DonMancini Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It would be nice if Brad Dourif's legacy could be his Oscar-nominated performance as Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but it's far more likely that people will most remember him as the voice of Chucky, the killer doll from the Child's Play movies. So far, Dourif has lent his voice to the doll in five installments, and he's heading for a sixth. According to Bloody-Disgusting.com, who got it straight from the mouth of Child's Play creator Don Mancini, the remake/reboot of the 1988 original (which Scott first told us about a year ago) will feature a slightly redesigned Chucky, but the character will still have the voice of Dourif. The actor will also return in person to re-play serial killer Charles Lee Ray (aka "the Lake Shore Strangler"), who transfers his soul into the plastic body of a "Good Guys" doll.

Mancini also confessed again to Bloody-Disgusting that his reason to restart the franchise is to make Child's Play scary again; he claims the fans pretty much asked for this after seeing the series go too far in absurdly camp directions with the last installment, Seed of Chucky. Well, they didn't necessarily ask for a remake, but Mancini claims the only way to scare the fans again is to begin anew. Or, he could have asked us to forget the horror-comedy sequels and simply title it Child's Play 4. But anyway. The new film will be written and directed by Mancini, who singularly wrote all five of the previous Chucky movies and made his directorial debut with Seed.

A few weeks ago I snagged a really sweet deal at the video store: A Chucky four-pack for $10. Granted, it's far from my favorite horror series, but hell: Four flicks for 10 bucks is a good deal, doubly so when those movies offer the voice of Brad Dourif as a homicidal toy. But when I got the DVDs home, I realized I should have looked a little closer: As this was a Universal Home Video 4-pack, the movies I got were Child's Play 2 (1990), Child's Play 3 (1991), Bride of Chucky (1998), and Seed of Chucky (2004). Still a pretty solid deal ... but I wanted the first (and best) Chucky misadventure: Part 1!

Logic indicates that Part 1 was not included for one simple reason: The sequels are Universal properties, whereas the original Child's Play (currently available on nasty-ass Full-Frame DVD only) is an MGM title. But I didn't offer all this boring background information for no reason: According to Bloody D, a new Child's Play special edition is due for release on September 9. The 20th Anniversary edition will feature two audio commentaries (one with screenwriter Don Mancini and producer David Kirschner, the other with actors Catherine Hicks and Alex Vincent, and FX designer Kevin Yagher), a new "making of " documentary, and a third commentary track with Dourif "in character" as Chucky. Best of all, the flick will arrive wearing a swanky new 16x9 widescreen transfer.

Seriously, how have we so far been spared a Child's Play remake? What with horror remakes being all the (former) craze, to resurrect little Chucky would seem to be a no-brainer. Well, apparently it is, because STYD.com brings us the word from producer David Kirschner: Apparently Chucky's return is in the works.

"We're discussing it with Don Mancini, who has written all of them with us from the beginning," the producer told Shock, "The next one we're going to do is we're going back and remaking the first one and even pushing it further and making a very terrifying version of the first one, which is pretty scary as it is." Wait, what? I'm not about to knock (the original) Child's Play, but "terrifying"? No, not really. When asked "why," Mr. Kirschner's response was pretty telling: "Look at Halloween ... It's kind of commerce to keep the franchise going, and another reason to go see it."

The early plan is to move forward with the participation of series creator Don Mancini, but probably with a young director. (They work cheaper.) And if you're worried that the new Chucky will be some sort of CGI creation, fear not. The producer promises to keep the little killer animatronic in nature.

Ah, and here's a little tidbit for you Chucky-heads: Early next year we'll be getting a 20th Anniversary Special Edition of the original Child's Play. So at least that's some good news.