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It’s straightforward to overlook how good the Youngster’s Play films are. Don Mancini’s movie franchise about Chucky, a murderous red-haired doll possessed by the spirit of a lifeless assassin, rides the road between campy comedy and gory slasher, and it’s usually managed that completely since its 1988 debut. For folks with a major fondness for goofiness and gore in equal measure, few sequence are as adept at delivering each as Youngster’s Play and its six sequels. After years of enjoyable on the films, Chucky is launching his newest murderous misadventure because the star of a TV present for Syfy and the USA Community, and he hasn’t misplaced any of his expertise for killing or comedy on the way in which to the small display screen.
The brand new sequence, which is simply referred to as Chucky, is a direct sequel to the earlier seven films. Mancini additionally returns to the franchise because the sequence’ creator, author, and showrunner — and thank God, as a result of 2019’s disastrous reboot Youngster’s Play was an important reminder that nothing about Chucky works with out Mancini.
Not like a few of the newer movies, which adopted the doll and typically his bride Tiffany as the primary characters, Chucky follows queer middle-schooler Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur), who lives within the small New Jersey city of Hackensack. That simply occurs to be the birthplace of Charles Lee Ray, the serial killer whose soul inhabits the Good Guys doll generally known as Chucky.
Photograph: Steve Wilkie/USA Community
The change from little one protagonist to a younger teenager within the lead function is a big cause the present works so nicely. At its core, Chucky is a teen dramedy concerning the difficulties of college, bullies, first crushes, and even coming to phrases with sexuality — one thing Mancini, an brazenly homosexual man, handles way more deftly than many current teen exhibits.
The primary few episodes are principally about introducing the solid, together with Jake’s classmates and Hackensack’s adults. There’s Jake’s new pal and first crush, Devon (Björgvin Arnarson), a true-crime podcaster with a paranoid-cop mom; his overworked however good-at-everything cousin Junior (Teo Briones); and Junior’s girlfriend Lexi — performed by Alyvia Alyn Lind, who’s excellent at being virtually as gleefully merciless as Chucky within the first few episodes. On their very own, the present’s characters could be compelling sufficient to entertain followers for a 10-episode Netflix present, however the twist arrives when Jake occurs to purchase Chucky at a yard sale, and the doll reveals his bloodthirst.
The addition of a sentient murder-doll, notably one as foul-mouthed and gleeful as Chucky, lets Mancini ratchet up the feelings into pure melodrama, making all the same old teen-angst points just a little extra enjoyable. The present’s bully is meaner than most. (As a substitute of calling Jake names, she attire up as his lifeless mother or father for Halloween.) Jake is stranger than the common teen-movie outcast — he makes sculptures out of dismembered doll components, which appears to be his solely pastime. And Hackensack’s adults are comedically incompetent. On prime of that, in a improbable bit that feels lifted straight from a Nineteen Nineties sitcom, Chucky will get one ridiculously over-the-top homicide per episode — although by the top of episode 4 (the final one made out there to critics upfront), it looks like his devious antics are about to take middle stage within the story.
One of many secret elements that helped make Chucky so well-known, and made his films so fulfilling over the past 5 a long time, is the voice behind him: Brad Dourif, who returns for this sequence. Dourif (Grimnir Wormtongue in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films) has supplied the doll’s voice because the first film, and he’s distinctive at capturing the proper mix of venom and comedic timing. The thought of an evil doll may not be onerous to promote, however the gleeful nastiness Dourif delivers in each line made Chucky an icon, and it really works each bit as nicely in sequence format.
On prime of creating the present ridiculously enjoyable to look at, the teen-drama setup additionally lets it match neatly into the Youngster’s Play sequence as each an ideal onboarding level for brand new followers, and a breath of contemporary air for sequence veterans. Chucky’s movies haven’t had a younger protagonist because the first three films, which makes this virtually really feel like a return to kind, however the present additionally offers sufficient backstory that the opposite movies don’t really feel like obligatory viewing. Actually, the present even weaves in some backstory on Charles Lee Ray, through a sitcom-y B-plot that seems like a Younger Sheldon remake starring Hannibal Lecter.
Photograph: Steve Wilkie/USA Community
By way of the primary 4 episodes, Mancini’s most spectacular feat is balancing Chucky between critical matters and ridiculousness, whereas at all times retaining it enjoyable to look at. The present swaps comfortably between difficult teen romances, questions on how trauma impacts younger adults, and Chucky’s hilariously gory murders. Chucky himself handles tough matters, too. He’s already confirmed himself a vocal ally of Jake’s queerness, echoing again to the kid he and Tiffany had in Seed of Chucky — a child with a female and male facet, which Chucky chooses to explain as “genderfluid.” Chucky is even prepared to again up his allyship with motion, although it’s characteristically murderous motion.
After all, it’s hilarious for Chucky to declare himself “not a monster” for supporting queerness when he’s a monster for therefore many different causes. However the doll makes use of Jake’s queerness to make him really feel remoted, even from the largely supportive folks round him. It’s an enchanting avenue for the present to discover in its first few episodes, and an uncommon one for both a teen dramedy or slasher films about killer dolls. It’s all appealingly foolish, and for longtime followers of the franchise, this present is certain to kill.
Chucky’s eight-episode first season premieres on Syfy and USA Community on Oct. 12 at 10 p.m. ET.
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