DON MANCINI
"I'm happier with the later films than with Child's Play 2 or Child's Play 3," writer/director Don Mancini muses. With the fifth film in the series, Seed of Chucky, about to hit DVD, Mancini opened up about his thoughts on the series. "I felt those were repetitions of the formula from the first movie, and hence a bit uninspired and run-of-the-mill. I know those movies have their fans, and some people even prefer them to the comedic tone of the later movies. But to me, the most successful sequels are the ones that reinvent the wheel a little bit."
Mancini waited long for Chucky's rebirth. After the bland retread Child's Play 3 in 1991, it was seven long years before Mancini and director Ronny Yu (Freddy vs. Jason) resurrected Chucky in a bloodbath of gore and giggles, care of Scream's post-modern, self-referencing fad. "I wanted to do something different," Mancini notes. "I figured that this is the fifth film in the series, and generally with any series -- horror, comedy, or action -- sequels can run the risk of become very formulaic, and I didn't really want to do that." Neither John Carpenter nor Wes Craven was available for comment.
"I also felt that with the first three films we'd tapped out the concept of truly disturbing scariness," Mancini says, noting the original film's serious tone. "I think that with any of these horror icons -- whether it be Jason, Freddy, or Chucky -- part of the scariness is derived from their mysteriousness and staying in the shadows. But when you're dealing in the territory of sequels you inevitably have to show them more, bring them more front and center, because that's what the fans demand. The problem when you do that is your rob them of their mystery, and they consequently become less frightening." Things get even tougher when your main villain can be purchased at a local toy store. "With Chucky -- because he's a doll -- it's a particular problem since it's already so absurd. He's a two foot tall little thing filled with stuffing -- you could just kick him! So, I really felt we couldn't do the scary thing with him anymore without basically remaking the same film over and over again, which I really didn't want to do."
The answer? Add in a dash of comedy to the guts and grizzle. "As just a film fan and creative person, am just as interested in comedy as I am in horror," Mancini says. "And I guess there are a lot of movies that you could classify as horror comedies like Re-Animator and Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn, both of which I really love. They're movies that aren't really scary, but are funny and over the top in an outrageous way. And that's the kind of movie I wanted to make with Seed of Chucky. We took a big step in that direction with Bride of Chucky, and I wanted to keep doing that in this movie."
Unlike most horror sequels, Seed of Chucky is notable for showcasing a game cast of Hollywood actors with already solidified careers. Oscar nominee Jennifer Tilly (Bullets Over Broadway) shows off her sense of humor as well as sex appeal, playing an exaggerated version of herself in the film. "I wrote the script for Jennifer and wrote that part with her in mind. I knew that she was the perfect person to do it," Mancini says, referring to Tilly's role in 1998's Bride of Chucky. "But when you write something like that you almost never get your first choice. So I really pursued Jennifer. Even when the studio was wary of spending the money to get her, [producer] David Kirschner and I decided we would spend our own money to get her. She had a really good experience on that movie and the success gave her a brand new fan base. And in the interim we became good friends."