(eerie, tinny child
piano music)
(choral voices chanting)
(moves to fuller
piano music)
- American monster movies
are popular almost
everywhere in the world.
Tonight your guide for
this rare odyssey
is the rising star of horror,
a real little terror.
Ladies and gentlemen,
here's Chucky!
- It's showtime.
Where the hell's Andy?
Did you miss me, Andy?
Andy, snap out of it!
You act like you've never
seen a dead body before!
- I never saw a doll
like you before.
- Amazing, isn't it?
(man groans)
I don't have a problem
with k*lling.
(Chucky screaming)
- Chucky did it.
- What are you
talking about?!
- Just stay away
from that doll!
- it's just a doll.
- Prove that it's
just a doll.
- Say something, dammit!
- How's it hanging, Phil?
Presto, you're dead.
- You're dead.
- No, you are.
- No, you're dead,
we k*lled you!
- You just can't keep
a good guy down.
I am Chucky, the
k*ller doll!
And I dig it!
(thunder rumbling)
(Chucky laughing
manically)
(eerie, tinkling music
box xylophone music)
(ascending harp music)
(moves to enchanting,
eccentric full orchestral
music)
(paper scrapes)
(equipment rattles)
- [Kyra] So can you take
me back to the beginning
of when all of
this started?
- You know, I was a
horror fan all my life.
I wrote the first script when
I was a student at UCLA.
And I was really inspired
by the horror movies
that I grew up
on as a kid.
I especially loved
Brian De Palma movies,
like "Carrie" and "Dressed
to k*ll," and "The Fury."
So I gravitated to writing
'cause it was cheaper.
You know, so it's just
the cost of paper,
and in those days
a typewriter.
This was like before
computers. Can you believe
it?
- For a while there in the
early '80s, every weekend,
a new slasher movie
was opening up.
It was just such
a flood of them.
- When the first "Nightmare
on Elm Street" came out,
and it was in 1984, it was
very unusual to have a hero,
be a villain like
Freddy Krueger,
who was d*sfigured
and evil.
It was a new kind
of horror figure.
It was a relatable horror
figure. It wasn't a monster.
It wasn't somebody
grunting, and groaning,
and coming and
breaking in.
He was a guy, and
he had an attitude.
He liked you, you know, he
sort of made you feel
special.
And there was something
about those elements
that draws the
audience in.
- Oh, you know, that was
back in the time when
the K*llers in movies
had personalities.
You know what I mean?
They became
like the hero,
but there was like
a shape shifter,
'cause it was also
the comic relief.
- The sense of
humor is huge.
The fact that he had
humor to his malice.
- That's back when
Freddy Krueger was like,
"Welcome to prime
time, bitch!"
And so those kind of
characters found themselves
as really the staple
of the movie.
It wasn't about the
teen, the teenage kids,
and it wasn't about
the heroine.
Those movies were
about the villain.
- It paved the way for other
anti-heroes who you hated
and were afraid of, but you
also were attracted to them.
And it did, it paved
the way for a Chucky.
- Well, what happened was
my wife and I, Liz had been
in England, in London.
And I bought a
book called
"The Victorian
Dollhouse Murders."
Because the idea of dolls
coming to life scared me
to death when I was a
little kid, Talking Tina
from "Twilight Zone."
And when I came back, I gave
her the book and I said,
"I would love to do
something with dolls."
And she said, "Well, there
actually was this screenplay
that came out about six
months ago called "Blood
Buddy."
But it had been passed
on by the studios.
I said, "I'm curious
to read it."
I had done "An
American Tail."
For my next project. I wanted
to do something scary.
And she gave it to me,
and I really liked the
overall idea of it.
A great idea,
Don's concept
of a doll that
is programmed
by Madison Avenue
to come to life.
- On Madison Avenue,
they refer to children
as consumer trainees.
And so like training
children to want things
that they don't need and
become compulsive buyers.
And then in the
midst of the '80s
and Cabbage Patch Dolls
had just come out.
They were this
huge craze.
And I realized that the
whole living doll trope
in the horror genre, I
had seen Talking Tina
on the "Twilight Zone."
I had seen "Magic"
with Anthony Hopkins.
But I realized that
no one had ever done
the living doll thing as
a full fledged feature
where you treat the
doll as a character who
can actually emote and you
can give him pages of
dialogue.
And "Gremlins" had
just come out.
So it's like with
"Gremlins," I realized
that animatronic effects
had gotten to a point
where they were
sophisticated enough
that the puppets could
actually emote.
So sort of all these
ideas came together,
and out came the
first Chucky script.
(typewriter
keys clacking)
- The veteran slashers
like Freddy, and Jason,
and Michael Myers were
getting a little tired by
then.
- Don came to my
office and we met,
and I got the rights
to the script.
- He had at the time,
a deal at Disney.
And so he had an office
on the Disney lot.
And I'm like 20 or 21, and
so it was a really big deal
to have someone who
was established
and had done such big
work, take an interest
in what I had written and
support it and get it going.
- The slasher genre was ready
for a burst of new blood,
and Chucky supplied
that in spades in 1988,
with the release
of "Child's Play."
- And did some work on my
own on some ideas for it,
because there wasn't,
there wasn't
the "Frankenstein"
moment in it.
There wasn't the moment that
brought the creature to
life.
(thunder crashes)
- He just, he was a doll
that had blood in
him, not real blood,
but you could be
its blood buddy.
I felt very strongly
that there should
be something very
different about this.
And so the story starts
off in the original
with a m*rder*r, Brad Dourif,
running through the streets
and the police
are chasing him.
And he takes refuge
in a toy store.
- And he's sh*t by a
police detective.
But before he dies, he does
this arcane voodoo ritual
that takes his spirit and
puts it into this inanimate
doll.
- That's really what brought
the creature to life.
(man screams)
(thunder crashes)
The name was
very important.
In Don's script
it was Buddy.
For me, the men that
truly haunted my childhood
were James Earl Ray who
sh*t Martin Luther King,
Lee Harvey Oswald,
and Charles Manson.
So Charles Lee Ray are
all three of those names.
And I don't know if
you know that. Yeah.
And from there his
friends called him Chucky.
- Hi, I'm Chucky,
and I'm your friend till
the end, Hidey-ho! (laughs)
(Karen laughs)
- We follow young
Andy Barclay who's
a lonely kid living
with a single mom.
And he wants a
Good Guys doll,
'cause it's the rage
in toys that year.
And Andy's mom buys
that doll for Andy.
And pretty soon Andy
has a new best friend,
but it's not the kind of
best friend that you want.
It's more of his
worst friend.
(latch clicks)
- Hi, I'm Chucky,
wanna play?
(Karen screams)
(doll thuds)
- For my presentation what
I had done are sketches
of what I thought
Chucky would look like,
I mean in fierce form.
You know, they all have kind
of like jumpers or overalls.
What I did was I took
elements of childhood
implements,
like a little kid's
baseball bat,
things that are overall
innocuous to m*rder.
That kind of became an
important signature piece for
him
for that clothing and the
colors that go with that.
The My Buddy doll that
Don spoke of had red hair.
- In fairy tales, the
archetype of some,
you know, redheads evil,
you know, and that's partly
why Chucky has red hair.
I mean, it's just, it's
silly and ridiculous.
And of course, we
know redheads are
the nicest people
in the world,
but in fairy tales they
are harbingers of evil.
- The more important
part was turning
this kind of benign
doll that could be seen
on the shelf at
ToysRUs or something,
and what it would look like
when the monster came out.
- I said talk
to me, dammit,
or else I'm gonna throw
you in the fire!
- You stupid bitch!
You filthy slut!
(Karen screams)
- In those sh*ts, he
kind of changed from
the mop-haired guy to a
bit of a receding hairline.
A lot of Jack Nicholson
honestly was my inspiration
from "The Shining"
for that face.
(intense, ominous
orchestral music)
- I can't think of a
thing to say. f*ck it.
- Chucky's very famous.
- Chucky's so famous.
Chucky's the most famous
thing you've done, right?
- Yeah, but I'm
nowhere near
the star Chucky is.
- I was, you know, a
huge fan of his even
just starting as a
kid, growing up,
"One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest."
I was a freshman at Columbia
University, 18 years old,
and he was teaching an
acting class there,
and I audited the
acting class. (laughs)
And then he coincidentally
ended up playing
this character
that I created.
I didn't cast him, Tom
Holland, who was the
director
of the first
movie, cast Brad.
- [Kyra] What was it
like to switch from,
you know, acting
to voice acting?
- It's the same
thing, really.
You get innately into how
to work with a microphone.
After a while you just
kind of fall into it.
- So much of that
character is the voice.
And you can tell that he
seems to be having fun
as a little doll
that came to life.
You know, like, okay,
I'm stuck with this,
but I'm gonna
have fun with it.
- It's really fun and
inspiring to work with him.
The thing about Brad is
he does not condescend
to this at all.
Brad like approaches this
as like, "Where is
he coming from?"
I mean, he doesn't
literally say,
"What is Chucky's
motivation?"
But we do, we talk
about it in the way
that I do with any
character, any other actor.
And we're thinking, what
is the subtext here?
- There's something really
fun about being the villain.
That weird motivation
of I want to hurt.
I don't care
who I step on,
this is what I want
and I'm going to,
and I'm going to get it.
There's something
sort of weird
and pure about
that motivation.
It's kind of
fun. (laughs)
Which is even
really scarier.
That's the scary part.
I mean, I think it's finding
the truth in yourself
about your own
emotions and feelings,
and the elements
that lead you there.
You can give yourself
a million different reasons
why you behave the way you
do.
It's justification
for you.
You find a justification
in your own evil.
- Acting is intention.
And you know, all of
us have a sort of
a really violent heart.
I mean we're all K*llers.
There's no such thing as
evil.
All evil is
just humanity.
It's unacceptable, but
it's still human.
- I think we create a
scenario for ourselves
that enables us to carry
out something horrible.
- You know, history
is replete
with horrible acts of
v*olence, and cruelty.
And we all are capable.
I think we like to
call things evil,
because we like to pretend
that we're not, but we are.
(intense, ominous music)
(Chucky laughs maniacally)
(thunder crashes)
- He works at it hard,
and so that's, I really
appreciate that.
- So when you're playing
something like that,
you're just using that
part of yourself.
You don't actually k*ll
anybody, but you do intend
to.
- [Chucky] Give me the
boy and I'll let you live!
Do you hear me? Give
me the boy! (screams)
- I've never been
afraid of the doll,
and I'm not
afraid of Brad.
- When I met Alex, he
was six, I was 25.
It's just a weird context
to meet some, you know,
to meet a child in a
professional context
where you're colleagues.
- I don't remember much
else about being six,
but I remember
being in the film.
And I remember a
lot of things
about making it and
behind the scenes.
- He was you know, just
this little like actor,
who sometimes felt like
my boss in a weird way.
- I mean, being
a child actor
is an interesting
situation for sure.
'Cause you're given a lot of
the responsibility of an
adult.
- He never directed me
when I was younger.
He was just the writer.
I idolized Don
when I was a kid.
- In addition to
being a good actor,
he's a really smart guy.
- And I was a bright kid.
I wasn't like a kid
that was just like,
"Okay, get in front of the
camera, Johnny, and now do
this."
I had the entire
script memorized.
I knew everybody's
lines, all my lines,
all everybody
else's lines.
- It's just so funny
seeing a seven-year-old,
like "We need to go
over this scene.
I don't like like
this dialogue.
I don't know if this
line works." (laughs)
- There's just
something really funny
about a child cursing too,
(laughs) that's so
upsetting.
But when he's like.
- He said, Aunt Maggie
was a real bitch,
and got what
she deserved.
- I showed it to my boyfriend
for the first time.
He was like, "Why is
that kid saying that?"
I'm like, "It's not
him, it's the doll!
It's Chucky. It's
not his fault!"
- I had never seen
anything like that.
And anytime a
movie uses a kid,
I am on another level
of frightened.
- By day children
imagine and pretend.
By night children have the
darkest of imaginations.
- That's kind of one
of the cool things
about having a
child actor,
like, especially in
"Child's Play," you know?
Because there is that
sort of innocence
and that quality of they're
not putting on a front.
They're not putting on
a certain demeanor.
They're just being
very truthful.
- You know, the beauty
and then the dark side
of what the character goes
through, loss, separation.
It's an important
part of childhood.
And I think that's why Don's
script originally appealed
to me because here
was this child
that was saying, "My
doll's come to life
and has spoken to me."
- Andy stop it.
You know perfectly well
that you're making this up.
- And one by one people
around him start dying.
- And sometimes,
especially in horror films,
I feel like that gives one of
the most jarring reactions.
- That crying scene that
I did in the first one,
where Andy breaks down
and is scared for his life
that Chucky's coming
to k*ll him..
- After Chucky has
m*rder*d several people,
Andy is taken to a mental
institution as a suspect.
- It's like the little
boy that cried wolf,
except he's telling
the truth.
And it's so insane that
no one would believe him
and he's separated
from his mother.
- Meanwhile,
Chucky is trying
to take over Andy's
body and soul.
- He's locked up, but he
like slides down the chair.
And he's crying, 'cause
Chucky's coming after him,
and they don't
believe him.
- I was so dreading that
scene to begin with.
Like I was just
really dreading it,
because it was a
crying scene.
- I think that as a kid too,
you hate crying on camera,
because you just
wanna have fun.
And now as an adult, I'm
like, when can I cry?
- When it finally
came time to do it,
I just kind of let
loose and was crying.
- Please don't leave
me, please. (cries)
- I legit, am like,
that poor kid.
He's about to get got.
- There are people
who have said it's,
you could just kick the
doll, it's not scary.
And I never
understand that.
- This little toy,
how scary can it be?
You could kick him over.
You could throw him
across the room.
- I mean, if I walk
through my house
and a doll came to life,
I'd probably just have
a heart att*ck and die.
I mean, that's
really scary.
- I think that's why
audiences embrace the
character,
'cause he is an underdog.
You know, he
is resilient.
He can overcome his
shortcomings and do the job.
(g*n fires)
- I had just gotten in
the Writer's Guild,
and there was a strike,
so I was not able to be on
the set for "Child's Play"
one.
But then when the
movie was in post
and they were editing
David very graciously,
'cause he didn't
have to do this,
and a lot of producers
wouldn't do it,
invited me into
the editing room
just to see what
they were doing.
And just to get my opinion
for what it was worth.
- It's funny because
what Don was so taken by,
and when Liz and I
were in London,
and I bought that book on
Victorian dollhouse murders,
there's just something
in us, people
that are frightened
of dolls.
And people say all the time,
"I'm frightened of dolls."
- Because there's something
about an inanimate object
that's like, so
no emotion, but
like just a smile.
- This like
frozen expression
that leaves your
imagination room
to do anything
and go anywhere.
- I do think that it's
the idea of bringing
the effigy of human form
to life, that shouldn't be.
- But that was
really nice of him.
And I think it was really at
that point that we bonded,
not just as colleagues,
but as friends.
And you know, and then
happily the movie was
successful,
and they wanted
to do a sequel.
- In fact, if it was a
movie it would take three
or four sequels just
to do it justice.
(darkly amusing tinkling
children's carnival music)
(tape rattles)
(paper scrapes)
(amusing tinkly children's
carnival music)
(tape rattles)
- I was so proud of the
work that everybody did,
but I never dreamed
there would be a sequel.
I didn't even
think like that.
It was the movie we were
gonna do and then move on.
- You know, and so we
did two movies back
to back, basically.
- I brought Don back
on the second film.
Yes, he was rewritten by John
Lafia on the first film,
and then Tom Holland
after that.
But he has always had a first
position writer's credit
on 30 years of Chucky.
- In "Child's Play 2"
Andy Barclay is sent
to live with
foster parents,
played by Jenny Agutter
and Gerrit Graham.
And of course they
don't believe him
that this doll has
been haunting him
for so much of
his young life.
And they soon wind up
risking Chucky's wrath.
- I've had it!
- [Andy] But you've
got to k*ll him!
- [Joanne] Andy!
- I don't have any favorite
individual memories
from that set
because I was,
the entire experience
was so exciting for me.
I was so unbelievably
happy to be there.
- This was really the
big, big production.
So I really looked up to all
those people when I was a
kid.
And I had a lifetime
of remembering
that I looked up to them.
- He was seven
and I was 24.
So while I was like a
big sister to him then.
And he has since
told me that I was
the person he remembers
being nicest to him then.
He really felt like I
was his big sister.
- Christine, for
example, you know,
she really feels like
my older sister.
- It's a relationship
that's rarely explored
in horror movies or
movies in general
is like the foster
sibling relationship.
He is a little messed
up from his experience,
but he has this older sibling
he attaches onto real fast.
She treats him as an
equal and she's like,
"Yep, life's messed up,
but I'll help you out."
And she goes to bat for
him. It's really nice.
- I auditioned the
way everyone does.
I went to a, you know, my
agent got me an appointment,
and I went and I read.
My stock and trade
at the time was
the offbeat misunderstood,
tough chick without a gold,
which was my stock and
trade for many, many years.
And I didn't get it.
But I got an episode
of "21 Jump Street"
that I went and did.
And then I came
back from that.
And the day I came back
from "Jumpstreet,"
I got an episode of
the then "Baywatch."
And I was working and I
felt really empowered.
They hadn't found
the Kyle yet,
and so they decided to go
back and read the girls
that had been
near misses.
And I went back and I went
back with attitude though.
I had a call time, I
didn't have time to waste.
I had to get in
and out of there,
and get my ass
to the beach,
and do a whole day
on "Baywatch."
My attitude shifted
enormously for that second
audition.
And I think that's
why I got it.
That black leather hat that
I'm wearing, it's my hat.
I've worn it in
a ton of stuff.
I wore it in the
old "90210."
I wore it in the
new "90210."
I wore it in the old
Chucky and the new Chucky.
It's a single most
important piece
of memorabilia from my
career that I have.
And it's weird 'cause I owned
it before I was an actor.
- They made a big maze out
of the empty Chucky boxes.
It was a lot of fun.
And I remember, you
know, melting down Chucky
with that hot wax.
It wasn't really hot,
but it looked hot.
- And then that
last sequence
in the toy factory
is just incredible.
Like that's, when you see
a movie about a k*ller toy,
you want it to end
in a toy factory.
- All those scenes were
action packed parts of the
film,
but also time consuming.
Because if it's more
demanding of us physically,
it's most likely more
demanding of Chucky,
and that means a lot of
extra puppeteer work.
- It takes all nine
puppeteers to work him.
We got a guy on legs,
a guy on one arm,
a guy on another arm.
Three facial puppeteers
working the lips,
the brows, the eyes, a
puppeteer on the head and
body.
(Chucky screams)
- Andy! Hurry up he's
right behind you!
- [Chucky] You
bastard! (groans)
- You know, this small army
of technicians were needed
to bring Chucky to life.
- It's really sort of
an animated movie.
You know, it's sh*t in
live action and stuff,
but he was
completely animated
just in a sort of
a puppet sense.
- And Kevin rounded up
some of the best of,
you know, people
in the business.
- The biggest challenge,
I think again, for us,
the crew was to get,
and the puppeteers,
was to get the doll to walk,
to give a convincing walk.
- You've been very
naughty, Miss Kettlewell.
- Now I consider
Kevin a friend,
but then he was just sort
of like everybody there
that was above me,
they were gods.
- And the puppeteering that
went into bringing Chucky
to life to do the
impossible, and they did it.
- In the first film we
used a little person
and cut between the two.
Kevin has now
made it possible
that we don't need a
little person at all.
(sheet rips)
(Chucky screams)
- I was just really
enamored of being there.
Especially when
we first started,
the first half of the
schedule was on the lot at
Universal.
And it was on a stage
that had, at the time,
the oldest existing
set in the world.
It was the opera
house from
the original "Phantom
of the Opera"
which has since
b*rned down.
But being on the
Universal lot where
the Universal
monsters were born,
and being a working
actress is just,
you really feel
like an actor.
You really feel
like you're part of
that historic community
when you're on one
of those old lots,
they're so magical.
- Please, I was
only playing.
No!
(doors thud)
(ominous, aggressive
piano music)
(tapes rattles)
- "Child's Play 2" and three
were kind of sh*t
back-to-back.
I think they were
rushed into production.
They came out less
than a year apart.
- They had Justin Whalin who
I've never met to this day.
But they had
him play Andy.
- No offense to
Justin Whalin,
but you know, I was so
attached to Alex who
is the most adorable kid.
Yeah, to have him recast.
I understand they wanted to
age him up for story
purposes.
- Because I was
not old enough.
I was only 10
at the time.
They wanted him to be 16
and have a girlfriend,
and be in
m*llitary school.
- And every project
that I've ever made,
if you go through my
whole filmography,
they all deal with children,
whether it's "Hocus Pocus,"
whether it's "An American
Tail" and a little Jewish
mouse,
but they're all kids.
- When I heard that we
were making a third one,
I assumed that I
would be in it.
As a 10-year-old that was a
bit of a tough pill to
swallow.
- To Andy Barclay and Chucky,
those are the projects
that I'm attracted to,
the exploration of childhood
is everything to me.
To me, it forms who
we are as people.
- What happens to real
people in real life
when they have
v*olence happen?
When you're a child,
I mean, you would,
it would screw you up.
- Somehow I saw it
though, when it came out.
And you know, I
thought, yeah, okay.
Maybe I'll look like that
when I'm 16. I don't know.
I think he did a fine
job. The movie was fun.
The one liners were becoming
a little more prominent.
- Don't f*ck with
the Chuck. (laughs)
- It's got, you know,
really good kills in it.
- Just how sadistic
it is to make
the kids k*ll each other,
instead of him doing the
work,
by replacing
those paintballs
with b*ll*ts and
live amm*nit*on.
That's nuts.
- And Chucky's death scene
is spectacular in that film.
(Chucky screaming)
(metal crunches)
- And then they end up
k*lling Chucky in the end.
Or do they?
(rock music)
(tape rattles)
(rock music)
- And we begin
"Bride of Chucky,"
with his ex-girlfriend,
Tiffany, stitching him back
together
and resurrecting him.
- [Tiffany] Ade
Due Damballa
- Awake!
- When I thought of that
character with "Bride of
Chucky,"
I knew that, you know, it
needed to be a two-hander.
(thunder crashes)
- Awake. Awake, awake, awake!
(hand smacks)
- This needed to be a
movie about a relationship
between these
two characters.
And so the "Bride
of Chucky" needed
to be very different
from Chucky.
- You look like Martha
Stewart with that thing.
- Who the f*ck is
Martha Stewart?
- My idol.
- They tried something
entirely new with "Bride"
and really changed it up.
- It very much was the
perfect adjustment
of changing the
way Chucky was.
That those movies were
into the way they needed
to be for that era.
- Introduced Tiffany
who just revitalizes
the series, I think.
- You know, Chucky
is kind of like
more straightforwardly
blood thirsty.
Whereas Tiffany,
you know, she has
some conventional
wants in her life.
She wants love. She
wants affection.
She wants to
be understood.
- Oh, that's so romantic.
- I give them six months.
- And Tiffany is based
on my friend Ronna.
Tiffany looks
just like Ronna.
That's how those
two came to be.
Which of course,
is Jennifer Tilly.
- David Kirschner,
I adore him.
He's the one that
came to me at
the very beginning
when I was sort of,
I was sort of like
digging in my heels.
Like, I don't know if I
wanna do a Chucky movie.
And I didn't know anything
about Chucky movies at the
time.
But he said, "I
want to meet you."
He did a whole
presentation.
We went to the
Bel Air hotel.
He had the Chucky
doll in the trunk.
He brought it out very
reverentially like, this is
Chucky.
Like he was introducing
me to Chucky.
- I didn't know Jennifer
Tilly before that,
but I had written
it for her.
And then, you know, and
just well of course,
that's not gonna
work out,
'cause things like
that rarely work out.
But then she
wanted to do it.
- I think he felt like
once I saw the Chucky doll,
and once I heard what
Chucky was all about,
of course I would
fall in love with
the whole Chucky franchise
and come on board.
Which I actually did.
He did a very good job
of selling me on it.
- After having
done three sort
of straightforward,
relatively conventional horror
movies,
that we, you know,
reinvented it as a comedy.
And she was a big
part of that.
- When slasher series
reach their burnout phase,
the creators do one
of two things.
They either make the
subsequent chapters comedic,
horror comedies, or
they play for laughs.
Or they take their K*llers
and put them in outer space.
So in the case of "Bride
of Chucky," I was relieved
that they made
it more comedic.
- I was really unprepared
for, you know,
the humor and
the history,
and just the really great
writing and great
characters.
- The Chucky films were
definitely revolutionary
in introducing
gay characters.
- It was important to
me with these movies
to constantly appeal
to that subset.
That has sort of
steamrolled over the last,
since "Bride of Chucky""
is when we started
making it pretty gay.
- Don is gay and
he's had a lot
of really interesting
sympathetic gay characters
in the franchise.
For example, the best friend
in the "Bride of Chucky."
- And the Alexis Arquette
character and Tiffany.
You know, Jennifer Tilly
has always appealed
to a gay audience,
probably dating back
to her role in "Bound."
- My favorite scene, sadly,
is when I was k*lled.
It's when Tiffany
was in the bathtub.
I thought it was
so cinematic.
When I'm watching the
"Bride of Frankenstein"
and I'm starting to cry,
'cause I can relate to the
"Bride of Frankenstein."
And then Chucky starts
walking down the hall
in his little
Chucky legs.
And then he throws the
TV into the bathtub.
And I'm screaming, and "Bride
of Frankenstein" is
screaming.
And "Bride of Frankenstein"
pops up, and I go under.
(bride screaming)
(Tiffany screams)
it's just so
beautifully sh*t.
- Just the idea that the
surging electricity would
cause
all these bubbles
to waft.
I always just thought
that's such a cool image.
- That's what's
so brilliant
about Don's creation
of that scene.
You have bubbles set
against m*rder.
- It just was
special to me,
because I felt like I took a
step in confidence as a
writer.
I didn't direct that
one. I just wrote it.
And the director and
cinematographer on that
movie
were these amazing
Chinese filmmakers,
Ronny Yu and Peter Pau.
And it's like, you would
walk on the set every day,
it was just so beautiful.
- I think everybody loves
the makeover that she did,
where she was
just like your
a run of the mill
middle class doll.
And all of a sudden she's
putting on black nail
polish,
and combat boots and making
herself like a real badass.
- She's kind of gorg, and
like kind of looks amaze.
If she was like a really cool
scene girl in real life,
you know what I mean?
(Tiffany breathes smoke)
("Call Me" by Blondie)
- Barbie, eat
your heart out.
- [Kevin] It's probably it's
anywhere minimal seven
people
but it can take up to eight
or nine people per puppet.
- Very complicated
coordination.
If you're dealing with
just puppet alone,
puppet and puppet,
it's easier.
- We did hours, and
hours, and hours,
and hours of ADR on that.
- If you had the
interaction with between,
you know, human actor
it has to be really figured
out early on in advance
and then has to have
a lot of rehearsal.
- They set up
these two booths,
so when we were doing the
lines we could look at each
other.
It was really amazing
working off of such
a great actor as him.
You know, sometimes
I would improvise,
and then he gives
something right back.
- She's just really funny.
- She brilliant at improv.
Way, I mean, I'm
not even close to.
She's in a
different class.
- And what does
Martha tell you do
when guests drop
by for dinner
and you haven't
had time to shop?
You improvise.
- Upon discovering where
Charles Lee Ray's body
was buried,
there's an amulet
that can restore them
back to human form.
- All right, let's go.
- Oh, sure. I'll steer and
you can work the pedals.
We're dolls, you dope!
- They arrange for Tiffany's
neighbor to drive them
there.
And they don't know that
all the dolls are alive.
- Of course, they don't
realize that these dolls
are committing murders
along the way.
Murders which the
kids themselves
are then implicated for.
- So in the process, they
end up getting married.
- Chucky having a
bride, Tifanny,
it sort of humanizes
him a little bit.
Because now you can
relate to the character.
He's not just like a
homicidal little maniac.
He has a lot of problems
that most men have.
You know, like a
nagging girlfriend
that complains she's
not getting enough sex.
- The love stuff
between Chucky and
Tiffany, both as dolls,
was just so
cute. (laughs)
And fun.
- But then you had sex
in it, which was good.
That the "Bride of
Chucky" had actually
added sex to horror.
You never, like Godzilla
didn't have sex.
Frankenstein
didn't jerk off.
We didn't have
that, really.
We didn't have the
monsters having a sex life,
where Chucky did.
- And some of the best
stuff were totally improv.
"You generally wear
prophylactics?"
"Tiff, I am a
f*cking rubber."
- [Chucky] Have
I got a rubber?
- [Tiffany] Yeah.
- [Chucky] Tiff.
- What?
- Look at me!
I'm all rubber!
- Brad, he was looking
at me all the time,
'cause he was
doing the lines.
And at the end of the movie
when my character d*ed,
I looked over there and tears
were streaming down his
face.
He was so sad.
And then I started
crying too.
And then afterwards
he said to Don,
"How come I haven't
had a wife sooner?"
- And they end up
having a baby.
(baby doll screeches)
(man screams)
(ominous, low bass
orchestral music)
- [Kyra] So what
led you to take
on Tony Gardner as head
of the effects department
in "Seed" going forward?
Why was there
that switch?
- Well, what happened was
that Kevin Yagher had worked
with us on the
first four films.
Done a great job.
His wife is Catherine
Hicks who played
the mom in the
first film.
All was great.
And then when
we were going
to make our fifth
film, Universal could
not make the
deal with him.
They were just
too far apart.
We were cutting our
budget very far back.
- As your slasher series
go on each subsequent film
makes less than the
one before it.
So there's
diminishing returns.
So yeah, the money men
tend to slash the budget.
- And they
wouldn't budge.
And they were
unfair to someone
that had been really loyal
and had done a great job.
- I loved what Tony Gardner
brought to the series as
well.
- Then there was the
opportunity to meet him.
And because we had done
"Hocus Pocus" together,
to call him and say, "Are you
interested in doing this?
It's Chucky, you'd be
taking over for Kevin."
And I think he was a
little hesitant of that.
He's a loyal person
and loyal to his craft.
But I said, you know,
"If it's not you it's
gonna be somebody.
And you did such a
great job on 'Hocus.'
Would you consider this?"
Have you ever done
anything like this?"
And he said, "Well, not
bring a doll to life,
but I've done plenty
of other things,
bringing things to life."
So Don and I went out
and met with him.
- I like working
with smart people,
because they're allies when
you're making it together,
as he definitely was.
- And it's been this
partnership ever since.
- Chucky and the
puppeteers, you all have
to like descend together
into this fantasy.
We all have to go into
this realm of this place
that we've created and
make it believable.
- It's queued up.
(computer beeps)
- What? Oh, sorry.
You were saying.
- [Director]
That's a cut.
Tony, you guys happy?
- [Tony] Yeah, let's
go with that.
- I find a thrill
in making something
that isn't real be perceived
as real to somebody else.
It was sort of an
odd start for us,
because we were supposed to
copy Kevin Yagher's puppets.
But we had no resources from
Universal or from Kevin.
All we had to go from
VHS copies of the movie.
We would freeze the
VHS copy of the movie
and take stills
off of the TV.
And that was our
point of reference.
We had like three months
to build everything.
And then we were off to
Romania and right into it.
We had a whole team
of puppeteers come in
from England
to support us.
There were five of us
from the United States,
and then another 15
people from the UK.
So we had amazing
resources,
and just had a
great time.
Another thing that was
really fun was getting
to sort of design Glen
from the ground up.
We knew he had to
have sharp teeth,
because that had been
established in "Bride."
But other than
that we were free
to play with Glen, which
was really awesome.
- And I love how
Glen looks.
He looks like a Walter
Keane painting,
or Margaret Keane who
actually did them, gone to
horror.
- It was just kind
of fun, you know.
Just trying to invent
who this character is.
Don had this idea
that it should be
a sort of Dickensian
character.
It should be like
Oliver Twist.
- Don felt strongly
that it would be great
to explore further
the family dynamics
of including this child.
- Look, I still have the
necklace you left me.
- It just seemed natural
that we would evolve
into a domestic drama.
- "Seed of Chucky"
I think was one
of the most bizarre
experiences of my life.
It's just really bizarre
to be looking at
a little tiny doll with her
little eyes blinking, going,
"Miss Tilly, you can
do it the easy way.
- Or the hard way.
- I was playing myself,
Jennifer Tilly,
international film star.
I was playing Tiffany,
a talking doll
that was my biggest fan.
And then I played Tiffany
in Jennifer Tilly's body.
- Jennifer completely
mocks herself in this movie
in a way that I think
people will love her for.
- How come I don't ever get
any of the good roles
anymore?
How come nobody
takes me seriously?
- Nice tits.
- Thank you.
- Yeah, I had a partner,
you know, we were
arguing and smooching,
and you know, doing
whatever we were doing.
You know, murdering
together.
- Having a kid together.
- Having a kid together.
- I knew Brad because
of "Lord of the Rings."
Brad of course,
is Wormtongue.
- [Kyra] Did you
guys ever get to be
in the booth together when
you did voiceover for
"Seed"?
- Nah, it was just me.
Don had all these
pictures of what everybody
was going to look like.
And then he had
readings of most of
the other characters
for the scene,
so I knew how
they played it.
But we didn't
play it together.
- So I had different
voices for Tiffany.
When Tiffany was a
person I had sort of like
a Marilyn Monroe-esque,
like kind of,
like white trashy voice.
And then when she
went into the doll,
I made it more of
a tinny voice.
'Cause I figured the
doll doesn't have
like really strong
vocal chords.
So I made it more of
a doll-like voice.
- Yes, he is.
- Joan, will you please
stop doing that?
- Doing what?
- Imitating me. I do
not sound like that!
- Oh yes you do.
- And then when she went
into Jennifer Tilly,
I sort of had to do a
little bit of the doll,
a little bit of
the human Tiffany
in Jennifer
Tilly's voice.
- All right, Fulvia, if
that's what you want.
- And then we wanted
the difference
between Glen and Glenda.
Glen's a sort of
more proper English.
- I saw you on the telly.
- And then Glenda's a bit
more, kind of cockney.
- That's my name. Don't
you wear it out.
- I especially love
Billy Boyd's rendition
of those characters.
- Stop it, Mommy. You'll
wrinkle me dress.
- Stop it, Mommy. You'll
wrinkle my dress.
- I love him, and I
love Glen and Glenda.
But a feel an
affection for them,
because they're
my children.
You never stop loving
your children.
- Glen's cute, he would
be in a punk rock bar.
You know, he looks like a
kind of boy I'd date.
(laughs)
- I really love Glen.
I think he's
really funny.
But I also find him
poignant in a way.
And when we were
making the movie,
there were times
where we like,
oh, this is kind of sad.
You remember when
Glen kills Chucky,
and he chops him up and
he's just devastated.
And he's crying.
And Jennifer Tilly is
like comforting him.
We're all kind of like
getting a little like
oh, this is sad.
But people didn't respond
correctly at first. (laughs)
- Glen/Glenda was the
first trans kid,
doll trans kid, that was ever
portrayed in the movies.
- It's maybe one of
the greatest things
about "Seed" I think, is
this kind of transgender,
you know, confused.
- Sometimes I
feel like a boy.
Sometimes I feel
like a girl.
- And his parents
don't help.
It's a big, parent's
please help.
- In my mission to make the
franchise gayer and gayer,
we address this in a
movie that maybe like
the audience
wasn't ready for.
- I don't think "Seed
of Chucky" was rejected
because of those themes.
I think the film
was embraced
by that niche part
of the audience.
- Now, people are more
interested in that.
- Don, in a strange way
through the Chucky movies
he sort of educates.
And makes people feel
compassion for people
that are not
like themselves.
- Partly you're like,
write what you know.
But I also, there's
just a part of me
that it amused me.
The idea of like kind of
turning what had become
a cultural icon
on its head,
and making the franchise be
almost like an ambassador
for like gay horror fans.
- Gay people have always
embraced horror films,
because they've always been
able to relate to the
monster.
The Frankenstein monster
who's being persecuted
and aren't getting
a fair shake.
That's probably why they
gravitate towards horror
films,
'cause they see themselves
in some of these characters.
- I think gay people
always liked horror movies,
'cause they're drama
queens. (laughs)
- I think perhaps it was
rejected more for the fact
that so much of it was
played for laughs,
and it was jokey
and silly.
- These films have
really evolved
from being a really
frightening first film,
to moving much
more into the area
of being horror comedies.
- The film was a little
too far over the top
in terms of the humor and
the outrageousness
of the storyline.
- This one sort of took
it all one step further.
I don't know, it's sort of
spoofing on top of spoofing.
- You can catch their movie
in theaters next Halloween.
Thank you, Chucky.
- f*ck you very much.
- I think that was a little
too much for horror fans
who just go to see a
movie for blood and guts.
Horror fans really want
their scares and their gore.
And even though the film
definitely had its gore
moments,
some really grotesque
death scenes.
- [Kyra] What is one of
your favorite death scenes?
- Glen accidentally
kills, uh...
- [Kyra] Are talking
about with the acid?
- Yeah.
- [Kyra] John Waters.
- John Waters. I liked that,
'cause it was accidental.
He didn't mean it.
- You know, he loved
the Chucky movies,
and he always wanted to
be a victim of Chucky.
You should ask
him about that.
- Well, I wanted to, yes.
So I was thrilled
to be injured
and thrown acid in my
face, even better.
(ominous music)
(glass shatters)
(Pete screams)
- But the first
day I remembered,
the first take was
Chucky was coming at me.
He moves, it's
actually not like
they put that in later
and his mouth opens
and you hear
what he says.
So he's coming at me,
and then they say cut.
And you know,
he falls down.
Then all of a sudden
he looks up at me
and goes, "f*ck you."
It was the puppeteers
working him,
which really
made me laugh.
- In "Seed of Chucky" Guy
Louthan played Don Mancini.
So if you look at the
credits in "Seed of Chucky,"
it says, Don Mancini
played by Guy Louthan,
who was the producer.
And I really felt like Don
should play Guy Louthan.
Play the actual
producer in the movie,
or play somebody else.
But he didn't
want to do it.
- Just Tony
playing himself.
And then the puppets getting
revenge on the puppeteer.
(strings scrape)
(blood squishes)
(ominous music)
- Yeah, I think the
audience might have felt
that Don was being a
little too clever,
and a little too in-jokey
for their own taste.
- It would have been
absolutely de rigueur
for the people in
charge to say like,
"Okay, it's time to
get some new blood
(laughs) in here now,
'cause that didn't
work out so well."
But David didn't he
stayed loyal to me.
- He works so hard,
he cares so much.
I've never worked
with a director
that does not
lose his cool.
- You're under a clock, and
how are we gonna do this?
And it's kind of
constantly traumatic.
But that's a bonding
experience.
- So there is very much a
wonderful, familial flavor to
it.
- You get really close.
I mean, you're
literally close.
You're sandwiched
under a desk,
or working side-by-side,
or on top of somebody.
And you have to really
find a collective mindset
to make the
character work.
I mean, if somebody's
doing the eyes,
and someone else
is doing the head,
the eyes have to lead
the head movement,
And usually there's
a blink in there,
and that's somebody else.
And if he's reacting
to something,
a brow needs to go up
while he's turning.
- What gives
over here yet?
Are we through here yet?
Give us us a bit of
the nasty thing,
then I want him to relax.
- [Puppeteer] Yeah.
- And then when he does
the turn to his left
lead with the left brow
going up along
with the turn.
- If each one of those
is a different person
and you're trying to
think as one character,
you either get in sync really
quick, or it doesn't work.
- Oh sh*t.
(thunder crashes)
(intense, low bass
ominous orchestral music)
- With every new rebirth
of a film Chucky's look
changes a little bit.
In the first two films,
Chucky was possessed
by Charles Lee Ray,
I mean he still is.
But he was progressively
turning human,
which is for one
reason or another
not the case anymore.
You know, there's a lot
of Chucky purists as I say
that would say, "Oh, I
hate the way Chucky looks.
I wish he looked like he
did in the first film."
But if you follow the story
that wouldn't make sense.
- I watched the doll,
but not, of course,
I can't have a scene
with the doll.
You know, it was great to
be finally able to be there,
and be around and watch.
- Today, will be the first
time I've ever seen Chucky
in the plastic
version work.
(tinny piano music)
(moves to dramatic, bass
percussion and ominous
music)
(metal clinks)
- In "Curse of Chucky,"
it's like a refresh
even though it's continuing
the same storyline,
you get the whole new
cast of characters,
primarily Nica, who's
played by Fiona Dourif,
Brad Dourif's daughter,
which is really fun
and interesting.
- And we don't get to work
with Brad all that often.
All his stuff is
done ahead of time.
So he's kind of
on the periphery.
Although, when we did
"Curse of Chucky,"
he was on set everyday
that Fiona was working.
And he was there as
like the proud dad.
- He's been like interjecting
embarrassing stories
from my childhood.
- Yeah.
- You know, median's with-
- The press junket
will be fun.
(Fiona laughs)
- And we kind of
bonded as parents.
Which is funny, 'cause
then I go to work
and I listen to his
voice coming out
of this doll while we're
trying to s*ab Fiona.
(Chucky screams)
(wood crashes)
(ominous music)
- I like that Nica is a
person who is in a
wheelchair.
You don't see that depicted
often in horror movies,
especially not as
the primary hero.
- When I was cast
in the first one,
I was nervous that I wasn't
gonna take it seriously.
Because on set, you know,
there's this moving,
walking puppet,
and they play
my dad's voice.
And I was like,
"I think you guys
are just gonna have to
say it, say the words."
Because he sounds
like my dad.
- One quick,
decisive motion.
'Cause he's like fallen
and now he's looking right
back up at Nica.
- Don said no, he said
that he wanted it
to be the recording.
And it actually
really helped,
'cause there was something
so unnerving about it.
- I'm gonna
k*ll you slow.
(Nica laughs)
- But having my dad's voice
was helpful, ultimately.
It was, really creepy.
- Thank you.
- Ugh.
- When we started off
it was 30 years ago, and
Fiona was, you know, like
a year old, or something.
- Here's
five-year-old Fiona,
and there's
12-year-old Fiona.
And she doesn't
remember any of this.
But there were
certain events
and screenings where
I would see her.
And then she grew up, and
she became an actress.
She came in on "Curse"
and she read for
the role of the
bitchy older sister.
And she was really good.
But I was looking at
her and was like,
"I actually think she'd be
really good as the lead."
And it's just like, wow
that just would be
an odd thing to find the
lead in our backyard.
You know the daughter of
the guy who plays Chucky.
- Fans have been asking
for really wanting
a return to the kind
of straightforward,
legitimately scary
tone that we had
in the first
couple of movies.
- Well Don Mancini did
a very clever thing.
Was when his budget got
slashed so drastically
when it came to doing
"Curse of Chucky,"
and "Cult of Chucky."
Did what a lot of low
budget filmmakers do
is set their movies
in one location.
You're able to tell a
very claustrophobic story.
- When you're filming
usually on a limited budget
in one or two locations,
it often gives
you bumpers.
You got to find it in there,
you can't find it out there.
You can't find
it up there.
You got to find
it right in here.
When we did "Insidious" it
was all in one location.
Being in a house is
especially claustrophobic.
You're in this space
and what's going on is
it's walking down the
hallway, it's in the window.
It's not on the streets,
it's in your house.
But it's all here, it's
all on top of you.
And when horror is on top
of you, it's really scary.
- What happened to all horror
it seemed like at first
it was scary, then
it went so ugly,
like it got like
t*rture p*rn.
And then it got funny.
And then it got
to be ridiculous
that it wasn't
funny anymore.
- By Scream 3 it
felt like they knew
they were in a
horror movie.
It almost started to
fell like a "Scary Movie"
which was coming out
at the same time.
(eerie music)
- Oh, sh*t.
- And then you had to go
back to still being scary.
- That's one of the
reasons why I think he went
for the more scare
approach than,
you know, "Seed,
and "Bride,"
because he was working
with less money.
It needed to be scary to
really win people over.
- I mean we're trying
to bring Chucky back
to being a very sinister
and very sick, scary entity.
(Chucky screams)
(girl screams)
(body thuds)
- This is the first time I've
actually physically been
on a set with him
and directed him.
Now, of course, it's more
fun to bring his daughter
into the series as this
particular movie's star.
- Don Mancini told me
when he cast you he said,
"You know, the thing
about Fiona is,
and the reason why is she
actually looks like somebody
who this could
really happen to.
- But then we had her come
back in and read for Nica,
and she was really great.
- She had to audition
quite a few times.
How many times did you have
to audition for Chucky?
- [Fiona] Three times.
- Three times,
then she had
to audition three
times for that.
So she got it because
she earned it.
- There's a new person
coming in playing the lead.
How's this dynamic
gonna shift?
And is she gonna
be a team player?
She's more than
a team player.
She's literally
part of the group,
and you feel like she's been
there since the beginning,
because she gets it, and
she gets how it works.
And to help us get
what we need,
because the puppet's
eyes can really only turn
this far to the right,
so she'll adjust.
And she just had it
from the very beginning.
- Also, for whatever reason
she has this incredible
ability
to register
trauma and pain.
- In order for the actors
to truly believe they're
in danger, whatever
it may be,
there's a level of
bringing the audience in to
almost forget that
they're in danger,
or you're in danger
in the next moment.
- I mean, fear is such
an interesting emotion.
And the elements that add
up to fear, real fear,
cross that line obviously,
between being imaginary
and something really
happening to you.
- I think it's an
incredible genre.
He stakes are higher
than in, you know,
like a typical
drama or comedy.
The stakes are higher
in a different way.
The world that you
create is one
that you have to live in
your mind in different way.
- Your body doesn't
know you're pretending.
When you're
frightened in a film,
or if you put yourself
there, weird things happen.
I mean, you start sweating,
your hands get cold.
Often, for me, it's
always crying.
- But in crying scenes
there is like no
veil to cover you.
Even in real life, like,
sometimes those cries
that you just can't stop,
when they get
captured on camera,
it's almost like a glimpse
into your real soul.
- The real-er you
are the better.
Bring your emotions,
bringing your timing,
bring your realness to
it, bring your truth.
- It almost sounds sadistic
that I need to like,
I want to see you
register this kind of pain
that I've seen you do
in real life. (laughs)
Because I'm your
friend now,
and I saw you go through
this horrible experience.
Let's use that
in the movie.
- It has sometimes
there's been moments
that have taken me into
places I almost didn't want
to go, but I went anyway.
Because there's that
little part of you going,
this is important,
this is happening.
Go, go, go, go, go.
And I won't
censor myself.
- Which I think makes a great
actor I think when you do
that
you're communicating with
the people who are watching.
- Stuff that you
experience in real life,
you go, we'll we can use that
as fodder in the next film.
And I want to take the
character that you play
in the Chucky franchise
to that place
that I know that
you're able to go.
But people haven't seen
you go there before.
She's a great friend,
and just a really
inspiring collaborator.
(eerie tinny piano music)
(moves to dramatic
ominous orchestral music)
- When you work on a Chucky
film you have the task
of doing the same thing
over and over again
until the doll does
what he's supposed
to do perfectly right.
Simple things
take awhile.
- If people had more
of an idea of what went
into animating a movie,
or for that matter,
animating Chucky. (laughs)
I think people would have
a much bigger reverence
for those kind of movies.
Because it's this whole
other level of complication.
- It's not just us doing
the animatronic puppet
and making it come alive,
and everything works.
We have to work
with Fiona,
and Don has to work
with us to find an angle
that makes the limitations
of the puppeteers,
or the fact that he can't
do certain things work.
So we really
have to connect,
and we have to work as a
team to just get a sh*t.
(Nica screams)
(Chucky screams)
(Kn*fe scrapes)
(Nica screams)
(Nica breathes heavily)
- You have to focus on the
moving, the moving puppet,
and block out all of
the people around him
that are having like rods
up his ass and stuff.
- Oh, dear!
- You don't get a
chance to be like,
"Well, I'll do
one this way,
and then I'll do
one that way."
Because once Chucky
does the right thing
and we've already spent
30 minutes on it,
you know we
gotta move on.
- When you have a character
that's not a human being
that you can't
just say, "Oh now,
let's try it over here."
When you have to plan that
stuff out that specifically,
just so you know where
he's gonna be looking,
what his action
is gonna be,
'cause it may take several
to get that action done.
- So I think if it was
any other sort of series,
I think there would be a
bit more of a disconnect
between all of the
people involved.
Because you'd all have your
little piece of the puzzle,
and it would all plug in.
Here, we all
have to plug in
just to get each sh*t
and make it work.
- You're the last one
standing, so to speak.
(laughs)
- Yeah, when you're acting
with Chucky, Chucky's a
figure
that is walking, and
talking and moving,
which it makes it easier
than acting to an X.
- So you never actually
k*lled Andy Barclay, did
you?
- I was really excited
and happy when I got
the call from Don
for "Curse."
He told me, "I'm trying to
write something in for you.
I got to get it
approved by the studio.
I don't want you to
get your hopes up."
- It was like a test to
see how that would go.
- And so I read it,
and I loved the scene
that he had for Andy.
I thought it was fun.
I got to get a little
bit of revenge
and sh**t him
with a shotgun.
(shotgun fires)
- The fan response
was really positive.
- And they were really
excited to see me in that
scene.
- And he did really well.
It's a nice group of
all of us players
that have worked
together on these.
- You know one of the
reasons I like to keep
a lot of the same
people around,
because you know you
work well together.
- Well, it was like
having a reparatory group.
You don't even have
to talk barely.
You're one step ahead 'cause
you know how everybody
thinks,
and what's their strong
points, their weak points.
- It because a shorthand.
You realize when
you're filming movies
time is your best friend
and your worst enemy.
Everything's a sh*t,
I'm fighting the sun,
I'm fighting the light.
You're always fighting
something in the movies.
- And you know you're
gonna be working
these long hours under
intense conditions.
- There's a book,
"Good to Great"
and it says put good
people on the bus with you,
so no matter what
direction you go in,
that you know your team
of people on that bus,
that they're just
down ass people.
- You're forced to
be in environment
with the same people.
And you really have no other
choice but to make these
bonds.
- There's something
about creating something,
a piece of art
with somebody,
that somehow bonds you
in a really cool way.
- But when the circumstances
are particularly challenging
then you kind of bond even
more like we did on "Cult."
You know, we were
sh**ting in blizzards,
in 40 degree below
temperatures. (chuckles)
(intense, dramatic brass
orchestral music)
- [Director] Here
we go, and action.
And he goes back to
being dead, very good.
And cut!
- We were in Winnipeg
in the winter.
It was like negative
42 when we arrived,
and it didn't
even matter.
- We were literally
joined at the hip
through the whole
production process.
Because there isn't a day
where Chucky doesn't work.
But we know each other
and there's a shorthand,
and we compliment each
other really well.
Everything's great. Look!
(crew member laughs)
- You're basically
climbing mountain together.
And you have to have
each other's back.
And you know you
can't do it alone.
And if you are successful in
scaling the mountain
together,
you sort of like, oh my
god, we're awesome together.
- [Director] Drill.
(drill whirs)
- Don's gotten so confident
in his story telling
he's starting to
experiment now,
with the visual side
of it a lot more.
- It's very
deliberately surreal,
and kind of trippy.
Because you're dealing
with people who are insane.
- Four years after
"Curse" continuing
that storyline with Nica
in a mental institute,
and you got a fun cast
of characters there
with the people
inside of it.
- They have schizophrenia,
or whatever it is.
You have people on dr*gs.
You have people
getting hypnotized.
You have dream sequences.
- It plays a lot
with roles.
So it's like
role playing,
and who's crazy, and
who's not crazy?
- Part of what we
wanted to do was like
a new genre, a new
feel, a new aesthetic.
- It's all very
monochromatic,
and then Chucky walks in
and he's all bright stripes,
and he stands out.
- So the red hair and
blood really pops.
(ominous music)
- The "Child's Play"
franchise is a little
unusual
in horror franchises,
that I think it's kind of
a gateway drug to horror
for a lot of children.
For obvious reasons,
'cause it's a doll.
And so they key
in to that.
But so Andy was
their hero,
and so they've
all grown up.
And now, they're vaguely
disaffected 20 somethings.
(laughs)
They're like, "Andy's
got to come back."
So the challenge was to bring
Andy back into the story,
but in a way that
would surprise them.
- And I think it
was really fun,
as an actor, to
reprise a role,
that has been a topic in my
life since I was
six-years-old.
And now, I get to put
some life into what Andy
would be like had he
survived that childhood.
- And you would have
aspects of PTSD.
And how would that manifest
in your life as a
30-something?
- He has clearly
struggled with
the effects that Chucky
has had on his life,
and his inability
to move past it
with others in a
relationship.
And probably even
within himself.
So the way we left it
from "Curse of Chucky"
I think Andy torturing this
doll for the past four years
is the perfect route that
Andy should have gone.
(Chucky screams)
- This was the first time
that I had ever done
something
that was written for me.
I just had way
more confidence.
I was like way
more relaxed.
It just made it
so much more fun.
- In the "Cult of Chucky"
there was an actor
that I slit his throat
in "Curse of Chucky".
And he was playing
a totally
different character,
Adam Hurtig.
- Well, "Curse of
Chucky" was kind of
a formative film
experience for me.
I was super intimated to
not only work with Don,
but to work with
Fiona, as well.
Not only did I come
in later on during
the filming process, but I
also have to die on camera.
And Jennifer Tilly had to
k*ll me. So no pressure.
- And when we went to
Toronto, Don goes,
"Jennifer this actor," 'cause
I didn't met him on the set,
'cause I didn't have
any scenes with him.
He goes, "This actor
that's in the Q&A,
you worked with
him before."
I go, "No, I didn't."
- How is it to be forgotten
by Jennifer Tilly?
Humbling. Whew.
- He goes, "Yes, in 'Curse of
Chucky' you slit his
throat."
- [Director] Action.
And fall.
(ominous music)
- (gasps) Aw.
- But it was fun
to see her face
when she actually
did remember me.
- And I do remember
I slit his throat.
And I remember he was
such a good sport.
- Oh, wait.
Oh! And it was this
nice, kind of like,
"Yeah, I'm back."
- Wait a minute,
there's two of them?
- It was this cool idea
that Don was having me
come back as a
different character.
- You're sick.
And not in the
fun way like me.
- And I got a chance
to really riff with Don
to see what it was
like to create
this character with
multiple personas.
- You're Mark
Zuckerberg, now.
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- I just think that's
so interesting
that Don just rehires people
to play another character.
It's like, "Oh you were
the cop in the last one,
but you can be this
psycho in this one.
No one's gonna notice."
- Just kind of makes
you wonder who's next.
- It was fun to come
back for "Cult."
Don actually asked
me to come back
for "Curse" at one point.
Though I think the character
there he was considering
having me do was
Fiona's mom.
And I'm glad it
didn't work out,
because I'm really happy
to have come back as Kyle.
It's a character
that I am fond of.
That part of my
life is something
I'm super
nostalgic about.
- Andy sent me.
We're gonna
have some fun.
- I like "Cult" a lot.
I think "Cult" is
sh*t beautifully.
I'm a fan to the
multiple Chuckys.
- And I know that
that was an idea
that Don had wanted to do way
back with "Child's Play 3."
So it's great to see
that finally realized,
and I think it
came off great.
- I think they're
all cute.
Like I love scene
where all three
of the Chuckys are
talking to each other.
And you have the
one armed Chucky
that's sort of a bad ass,
and you have the
innocent Chucky.
I just think that he's
really, really cute.
- I never felt so alive!
- Yeah, well,
you've been alive
for like two
minutes. (laughs)
- I think it's important
to keep him practical.
I wish there was
more money for it,
but I'm glad it's
still practical.
- Yeah, we can't do
CGI with Chucky,
because it would take
away that pure element.
- Fans have made a point
of saying they don't want
to see CGI with Chucky.
They really,
really want a doll
that doesn't move
in perfect form.
As brilliant as Tony Gardner
is in bringing him to life,
there is still an
element that it's a doll,
and the movements are
different than human
movements.
And I think in there is
what makes it frightening.
I think if it was
perfect fluid form,
I don't think it would
be as frightening.
- When they just make
it digital it loses,
you know, definitely
loses something.
- The eye and the brain
could make that distinction
between computer
generated and rubber.
And rubber's just, it's
just so much more effective
most of the time.
- When we're lucky enough
to have practical effects,
it's a win-win for
everybody, for the actor.
- Especially when the actors
are interacting with it.
- You're living
through something
which your body
is experiencing.
And for the viewer,
they're living through
what you're
living through,
because you're
living through it,
and you're presenting
it to them.
- I think it was such
an incredible experience
to use practical effects.
In "Bad Hair," the hair
wraps around my ankle.
It pulls you and
then when I came in,
I had to like
cut the hair,
and all this blood
sh**t out.
- People just
act differently
when they have blood
gushing everywhere.
And they can
actually see it,
and it's actually
something tangible.
- It heightened
the performance
because I had this
contraption around me.
I had this blood that's
about to spew all over.
- It enhances the whole
reality of the film.
It's not pretend,
it's real.
- All of us got pulled
into this world
in a very real and
grounded way,
that we may not have been
able to be pulled into,
had it all been VFX.
- Your imagination doesn't
have to work nearly as hard
with a k*ller doll than
with a ping pong ball.
- It's hard when you're just
in front of a green screen
and it's like, "Now
imagine that you're guts
are being torn out
of your body."
Cool, how do I
imagine that?
But if you see
yourself in it,
you almost get that
feeling already.
- When you put all
of that together
it's like magic,
you get to play.
- And there's something
so powerful about that,
because you're not
imagining something,
you are really experiencing
something together.
- So I think that
Chucky is physical,
it really, really
helps the world.
- Chucky's a doll.
So that when he walks
around and you see it,
it looks like
Chucky. You know,
it looks like
the real thing.
So you watch the scene
and the scene is real.
- He feels so real
in those movies,
because it was
all practical,
and you actually see
the light bouncing off.
And it feels, you can
tell the difference
between the CG
Yoda, and the Yoda
from "Empire
Strikes Back."
- You got to buy into it.
And when it's a practical
thing that looks real,
that helps you
buy into it.
- I think at least
having something there
as sort of a marker,
really, really helps
the acting process, just
from an actor's standpoint.
- [Kyra] Yeah.
- And it saves money.
- I find that it's
financially, it's a saving
grace.
- [Tony] When we did
the last two films
that were direct
to video,
the budget was
substantially lower.
The budget for
the whole movie
was Kevin Yagher's
budget for building
the puppets for
the first film.
- They want it
to be more.
They want it to be cheaper
and have bigger stars,
and cost more and
music, and everything.
It's always like that.
- [Tony] And there were only
three puppeteers allowed
to go up from the United
States, including myself.
So I couldn't be behind
the monitor watching,
I had to focus on
performance, as well.
But we also lucked
into some local people
that really rose
to the occasion,
and were really great,
and did an amazing job.
It would have been
nice to have had time
to rehearse prior
to sh**ting.
(crew members laughing)
But we dove in and
we were rehearsing
while we were sh**ting.
And given the resources
and the time,
I think everybody did
a really amazing job.
(urgent, aggressive ominous
full orchestral music)
(flowing, eerily enchanting
orchestral strings music)
(aggressively dangerous
dramatic full orchestral
music)
(flowing, eerily enchanting
orchestral strings music)
(thunder crashes)
(flowing, eerily enchanting
orchestral strings music)
- And then the challenge
was to bring all
of these characters from
different aspects of the
franchise,
and put them on
collision courses,
and see what happens.
- That's the thing about
the franchise is,
it's able to introduce
brand new elements,
and then weave them
in seamlessly.
And then they're just a
part of the franchise.
So by the time you see
in "Cult of Chucky" Nica
talking to Tiffany, it's
like, oh yeah that makes
sense.
- What happens
when Andy Barclay
and Nica Pierce
come together?
- And Fiona is such a great
actress, first of all.
She is inspiringly good.
I really wish that we
got to do more together
than the one scene
that we had.
But the one scene
that we had was like
the highlight
of it for me.
Because I was really looking
forward to working with her.
- I just think it's more
interesting to play
the "bad guy".
- I'm done.
- You're done?
Yeah, that's interesting.
- I'm done.
I'm not doing
them anymore.
- I don't want to play
the victim anymore.
- [Kyra] You guys
should just reverse.
- We are.
- We are.
(laughs) We are.
(Nica laughing maniacally)
(Chucky laughs maniacally)
- You have Tiffany, who's
inhabiting Jennifer Tilly's
body.
You have Fiona, which
is really genius,
inhabiting Chucky's body,
and you know Chucky is
her dad, Brad Dourif.
So she's basically
playing Brad.
- This last movie
I was just Like,
how did this happen?
How am I the lead of
this movie? (chuckles)
- She becomes Chucky,
ah, so brilliant.
That soul of
Chucky is in her.
- It would be
almost offensive
for anybody else
to be possessed
by Chucky, except
for Fiona.
Even with something weird,
incestuous and gross
about that you
could think,
it doesn't feel that
way at all. (laughs)
It feels really organic
and I like it.
- [Kyra] Like it
should be that way.
- Yes.
- Yeah.
- Somebody else doing
Brad would be sacrilage.
- It's kind of weird,
because like there's
a young female version
of a guy you knew.
Well, that's Fiona.
- She is such a
brilliant actress.
And I saw her walking
out there, I saw Brad.
And it's weird, 'cause
I've never actually acted
with the real Brad.
I mean, off screen of course,
doing the voice overs.
But when she was
walking towards me,
I mean it was really,
really sexy.
She really sort of
morphed into Brad.
- It was just
like a cacophony
of all of these emotions
going into doing it.
That I would have a
chance to play this thing
that my dad is
famous for doing.
- I felt a little
bit bad for Fiona,
because when Don was
like, "Quick, quick,"
I would be like
lunge at her,
and our teeth
would clatter.
- I would get her
lipstick all over me.
And so we couldn't
just go again,
'cause there was a big makeup
reset each time. (laughs)
- Then she'd pull away and
I'd see she had lipstick
all over her
face. (laughs)
And I said to her, "Fiona
when Entertainment Tonight
asks
if I'm a good kisser,
will you just please
lie and say yes?"
- It was really fun
working with Jennifer.
I had wanted to
my whole life.
I think it was
intimidating
'cause she's so funny.
- I would like to kiss Fiona
in a controlled environment,
because I want to
redeem myself.
- Making this
movie was so fun.
It was like surreal fun.
I just had a ball.
You can ask your dad.
We were all kind of
laughing the whole time.
- [Kyra] Meanwhile my
dad is on the floor.
Your dad is always in the
corner on the floor.
(laughs)
- [Tony] Those are
her eye lines.
- Yeah.
(Fiona laughs loudly)
- [Kyra] By now, I may
as well introduce myself
as Tony's daughter,
and the filmmaker.
I set out to meet all these
people surrounding the
franchise
whose names had been a
big part of my childhood,
but I never had the
chance to meet.
I haven't officially
met everybody
who's worked on the
Chucky movies.
But I feel like I've
known Brad my whole life.
Like you have, it's so
surreal meeting you now,
because you've been a
part of my childhood
since I was
practically born.
But I'd never met
you 'til now,
but you've k*lled
my dad before.
And the only-
- [Tony] And see I
never think of that.
There's all these weird
layers of all that.
- [Kyra] Like
everybody who've I've
been interviewing
for this is like
in one way or
another been a part
of how I've grown up.
- That's interesting.
- [Kyra] Chucky's
been so at the helm
of my family I think.
So it's like kind of-
- You were how old when
it came into your life?
- You were a little one.
You were like
three-years-old,
four-years-old.
- So you literally
grew up with somebody,
like you grew up with
them in the family.
- I view him as a
little brother.
Because I'm the youngest,
I always wanted a
little sibling.
I thought it was
very interesting
that Fiona and I both
share growing up
with this doll, but
in different aspects
of her dad was an actor, and
mine was the head puppeteer.
- I was maybe
six or five?
- You were young.
- [Fiona] I was young.
- Still a baby.
- I remember seeing him
in the voiceover booth,
and he was like,
screaming like he
was being b*rned alive.
Which I guess he was in
the movie. (chuckles)
And I ran and hid
under a desk?
- Yeah, you ran, no
ran out of the thing
into the parking lot.
- You start screaming
and crying.
You run back upstairs
into your bedroom,
and hopped on your bed
crying hysterically.
Telling everybody that you
weren't gonna go downstairs,
because the "bad
people" came.
The bad people were here.
And I look and
there's Tiffany
and Chucky sitting
on our coach.
- And poor little
thing came in
and heard her
daddy dying.
- (laughs) I did.
- Being b*rned to
death, and freaked out.
(Chucky screaming)
- I was so mad at him for
leaving the dolls out.
'Cause you were just
absolutely traumatized.
- I've been in a theater
and watched my dad (laughs)
watched his head explode
in a microwave,
or whatever, over
and over again.
And I don't like it.
And I still don't like
to watch him die.
- [Kyra] I feel like
that something,
'cause my dad dies in
one of the movies.
- [Fiona] (laughs)
Yeah, that's right.
- [Kyra] So I
feel like we have
this mutual understanding
of what it's like
to watch our parents die.
- To watch our
parents die, yeah.
- I love the scene where your
dad gets decapitated,
(laughs)
in "Seed of Chucky,"
that was hilarious.
But I also loved the
doll's reaction to it.
You know, they get
spattered by his blood
and they're all
turned on. (laughs)
- [Kyra] I watched that
when I was eight by
the way. (laughs)
- Did that
traumatize you?
- Yes. (Laughs)
(both laughs)
- But didn't he show you
the head and you know,
just like, "See
this is like?"
- [Kyra] No.
And my only knowledge
of you growing up
was that you kissed my
dad's decapitated head.
- I know, isn't that
gross? That's so gross.
I would have kissed his
regular head, too.
- [Kyra] Due to these
types of movies filming
so far away, they basically
formed second families
while away from
their real ones.
- Not only do we
play with dolls,
but we made our living
playing with dolls.
- [Kyra] So it always felt
there was a piece missing,
and I had to meet
my second family.
Like it wasn't complete
until I met everybody.
- And feel this.
I mean you've grown up
with this stuff but-
- Oh wow.
- It's nothing.
- It's light.
- it's a fake a*.
- For me it's
kind of cool
that you're doing
this documentary,
because for me I have my two
families that get to meet.
'Cause these are the
people I go to work
with and have fun with,
and think of it as
extended family.
And for you guys to all
meet up and actually make
that family unit, and that
family dynamic larger,
is kind of cool.
- You know, all of us
were like a family.
I would say a mostly
functional family,
occasionally
dysfunctional as all.
- You know, you work
really long hours,
and it feels like camp.
- Going off to Chucky camp,
as my wife and I call it.
- You can't do
anything else
besides work with these
people and make this thing.
- Given that the films
are in Canada, or Romania,
and they're never here, I
definitely don't look
forward
to the time gone.
- Being away from
home was horrible.
My wife and I met
when we were 16,
on an archeological
dig in the Negev Desert
between Jordan and Israel,
and we're inseparable.
And I would be
away for two,
maybe three weeks
at a time,
then I would fly home for
a weekend and then go back.
It was very difficult.
- You're going somewhere
where it's a different time
zone,
so you're not gonna be
able to be plugged in
just on the most
basic routine.
- I mean there was no
Skyping, or anything else,
so a lot of phone calls.
- Not much films
in LA these days,
so you're always
off somewhere.
- It's a job that
takes you physically
to different
places a lot.
And it's really time
consuming when you're
working.
- I remember they
were off to Romania,
and then Don told
me afterwards there
was like terrible
weather and stuff.
It sounded like a
real adventure.
And that's the bad thing
about doing a voice
is you just miss all
that, you know.
- Sometimes it was
just goddam lonely
in doing some
of those films.
I mean, I would be
in this huge room,
I mean a massive room.
They could put an
orchestra in there.
And I had a mic.
And everybody
was sitting in
the sound booth
way far away.
- 'Cause everyone
just thinks,
oh you spent all
that time together.
No, I was just in
a box with a mic.
- And I just did dialogue
by myself all day.
And thank god when
Jennifer finally came.
- Well, I suppose it's
sort of changed for me
since I've had a family.
You know, that is now part of
the decision making process.
- The first Chucky,
the kids were somewhere
between five and eight,
the two of them.
And it was difficult, it
was difficult for everybody.
'Cause I was a father
that until that point
had been there
for everything.
- It doesn't bode well
as far as, you know,
being able to do
your job well,
and be a parent well
at the same time.
One kind of gets put
by the wayside.
- And you work a
15 or 17 hour day,
and then you go home and
you crash for a few hours,
and then you have to come
back and do it again.
- But it's not a
nine to five.
It is a whatever time we
would like you to come in,
and whatever time we
would like you to leave.
- When you're filming a
movie, you're going to w*r.
I don't want to make
it sound like that,
'cause you're not
k*lling people,
but you're k*lling
yourself.
- It's just not normal in
the way that it normally is.
I mean people go to
work and they come home,
and then they're home.
- So the time
that you put,
when I did "Sextupets"
I worked 22 hour days.
Literally, out of a
70, 65-day sh**t.
I was there probably 22
hours at least 50 times.
- I was working from
8:00 in the morning
'til 11:00 at night,
five days a week.
And then also working
on the weekends
when I could have time.
And I had a newborn
baby at home.
- [Brad] You know when I
came home it was very late.
I had to get up early.
- [Fiona] Or you'd
just be gone for-
- Or I'd be gone for
weeks, or months.
- Every single person is
dedicating their lives
for the next two weeks,
seven weeks, or six months.
- With "Lord of the Rings"
it was a year and a half.
"Master and Commander"
was six months.
- Once you're
committed to the film
you're at their disposal.
- If they said that
now, I'd be like,
"Well, can my family
come and visit?
And how would that work?"
So it's part of
the process.
- The second season
of "Phineas"
I had to really
put my foot down
about hiring new people,
and building the
budget of the show,
because I didn't want to
miss my daughter growing up.
- But it's the life
that we've chosen,
you know, it's nomadic.
- But if I had not had
a kid in the mix,
I might have continued
to work that hard.
- You know, that's why
I see why people thank
their children and
their families
when they win awards.
Yeah, I'm able to
provide for guys
with my passion, and my
art, and my hard work.
But when you get those
statues its like time
to sit there and
go, "Thank you.
Thank you guys for
being understanding.
'Cause honestly without
you I couldn't do this."
- It's hard, it's an
interesting question.
No one's every
asked me that.
No one's ever cared.
That's so nice.
- [Kyra] I care 'cause
my dad would have to go.
- Of course, I know right
when you asked that
question,
I just thought that's such
an interesting perspective.
- [Kyra] My father and I are
basically like best friends.
(game thudding)
- [Tony] Yay!
- Can I have a share for
your camera? Can we share?
- [Tony] Take yours.
(button clicks)
- Do it again.
Hi Daddy.
- Hey you.
- I can feel
comfortable talking
about anything with him.
He's kind of a rock.
I admire him a lot.
- It really sucks
when you're gone
and it's your kid's birthday
and you can't be there.
That's the time you want
to be there the most,
and then you're
stuck, you know,
in some hotel room
somewhere waiting
for the alarm to go
off so you can go stick
a Kn*fe in Fiona's leg.
Those two worlds
don't mix very well.
I don't know
how to put it.
- [Kyra] As a six,
seven, eight-year-old
you have your other
half so to speak, leave
on a plane for
this movie,
you kind of have like a
little spark taken out of
you.
- Part of it too is
knowing that you guys
aren't gonna be
home forever.
And it's like you
want to get,
you want to be there
for everything,
'cause time just
moves so fast.
- I think he
probably missed out
on a lot of key
moments that
we probably both
wish we had.
- As a parent you feel
like you miss everything.
I mean, part of the
fun of being
a parent is the
family dynamic.
You know, listening to all
three of you kids laugh,
to me, is like the
best thing ever.
(child squeals)
So you go away and
you don't have that.
And then you're
working shitty hours.
And then it's an eight
hour time difference.
And you're completely
on your own.
And it's like you have
to remind yourself
that you're there
to be able
to provide for
your family,
but at the same time it's
taking away from your
family.
So it just kind
of really sucks.
- I'm sorry. Gosh.
(Tony laughs)
- There's some
honesty for you.
- It's so hard to
make any movie.
Even the worst
movie ever made
is still hard to make, and
people go through a lot.
So I think you want to go
through it with somebody
that's already been
through it with you.
- That sort of shared
misery sometimes,
you know, shared
experiences,
and the ups and
downs of all of it.
It's nice having someone
else you can relate to
that you can
hang out with.
And it's weird, 'cause you'd
go on set, and it's like,
"Oh, hey Carry
how's it going?"
And last time you saw
him was five years ago.
- And they're
like your sister,
or your brother by the
end of the sh**t.
And then you walk off and
you don't see each other.
- (laughs) And that's it.
- And that's it.
- And then you run into them
like five years later,
and you're like,
"Oh, god, how are you?
What's going on?"
- When you have sequels
and you have the
same characters
and actors that you're
coming back to,
it's very sweet.
I mean there's a real
sweetness to it.
- It's very weird,
because usually after,
if you haven't
seen somebody
for like 10 years
or something,
you have a lot
to catch up on.
But because you're
in that environment
where you're just working
on the movie it's like,
you just boom, fall
right back into it.
- So and so's had a
kid, and whatever,
and you catch up.
And there is this cool family
dynamic with those shows.
- It's a real kind of
special sort of life
that you get to have,
that goes away.
- That goes away.
- It's really sad to
pack everything up at
the end of the show,
and leave all these
guys and gals behind.
- And when we
wrap the show,
and the puppeteers and
everybody were saying
goodbye,
Don and Fiona
actually drove out
and hung out with us
for a couple of hours,
and said goodbye
to everybody.
- And he gave a
goodbye speech.
And just like,
I don't know.
It sounds corny
to talk about,
but just everybody
in the room,
like there were a
few people crying,
and they gave them
all these gifts.
- But Don had to get up at
like 5:00 in the morning
to go do the drone
sh*t the next day.
We were all wrapped and
we were gonna leave.
So he's like,
"I'm coming out."
And then Fiona's like,
"I'm coming with Don."
- And then he thanked me,
and then I started crying
- People don't
realize how seldom
you take away real
friends from projects.
- Don Mancini is maybe
my closest friend.
- Basically, my best friend
now, which is so weird.
She's also young enough
to be my daughter,
which makes it weirder
(laughs) in a way.
- He liked helped me
through my mother's death.
He was with me when I
found out she d*ed.
He like, just feels
like my family.
- We've been through
a lot together.
He was at both of our
daughter's bat mitzvahs.
He was at our
daughter's wedding.
With me, with the
loss of his parents.
You know, we've been through
a lot of stuff together.
- I've always looked up to
him since I was eight years
old.
And then we didn't talk
for many, many years
through my high school
times and everything.
And then I guess
probably late in my 20s
is when we reconnected.
- We have a lot
in common.
We have very similar
taste in music,
and movies, obviously.
So we just sort
of reconnected.
And it's like, oh
he's a person now.
- And Alex Vincent
is a close friend.
And Don has always
been a close friend.
We never lost touch in
the intervening years
between "Chucky 2" and
"Cult" when I came back.
(everyone laughs)
- I am her
favorite director.
- He's my favorite
director ever.
- Jennifer's awesome.
She's one of the funniest
people you will ever meet.
- And I'm a little
intimidated by her,
honestly.
She does nothing to
make me feel that,
but she's just this bigger
than life character.
- David Kirschner, I adore
him, he's a sweetheart.
On every single film
that I've been on
he has been like
a very calm,
sort of avuncular
presence.
- It would been bizarre
for me to stay close
with him then, like
24-years-old calling,
"Hi Alex's mom,
it's Christine,
can I talk to Alex?"
That would have
been deviant.
(laughing)
Creepy, a little
creepy, yeah.
So that didn't happen.
- You know, we
only reconnected
maybe six years ago or
something like that.
But we talk very often.
- I really love the person
Alex has grown into being.
- No, I think
it's really cool
how Brad and Fiona
have a chance
to actually share
something as intimate
as this incredible
franchise.
- Fiona is like really
truly, a family operation
that she is the
daughter of the man
who's voiced Chucky
for 30 years.
- As a father that
has daughters,
it touches me
that Fiona is,
she's truly the
"Seed of Chucky."
(Fiona cackling)
- Also, now,
it's more of me
just being very
proud of her,
because she's got her
feet, and doesn't need me.
Basically, she-
- I still need
you. (laughs)
- I mean, she might
call me once in awhile.
And you know, I
very rarely,
but every once in awhile
I'll volunteer some things
based on what I see.
But for the most part
I love what I see.
- [Fiona] Oh,
thanks, Dad.
- I'm really impressed.
- Thanks, Daddy.
- And we all do have
a lot of respect
and admiration
for each other.
- We all really enjoy
each other's company,
and we all have fun.
And it's cool to be able
to work with people
that you like.
- It's something
that I'm so proud of
that that's a part
of my career.
I don't think my life
would be different.
It would not have
been as enriched
if Don Mancini or Tony
Gardner weren't part of it.
They're dear,
dear friends
that I have deep
conversations with, and love
that.
- Chucky has like given me
a career, and an identity.
- Chucky was the first
thing that I did
that had a fan base.
And that got me-
- Noticed.
- Yeah, it got
me a career.
- One of the best gifts
to have in life,
particularly when you get
older, you'll find out,
is that it's just nice for
people to listen to you.
I've been doing
this a long time.
I've been doing this
for 30 years now.
So that like people
still care about it,
and want to talk to me
about it, that's awesome.
- See this is the
reason why going into
the seventh Chucky film,
that Chucky has a
huge fan base.
- The cult fan base of Chucky
is very multi-faceted.
So you've got like the sort
of the typical young guys
who love horror,
and they love
to see guts and
gore, and T&A.
- And it's not like a
lot of horror films
where every movie
is basically
the same movie
that came before.
- And then you've got young
women who are like tend
to be a little more
sensitive than that.
And their interests in it
tend to be a little bit
different.
- Every movie that Don does
there's like a new twist.
- People really love it.
People come with their
little doll and all that.
"Could you sign that?"
- [Kyra] Their Glen doll?
- Yeah.
- Glen?
- Guess again, Daddy?
- Horror's always
been counterculture.
I think that that makes
the people who are fans
of it band together.
- I don't think there's
any other genre
that has a fan
base like horror.
- Horror fans are,
and I include myself
in this category,
very passionate.
But also very obsessed,
just like very obsessed
with the films.
- And the fans always
know so much about it.
They're well-versed,
you know,
they're complete
fanatics.
- They are devoted,
loving, kind, non-violent,
(laughs) people who
appreciate what you have
created
and given them.
- It's celebrated. We get
to celebrate it often.
You know, I do conventions
with Christine Elise.
- I think one of the
things I'm most entertained
about at conventions
is it's
a gigantic collection
of people.
- [Lin] Table after table,
and thousands of people,
- Who are in society
generally looked at as
outsiders.
They tend to be wearing
black, black T shirt.
- And they look
like they should be
in a death metal
band, and screaming
and Wielding an a*, and
throwing sh*t at people.
- But they're, they
seem to be like
the bizarrely, the
most wholesome.
- Usually, they're the most
honestly mild-mannered.
And it's like they're
actually really normal
people.
Not all horror fans shop at
Hot Topic. No disrespect.
Not all of us do that.
Only sometimes.
- Jennifer Tilly
and I did Comicon.
And there were people coming
up for autographs
afterwards,
pushing babies
in strollers.
And they had like Chucky or
Tiffany tattooed on them.
It's like, wow these
people are really into it.
- All the boys
have tattoos.
All the girls are big
girls, they're tough,
they're kick ass,
those girls.
And they always have a
great sense of humor.
I love the horror fans.
- I get so many letters,
and like drawings.
- Comicon is
great for us.
For the niche parts
of entertainment
it's this great place where
we get to be sort of thought
of.
- But they were
so polite,
and had such a genuine
appreciation for it,
and such a love for it.
- Horror's so cool
because it is a genre,
where the below the line
people get appreciation.
- I love every single
person I've met
at a convention,
for real.
They are just excited,
joyous, and giving.
- I think it's great
to just come here,
and be surrounded by
people who love horror.
Like at any horror
convention,
it's just really cool
to find more and more
of these out here.
And to see more
and more people
from all different regions
of the United States,
and all over the world coming
to celebrate this genre.
- It's wonderful to see that
kind of fan base support
for the movies,
in person.
- I love being here, man.
I love being
surrounded by this.
It's my favorite
place to be.
- They're always great
about meeting their fans.
Don Mancini
always makes time
to sign every autograph.
- And so to meet
them in person,
and just get to
talk to them,
even if it's just
for a few minutes
about those experiences,
I really appreciate that.
- Story telling is
about communication,
and it relies on
both parties,
the story teller and
the person who's hearing
the story and
responding to it.
(audience applauds)
(indistinct talking)
- Any movie is a
dialogue in a way.
And I think that's
increasing true
in the world of
social media.
- Internet has
come along,
and everybody can share
photos and cross analyze,
what he looked like in
this film versus that film?
And a lot people have
really good opinions,
and really smart ones.
And I think the fan
base is something
that's become rather
amazing in a way.
- You get like
feedback from fans
and people who watch
movies, way more quickly,
and more consistently
than you ever did.
It's just immediate.
- My experience with
fan conventions
is diametrically opposed
to my experience
with fans online.
Fans online tend to be, I
mean, half of them are
lovely,
and effusive and great and
curious, and wonderful.
- And if they're unhappy
you hear it right away.
- And another half
are incredibly mean,
and vindictive and
scary even sometimes.
Nobody ever is
in real life.
- We're such a large
group of people
to be invested in a story
that has been told
for over 30 years.
To be a part of that
is truly special.
- To be a part
of something
that so many people
love is really surreal.
- Every new Chucky
installment they're like,
"Oh my god, what's
gonna happen?"
Because they really see
Chucky as a real person.
- Whatever Chucky
represents to people
is real, and legitimate.
And there's like passion
for the character.
It just feels like
this weird gift
that I get to be
involved in it.
- It's an important
chapter of my life
that thankfully, hasn't
ended in 30 years.
I don't have any other
project like that.
I don't think
anybody else does.
- It's a blessing,
definitely.
As my grandmother
used to always say
about Chucky, "He's
such a bitch."
But he's a bitch hat
keeps on giving.
- [Kyra] Do you
think of Chucky
as part of your
own family?
- Of course, (laughs)
I do think of Chucky
as family he's
mine, he's mine.
Although Tony will
say, "He's mine."
And David Kirschner
will say, "He's mine."
'Cause success has
many fathers. (laughs)
- We joke about that,
that he's our third child.
- I'm proud to have
been his papa.
- I think of Chucky as my
little demented brother.
It's true when I
see him sometimes,
you know, I feel
close to him.
- No, I don't feel like
he's a little brother.
I feel like
maybe he's like
a dog that really lived
a really long time.
That you've had your
whole life, you love him,
but he shits on your
floor. (laughs)
- I don't think of
Chucky as a kid.
I think of Chucky as
an employer sometimes
in a weird way.
And then he's a
family member.
- Our little boy, is what
we always say in this house.
is what you were
trying to say, right?
- There you go. You
ratted me out.
- (chuckles) and we
got it on video.
- Tiffany's my
favorite. (laughs)
I think being part of
the Chucky family,
there's just somebody
who truly gets you,
because not every
other daughter,
or father or person
has grown up
in the same environment.
I feel so connected
to everybody.
I like these
relationships,
and I hope they grow
more over the years.
- Now, we really will
be the perfect family.
(tinkling, eerie music)
- I think these relationships
have definitely more
than grown over the
past few years.
- It's funny 'cause I don't
think any of us expected
it to continue on,
let alone gather
a larger family
in the process
as it keeps
moving forward.
And now we're
headed to Canada.
We're going to Toronto to
sh**t a TV series called
"Chucky."
- I am coming to you from the
set of the "Chucky" series.
Which we are filming
here in Toronto, Ontario.
Who would have thought, 25
years ago when he talked me
into playing this part,
that I would still be
at it many movies later,
and now, a
television series?
- Eight episodes, eight hour
long episodes of k*ller
doll.
The foundation
is the same.
Don Mancini is the show
runner, and wrote the pilot,
and is directing
the pilot.
David Kirschner
is producing.
All the lead puppeteers
are back on it.
- And of course,
darling old Chucky,
the star of our show.
We must not forget him,
because if we did he would
get very, very cranky.
(bell rings)
I have to be quiet now,
'cause we're filming. Bye.
- It's been an interesting
journey really.
The world has gotten
a lot smaller.
- And the family's
gotten larger.
- It's a little
dysfunctional and deadly,
but everybody gets along
and has a lot of fun.
- And we're just gonna
keep on k*lling people.
The family that
slays together
stays together.
- Stays together.
(urgent, dramatically ominous
full orchestral music)
Living with Chucky (2022)
Moderator: Maskath3