‘It was a new kind of horror figure…’
All the major horror franchises follow the same trajectory give or take. Game-changing first film, uneven but beloved sequels, TV show, reboot, retrospective documentary. While Living with Chucky isn’t as exhaustive as Never Sleep Again or Crystal Lake Memories, it still works as a love letter to one of the more eccentric horror sagas out there…
Written and directed by Kyra Gardner, Living with Chucky goes through each entry in the Child’s Play franchise combining archive footage with interviews with everyone involved in the movies. This means extensive footage of conversations with series creator Don Mancini, producer David Kirschner and various stars including Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif and Alex Vincent.
What is striking about this franchise is that it has been the same principal cast and crew from the first film to the last. Some people have dipped in and out and new additions have flourished along the way but by the end of Cult of Chucky, it genuinely feels like everyone involved is a family. This is reflected in the fact that the quality of the Child’s Play franchise remains high throughout the entire series, especially in comparison to other horror franchises.
If I were to offer one criticism, it would be that it would have been interesting to address the controversy that the franchise generated during the video nasty era but this is too much of a puff piece to go there and I suppose that’s fine. Obviously Living with Chucky is for hardcore horror fans only but as horror franchise retrospectives go, it’s very enjoyable.