Killer twist
Move over Annabelle. The killer doll from the 1980s, Chucky, is ressurected in Child’s Play.
IF you miss the old Chucky, the straight-from-1988 Chucky, this summer’s Child’s Play remake has nostalgic scares up its sleeve for you ... with a killer twist.
Rebooting the R-rated frightmare about a murderous ginger-haired doll, Child’s Play, opening in June, reimagines the horror classic for our plugged-in times. Instead of the reincarnated soul of a sociopathic serial killer, this Chucky is a hightech A.I. toy gone berserk who terrorises 13-year-old Andy Barclay (Gabriel Bateman) and mum, Karen (Aubrey Plaza).
The product of global consumerism gone awry, the new self-learning Chucky is an obsolete model of the best-selling “Buddi” with a glitch in his chip and the ability to control interconnected devices.
Brian Tyree Henry and Tim Matheson also star in the film scripted by Tyler Burton Smith and directed by Lars Klevberg (Polaroid). Producers David Katzenberg and Seth Grahamesmith (It) saw an opportunity to create a new horror lore that taps into modern existential fears.
“We’re always reading about Alexa spying on people, or smart homes being hacked,” says Grahame-smith, “It feels inevitable that in the next five years some big tech company is going to create a smart, connected child companion toy.”
When that near-future arrives, will it have a total lack of impulse control and a penchant for kitchen knives?
Klevberg uses animatronics and VFX to bring his Chucky to life. And it resembles the original iconic design. “He had to be redheaded,”
says Klevberg, who grew up in Norway watching the 1988 film.
“It was important that our Chucky has a signature (voice),” he adds.
Mark Hamill voices the character with a needful childlike quality, reflecting the director’s vision of the doll as “almost like a toddler looking at the world for the very
first time.”
But wait, you say: What about the Chucky we remember? The one who slashed his way through six sequels, fell in love (with equally maniacal Tiffany in Bride Of Chucky), became a dad (Seed Of Chucky), terrorised a paraplegic heroine (Curse Of Chucky )and managed to multiply himself (Cult Of Chucky)?
Well, that’s a different Chucky. The killer doll, it might be said, suffers from a case of split personality. Or rather, split rights: After MGM distributed 1988’s Child’s Play, sequels were released by Universal Pictures and its subsidiaries.
The Chucky series lives on at Universal under filmmaker Don Mancini, who wrote all seven previous Child’s Play/chucky films and directed the last three.
Expanding the original mythology with Brad Dourif as Chucky, he’s developing a Chucky TV series and has made his disapproval of the reboot known after declining to come aboard as executive producer.
The rift has split the loyalties of horror fans, but the remake’s producers hope audiences have a hankering for multiple tellings of Child’s Play.
“I have nothing but admiration and respect for Don,” says Grahame-smith, who adds that he respects Mancini’s decision not to back the reboot.
“We’re just trying to make the best version of this Chucky that we can, and I don’t think our version takes anything away from the original Chucky.” – Los Angeles Times/ Tribune News Service