Remy – Iris and Rose from We Are What We Are
Okay, so I understand why some people have issues with this remake. Why remake a movie from 2010? Why remake it exactly the same? What is the point? Well, the point usually is to bring it to an audience who may have missed it. Hell, Michael Haneke did that with his own movie (Funny Games), so you can sort of understand it. And, from my stand point, I did not see the original, so in this case, the We Are What We Are remake worked exactly as planned. It brought this amazing, slow-burn movie to people who may have otherwise not seen it.
But can we talk about it for a second?
If you have not seen the film or are not familiar, walk away now, because there are spoilers.
For the rest of us, I want to see what happens to Iris and Rose at the end. I know that final act of sacrificing their father was two-fold. One, it broke them away from that lifestyle and his madness (and potential rickets), but also, at the same time, it gave them a chance to “feed”, and you could see the true, feral joy they took from that act. Did killing their father cleanse them of the disease and the horrible life they would have had, or did it actually BIND them to it? It would be really interesting to see these two characters, flash forwarded ten years. Did they go in different directions? Is one a killer, and one fighting that side? Man, there is so much story there to mine. I hope someone does it one day.
Nato – Chucky from Curse Of Chucky
What was Remy talking about earlier? How much I love the Chucky franchise? Trust me, I wasn’t always a fan of the killer doll, as Brad Dourif’s voice haunted my nightmares for more years than I’d like to admit, but 2013 saw this red-haired Devil-toy return to a state that rejuvenated a franchise already five movies deep. Don Mancini reinvented Chucky yet again, ditching the whole stand-up comedian routine in favor of some more true, dark, unsettling horror.
Chucky is an icon, and has stood the test of time. We’ve seen Chucky fail time and time again to capture Andy Barclay, we’ve seen him meet the love of his life in Jennifer Tilly’s character Tiffany, we’ve seen him raise a creepily transexual child – we’ve been with Chucky through the thick and the wafer thin – but don’t think there haven’t been moments where it all looked doomed. After Child’s Play 3, many people were becoming bored with Chucky’s endless battle against Andy, and thus comedy was introduced.
Bride Of Chucky is arguably the best entry in the franchise, but Don Mancini’s follow up, Seed Of Chucky, had long-time fans unimpressed. This is where Curse of Chucky came in, finding a way to continue the ongoing lineage established, including Tiffany, but Mancini was also able to utilize a scary Chucky in ways that haven’t been done before. While it’s obviously a sequel, one can argue it’s a reboot and a remake as well, getting back to Chucky’s roots with a completely fresh take.
Chucky has been through the good, the bad, and the weird – and I couldn’t be more excited to see where he goes next. Good thing Child’s Play 7 was already announced!
