6. Curse of Chucky
The demonic ginger-haired stepchild that is okay to ridicule in jokes; Chucky, is back! The sixth title in the Child’s Play series, Curse of Chucky started shooting in Winnipeg, Canada in September.
Don Mancini, the film’s creator and director has angled the latest scribblings in the direction of a straight-up horror. This marks a departure from the tongue-in-cheek flavour of the previous two outings. It’s not a huge surprise Mancini is reverting the tone, as Seed of Chucky was a disappointment compared to the schlocky blood soaked brilliance of Bride of Chucky. Those last two entries will be struck from the canon as Curse of Chucky follows on from where Child’s Play 3 left off.
This time around, Chucky wreaks havoc (i.e. kills people) in a household wherein two sisters are struggling to deal with their mother’s suicide. When one of their daughters stumbles upon a red-haired doll which arrived mysteriously in the mail, well, folks start getting murdered horribly.
Keeping it in the family with the cast, Mancini has Brad Dourif back as the voice of Chucky as well as his daughter Fiona Dourif in one of the starring roles.
Horror stalwarts may rejoice at the notion of a return to the scarier Chucky present in the first three films but this writer is going to miss the camp comedy which essentially threw Team America in the blender with Child’s Play.
Curse of Chucky is due for release on DVD in 2013.
5. Videodrome
David Cronenberg’s techno-surreal bloody horror, Videodrome, which wins sci-fi crossover points for James Woods inserting a videotape into his abdominal cavity willingly – is being remade.
Universal Pictures announced in 2009 they had obtained rights for a remake and brought in Transformers: Dark Of The Moon scribe Ehren Kruger to write and produce the flick with his partner Daniel Bobker. In updating the film’s premise Kruger and Bobker are to introduce nano-technology with hopes the finished product will resemble a grandiose sci-fi actioner. Sounds like a major thematic departure from the original which clung to Cronenberg’s intimate body horror scare tactics.
The 1983 original sees James Woods’ cable TV programmer desperate to discover new content for his struggling network. He soon discovers a surreal show called Videodrome with transmissions that come at a price for his mind and body.
Despite Cronenberg already addressing Videodrome’s implied future in 1999’s eXistenZ, the remake is going full steam ahead after landing a director in August 2012. Relative newcomer Adam Berg was given the gig with a resume chock-full of ads, which could raise red flags for fans.
It’s often hit-n-miss when directors make the transition from commercials to features but other than further conjecture, that’s all that’s known on the Videodrome remake.
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