Alright, this week has been a little bit of a horror awesomeness overload, which started with me getting to interview Don Mancini, Brad Dourif, Alex Vincent, Fiona Dourif, and Danielle Bisutti, who were promoting their now released Child’s Play sequel, Curse of Chucky. I mean, I was sitting face to face with the man (well, voice) who haunted my nightmares as a young boy – OK, young adult – OK, fine, Chucky totally f#cked up my adult life too. Whatever, don’t judge me, Chucky is scary, end of story, but that wouldn’t be possible without such a devoted fan base.
While you’ll get all my interviews shortly, right now I’m caught up in the flurry of Comic Con, and starting my day off was the Curse Of Chucky panel featuring all those names, plus franchise favorite Jennifer Tilly. Please note, there are spoilers for anyone who knows how the above actors are involved, so if you haven’t seen Chucky’s latest killing spree, stop reading and go watch the movie that resurrected this killer doll – again!
Moderating the panel was Ain’t It Cool News runner/Geek God Harry Knowles, one of the biggest defenders of Mancini’s least popular film, Seed Of Chucky. Before we even met the cast though, we were treated to a very special introduction from Chucky himself, hijacking the giant screens for a little spectacle of his own. After making fun of Katherine Heigl and getting everyone in the mood, Chucky dropped the damn bass and introduced a mashup from Mike Relm that remixed all the Child’s Play kills with a sweet dialogue inspired beat-stravaganza. Chucky’s back baby, and he’s better than ever.
Then the cast was introduced, one by one strutting out to a standing ovation, and the panel started. Now, I’ll save a lot of the tidbits for later, because my interviews will cover the questioning and more, but the excitement about the cast was infectious, and the crowd was amped. Everywhere you looked there was Chucky – from a girl decked out head to toe in a cosplay Chucky outfit, to a woman dressed as Tiffany holding a Glen/Glenda doll. Seeing this kind of fandom show up for Chucky, as people even traveled from Alaska to be at the New York Comic Con, was refreshing and inspirational, because as Harry put it best, Chucky won’t return to the big screen until we get him there. Go buy the movie on Blu-Ray, get it on DVD, or snag it through Video On Demand. Once the demand is there, he’ll be back, don’t worry.
Trust me, if it’s up to Don Mancini, there will be a bevy of Chucky movies to come, and more tonally shifting stuff. Referring to Glen/Glenda showing up again, Mancini said that probably won’t happen until the “pendulum swings back” from the dark, Gothic vibe Chucky once again adapted, but he expressed excited interest in bringing back Chucky’s kin as he “loves the characters” and absolutely hasn’t counted the children out of any future films.
Now, again, Alex Vincent was in attendance, and if you know Child’s Play, then you know Alex played Chucky’s first target, Andy Barclay. While I won’t say exactly how he returns, I will say that you need to stay after the credits, and then after the after credits scene – hint hint. Mancini revealed something interesting though, discussing how he originally had intended to end Andy’s scene in the film, as it was supposed to be drawn out even further. According to Mancini:
“In the script, the very last shot of the film was the camera pulls back from Andy’s 2nd floor apartment, and we pull back to reveal he lives above a ground floor shop, and the sign says Andy’s Gun Shop. We see how he’s been affected by his experience…”
Another funny moment of the panel happened when Brad Dourif let slip that he actually could have played The Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman, a role that eventually went to Jack Nicholson. I know it’s still hard to believe, but according to Brad:
“Tim Burton saw me on a plane and wanted to cast me, but [the studio] said no!”
Could you imagine Brad’s take on The Joker? Think about the voice talent he did with Chucky, and now apply that to a Batman villain. Yes, I’m giddy. That would have been hilarious to the millionth degree.
Listen, Chucky is back, and if this panel drove anything home, it’s the commitment that Don and company have to creating Chucky films that the fans want to see. According to Don, his biggest procrastination technique while writing is to “go on horror websites and see what the fans are saying about Chucky,” so when he found out we wanted a scarier version, differentiating from Seed of Chucky, he wrote it – and delivered. Every single actor up there voiced how they want to continue the story, and stressed how Chucky has essentially been reborn with this new film. While no one came out and said officially another sequel was in the works, every conversation revolved around “where the franchise will go next,” indicating no signs of stopping for Don. The only question is, will it make its way to theaters? That’s up to you, the fans, to decide, and if Curse of Chucky can generate the hype it deserves, as it should have been in theaters itself, we’ll see Chucky heckling and hacking his way through another big-screen performance – and that’s something I can’t wait to see.
Support Curse of Chucky, and support his triumphant return to theaters! Be sure to check back later this weekend for our exclusive interviews with everyone who attended the panel (except Jennifer Tilly, sadly), and find out what they really had to say about their new film and where the franchise is headed.
Oh yeah, and check out Mike Relm’s dope remix below – I want this on all my playlists:
