Child's Play/Chucky (doll films)

[oy vey]

I'm thinking franchise package of course, not individual movies...

It's tricky trying to define horror I suppose.

[Jim Bob]

The way I see it you've got horror and you've got horror, where one is "prestige" and actually scary, and you've got goofy horror like Chucky, NOES, etc. If we're talking silly shit I put Chucky pretty high on the list!

I see what you mean.  On that basis; yeah, Chucky's pretty high up on the list, I suppose.

[DukeDeMondo]

but I will say that I rate Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 more than most.

Me too. TCSM2 is absolutely fantastic. It's wildly funny, its playing around with the gender politics of the standard slasher film make for some truly jaw-dropping images (Leatherface's impotent attempts to rev his saw into action; Stretch mimicking the famous chainsaw dance from the close of the original) and the general tone of hyper-stylised Looney Tunes chaos from the get-go... It's amazing. One of the best horror sequels ever made, even though it has virtually nothing in common aesthetically or tonally with the first.   

[oy vey]

Child's Play 2 and 3 on the Horror Channel tonight 9pm.

[BritishHobo]

Loving this thread. Have to agree this is one of the most consistent horror franchises out there. You just feel Mancini is doing what he wants to do, and I love the way it's developed. I'm a sucker for things like Curse, where it's a bit of a soft reboot, but then they bring in the heavier stuff continuity-wise. Following Andy through the first three films, and again in the newer film, gives it that consistency that most franchises lack with their revolving-door casts.

I really like how he's brought it back to a more tense, straight horror tone without losing any of the fun. Though, as has been said, Seed of Chucky is fucking brilliant. An absolute mess, but a brilliant one. Can't deny any of it's been phoned in.

The remake was good fun as well, cracking soundtrack, and hopefully hasn't derailed the main franchise.

[Jim Bob]

The remake was good fun as well, cracking soundtrack, and hopefully hasn't derailed the main franchise.

The remake didn't exactly do gangbusters at the box office and the TV series is still happening, so it should be fine.  Don Mancini was not best pleased about the remake in the run up to it's release, mind...

Appearing on the Post Mortem Podcast, Mancini said that MGM – who own the rights to the first film, and can do anything they want with it – asked if he and fellow Child's Play franchise producer David Kirschner wanted to be credited on the remake as executive producers – without having any real input into the film. " We said no thank you, because we have our ongoing thriving business with Chucky," Mancini said. "Obviously my feelings were hurt...And I did create the character and nurture the franchise for three fucking decades."

The filmmaker went on to add:

"So when someone says, Oh yeah, we would love to have your name on the film... it was hard not to feel like I was being patronized. They just wanted our approval. Which I strenuously denied them. The people who are making that movie, they don't know how that's going to affect my livelihood. It's not just a paycheck. It's very personal. MGM's screwing with that... potentially."