy into one of the most unsettling characters in horror.

Through a darkly wondrous presentation of heightened reality, Mancini and Holland were not only intensifying our perhaps completely illogical fear of inanimate objects but refocusing the lens on consumerism and its stranglehold on America. Capitalist culture began crumbling in the 1980s, right around the time Chucky broke in the public consciousness; according to Washington Post economics columnist Steven Pearlstein, who claims “ideas we embraced looked like they were good and they were useful, but they were wrong,” the larger picture on a competitive marketplace began to erode, even if only surface level, but supply and demand was as vibrant as ever.

Enter: Chucky in 1988. Centered on serial killer Charles Lee Ray (whose name is derived from three real-life killers, Charles Manson, Lee Harvey Oswald and James Earl Ray) and a multimillion dollar toy company, complete with mesmerizingly innocent TV commercials that entranced an entire country of children, Child’s Play bowed in November that year to a $6.5 million worldwide gross opening weekend and an eventual $44 million total haul. Where Alex Vincent’s sometimes colorless performance lacks, the schlocky slasher makes up for in slow-burning suspense (Chucky isn’t revealed to be the killer until 45 minutes in), first-person perspective camera tricks and a fairly convincing performance from Catherine Hicks (who would later become famous for her turn as the matriarch in the late ’90s family drama, 7th Heaven). Our insatiable thirst for material things manifests itself onscreen through Chucky’s own in-born desire to hack and slash his way to Andy, into whom he must transport his soul before the clock runs out and he becomes too human in his plastic skin.

As effective the film continues to be, 1990’s Child’s Play 2 ramps up the camp to 100. With Alex Vincent reprising the wide-eyed Andy Barclay, who has now been sent to live with a foster family, alongside fellow teen outcast Kyle (played by Christine Elise), the follow-up is even smarter and pervertedly delightful. Chucky wracks up more bodies in his pursuit of Andy, and in

understanding the combined strength of comedy and terror, Mancini leans into the humor with a discerning eye. Much like Freddy Krueger before him, Chucky’s tongue is as loose his his knife (or yardstick). It’s a joyride that few could have predicted, especially in Vincent’s growing confidence as an actor and the tighter, more captivating storyline.

In sometimes disappointing instances, that recipe has been touch and go since then. 1991’s Child’s Play 3, which recast Andy Barclay with Justin Whalin (Dungeons & Dragons) for an eight-year time jump, sunk into a copy and paste template, its storytelling beats often coming up short on thrills and chills. While it certainly is not the worst offender of a now-tired franchise ⏤ its final act sure has aged rather excellently, feeling quite thrilling top to bottom (Chucky exchanging the paintball ammo for real bullets is an especially chilling moment) ⏤ it’s not altogether a cohesive episode. From regurgitated plot points (surprise! No one believes Andy, even when two seemingly disconnected deaths happen within a week of each other) to what appears to be a hesitation to fully commit to the PTSD angle (Whalin’s performance, while strong, lacks a certain emotional punch from the script), the third film shows erosion in creativity.

Seven years later, with 1998’s Bride of Chucky, perhaps one of the most exemplary models of the comedy-horror fabrication, Mancini upheld the humor in a more satirical way. While further commenting on the ever-evolving landscape of consumerism and popularity of the late ’90s slasher renaissance (see: Scream, Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later, I Know What You Did Last Summer), he beckoned the audience into an extravagant reinvention. Chucky’s antics were full-steam ahead, winding between pools of gushing blood and well-placed jokes, and this time, Mancini paired the pint-sized villain up with an old girlfriend named Tiffany, played by Jennifer Tilly, who gives one of her strongest, most endearing performances to-date. The film also gave Katherine Heigl one of her earliest credits, and there is never a moment in the spooky self-referential installment that it takes itself too seriously. It’s a charmer that would become the highest grossing of the whole bunch, opening with $11.8 million domestically and another $18.3 million globally.

Off the back of such a blockbuster, a sequel as inevitable. With the setup of Bride of Chucky‘s bloody, bewildering and bizarre ending (Tiffany, the Doll giving birth in a graveyard), 2004’s Seed of Chucky immediately spends the shiny currency so handsomely gained in the series’ past entries. Jennifer Tilly, who not only returns as Tiffany, the Doll, but as herself, appears to be just taking another paycheck, phoning in a performance devoid of much heart. Brad Dourif is as spot on as the murderous toy, as much as the script allows, however, and Billy Boyd (coming off a stint as Pippin in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) attempts to inject a sense of humanity and realism to his portrayal of Chucky and Tiffany’s troubled son Glen, who, we come to learn, is living a sad life as a ventriloquist’s dummy. The intended scheme is deceiving, as the execution is a mangled mess of outlandishly unfunny jokes, a peculiar exploration of gender (Glen/da’s journey to find him/herself is a clear nod to Ed Wood’s tragically mishandled and wacky Glen or Glenda) and an otherwise downright vanilla story. The only real character progression comes in the final act when Chucky accepts his infamy as a killer doll and decides to stop trying to find a new host.

Seed of Chucky would kill the franchise for nine long years.

Rumors swirled for some time of a reboot of the franchise, a remake of sorts, to satiate fans who were disgruntled with the off-the-rails hilarity of the most recent installment. But in 2012, it was revealed a new sequel was in the works as a VOD release. With Brad Dourif returning as Chucky and a brief cameo from Jennifer Tilly, 2013’s Curse of Chucky returned the character back to its early roots, opting in for more grim story revolving around Nica Pierce, a paraplegic played by Fiona Dourif. Even in the choice of setting (an Psycho-esque gothic mansion, featuring an elevator reminiscent of the crucial set piece in Child’s Play), Mancini hit refresh on the franchise and delivered some of its most frightening moments ⏤ from the title credits and the infamous dinner scene to the eyeball bouncing down the staircase, the priest’s charmingly gruesome beheading to Nica’s twisty trial bookend. The additional flashbacks administer a shot to the arm, too, without taking away from the mythos of the original film, only further heightening the true wickedness of the Charles Lee Ray figure. The long-awaited return of Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) was a tasty morsel in an after-credits reveal, in which Andy has kept Chucky’s mutilated head in his locked safe for decades. Such artistic choices not only revitalized the potential of Chucky in the modern era but reminded the audience of what Manicini is capable of when he’s not his own worst enemy.

Of course, we can’t have nice things.

2017’s Cult of Chuck starred an even more preposterous, uninspired performance from Jennifer Tilly, a clunky third-act twist (the possession of Nica) and a severely strange underutilization of the series’ titular character of Andy, who fades into the background for the entire runtime. Fiona Dourif glued the story together as a now-committed mental patient, who struggles with her reality and is hypnotized and then sexually assaulted by her so-called doctor (played with expert sleaziness by

Michael Therriault, most known for his stage work at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival). On paper, the concept of multiple Chucky dolls skipping around a psychiatric ward is damn creepy and fits with the original’s premise of a whodunit style. But the absurdity of several plot points ⏤ including, but not limited to, Andy’s incarceration in a padded cell after one punch to a security guard’s face and the cringe-inducing voodoofordummies.com sequence dismantling Chucky’s entire origin story to the after-credits tease of Kyle’s unexpected return ⏤ cashes in the last chump-change of credibility. Manicini’s time seems to be up, his creativity and any sense of self awareness of what works for effectively gripping horror (or even horror comedy for that matter) out the window.

When a remake of the original Child’s Play was announced last summer, significantly without the involvement of Don Mancini, in a turn which many consider an unsavory move by a studio thirsty for dough, I was instantly intrigued for what this could mean for one of my favorite horror icons. Let’s be honest for a moment, the Chucky-centric slasher series has had far more misses than hits through the years; but one could argue bland and boring (Child’s Play 3) is far more offensive than taking legitimate risks (Seed of Chucky, Cult of Chucky). But when it comes at the expense of undermining or talking down to the audience, therein the problems lie. The film, produced by IT producers David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith, is set to open June 21 and is directed by Norwegian director Lars Klevberg (Polaroid) with a screenplay by Tyler Burton Smith (Quantum Break). The cast is packed with an equal share of talent: Gabriel Bateman (American Gothic) as Andy Barclay; Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation, Legion) as Karen Barclay; and Bryan Tyree Henry (Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, Atlanta, Widows) as detective Norris.

“’Child’s Play’ was, and is, one of my all-time horror movies and it was one of my introductions to horror,” Klevberg told Entertainment Weekly, alongside the teaser poster reveal back in the fall. “I got the script [for the remake] and it was really really good, and I knew it was from the producers from It, and I jumped in immediately.”

But Don Mancini hasn’t been too impressed so far.

When the new face of Chucky (now a Buddi knock-off) was revealed, he tweeted his disdain:

THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY ON THAT SUBJECT pic.twitter.com/r2llIGSDWx

— Don Mancini (@RealDonMancini) September 21, 2018

He later spoke further on the reboot, mounted through MGM, telling Post Mortem‘s Mick Garris, “Obviously, my feelings were hurt. You know, I had just done two movies…forgive me if I sound defensive, [they] were both at 83 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Even though they didn’t get theatrical releases, they were well regarded. And I did create the character and nurture the franchise for three fucking decades.”

He continued, “The people who are making that movie, they don’t know how that’s going to affect my livelihood. It’s not just a paycheck. It’s very personal. MGM’s screwing with that… potentially.” [Quotes via Dread Central]

The development of a remake doesn’t sit well with actress Christine Elise (Kyle in Child’s Play 2 and Cult of Chucky) either. “I think it’s an unbelievably huge dick move. I think it’s a douche move absolutely. I don’t know why they would fuck with a healthy franchise,” she told Horror Geek Life. “To make a competing franchise with an existing, and like you said healthy, robust franchise is super douchey. And nobody from the original franchise is involved; they’re not gonna have Brad Dourif, they’re not gonna have Don, and they’re not gonna have any of us.”

OK, look. I get it. The original Child’s Play, arguably a classic these days, is the product of Don Mancini’s ingenuity and creativity, and anyone would and should be displeased with a remake happening with an ongoing empire (including a TV series and more sequels). But let’s not downplay Tom Holland’s crucial role in rewriting the original script of the 1988 film, notably swapping out the idea of Chucky only reanimating while Andy was asleep for a far more grisly, cinematic tale. Furthermore, the franchise has had far too many missteps in the last 15 or 20 years. Seed of Chucky was an abysmal coming-of-age fairytale, and Cult of Chucky botches what could and should have been a truly thrilling Andy vs. Chucky showdown but suffers greatly from a shaky vision and inadequate execution.

The unconditional love of franchise loyalists to the original storyline is commendable, but not giving the remake a chance before a single second of footage has dropped is as hysterically basic as Seed‘s attempts to make us laugh. A fresh new perspective is sorely needed if the Chucky brand has any hope to regain its relevancy. It should be underlined in red here that the reboot is the first installment to get a wide theatrical release in 15 years, which on its face will open the floodgates of the original franchise to a younger generation. Mancini has an obvious set of bad habits that tends to sour the material, such as using paper-thin humor and sexual innuendos as a crutch for splatter, tension and mood and servicing fan obsession with excavating the series’ most beloved characters and then missing the mark completely.

At its best (Child’s Play 2, Bride of Chuck, Curse of Chucky), the franchise is a gay old time of B-movie shock and awe through tapping into universal fears and proving to be rather horrifying as a result. And at its worst (Seed of Chucky, Cult of Chucky), it appeals to the lowest common denominator of jump scare tactics and jarring absurdism framed within insubstantial standup comedy. Don Mancini has absolutely earned his title as one of the most influential horror minds of all time, but 2019 is as good time as any to pass the torch off to a new set of very capable, talented and intuitive hands.

There is surely reason for reservations of the project. The demonic voodoo component of Chucky’s mythos has been discarded altogether to reflect the changing of the times. In the 2019 facelift, Chucky is a new-fangled high-tech update, which permits for the potentiality for hacking, a tangible terror of today’s world. As of this writing, the voice of the new Chucky has yet to be unveiled, and the exclusion of Brad Dourif, who will reportedly continued to be involved in Mancini’s expected TV series and further sequels of the original universe, might be hard to shake. But again, Child’s Play oh so desperately needs fresh meat, so to speak, in every creative aspect.

Guys, let’s give it a chance.

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