It's probably a safe bet to say that Curse of Chucky writer/director Don Mancini is having a hell of a great October. Not only have fans been able to enjoy the return of Chucky in his latest sequel, but Universal released a stunning box ray set this week celebrating the entire Child's Play series and its legacy over the last 25 years.
Mancini has been a permanent fixture in the Child's Play franchise ever since the very beginning, even sharing writing duties on all the films as well as helming the previous installment, Seed of Chucky (which is grossly underrated in this writer's opinion). Daily Dead recently chatted with Mancini about his approach to the latest sequel, Curse of Chucky, which finds him circling back to the series' more serious roots in the latest movie. Mancini also discussed Chucky's new look for Curse, working with the film's star, Fiona Dourif, and whether or not he's got more victims in mind for everyone's favorite killer doll.
Daily Dead: Can you talk about what made you decide to take a more serious tonal route in Curse of Chucky? How important it was to you to take the series' story back to its roots?
Don Mancini: It was a couple of things, actually. For a while in the late 90's and early 2000's, it was kind of vogue to be making self-aware comedic horror. It was a response in the genre to when Scream came out because everyone was trying to capture that spirit because it seemed like that's what the fans wanted then. So we made both Bride and Seed as comedies and rode that wave for a while. With Curse, we definitely wanted to make something different from those two films because there's always a danger with sameness. It's been almost ten years since we made a Chucky movie so we knew this really had to be something really special for the fans.
Making Chucky scary again and having back to being a much darker character again for Curse is what we've been hearing the fans out there wanted to see so that was a big part of it too. Plus I think it's always good to go back to your roots every once in a while, especially since we consider this a new direction for the franchise.
Daily Dead: Since we're talking about blending the old and the new, I would say that there's a lot of that approach in how you guys designed the Chucky doll. I also thought it was clever that you guys really played up his eyes in this one too.
Don Mancini: Thanks for saying that. We decided that we wanted to base Chucky's look in Curse more on how he looked originally than how he looked in Bride or Seed. It was like he was a clean slate, much like we're sort of starting again with the series, so that was really important to us that he looked like a child's toy and not some crazy, scary doll that you didn't want to go near. It's creepier if he looks normal, I think and the more messed up look just plays better for comedy than horror.
We definitely played a lot with Chucky's look through the eyes and also in how lit him for certain shots too. The initial doll eyes I thought were really cool because they have these starburst flares to them and look really innocent and then as the movie progresses, we were able to do more with adding vessels and more sinister-looking real eyes. I think gave Chucky a whole new level of creepiness we hadn't seen in the design before. We just wanted it to be subtle with how we portrayed his more human-like qualities in Curse because it just feels creepier that way.
Daily Dead: Talk about choosing Fiona (Dourif) for the lead in Curse of Chucky; I thought she did a fantastic job.
Don Mancini: She's so great; a lot of people immediately think Fiona got the role because of who her dad is, but that wasn't the case at all. When she originally read for the role, it was actually for the role of the sister and while I was watching her read I thought that she would actually be a great Nica. She'd been working for years, so she had the experience and I saw her work in The Master too which I thought was fantastic. I knew she had the ability to tackle this role and deliver a wonderful performance.
I almost resisted casting her at first just because I was worried but she was just far too talented to overlook because of people's perceptions. Fiona was just the best actress for this role and I couldn't be happier with how she did. This character demanded so much of her both physically and emotionally and she just nailed it. Fiona also has this presence to her where it seems like she could be someone who has been affected by supernatural forces so there's a naturalness there; almost like she's haunted in a way.
Daily Dead: You mentioned that this is a new direction for both Chucky and the Child's Play series. Does that mean you're already planning for the next sequel?
Don Mancini: We have to wait and see how Curse does but yes, I do hope this is the start of a new trilogy. There's always more we can do with Chucky so our fingers are crossed. I'd even love to do another movie with Fiona but ultimately, it's up to the fans.
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Catch up on our recent Chucky coverage by visiting the following links:
Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
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