The news of the remake of ‘Diabolical Doll’ a couple of years ago meant a certain slight to the creator of the original, who was not only immersed in his own cycle of sequels, but at the time when said update was made He was working on this ‘Chucky’, which premieres on the 10th on the SyFy channel, not only a series based on the saga but one more full-fledged delivery that advocates uniting the entire universe that he has created in a single story full of twists and turns and characters.
In these eight episodes Don Mancini takes as a starting point the installment that has accumulated the most positive reaction of the saga over the years, the stupendous’Devil Doll 2‘(Child’s Play 2, 1990), and takes Kevin Yagher’s design from that to go back to the origins and tell the story that he wanted to develop in the first installment, with a boy, who, beyond being a victim, is the target of the doll’s corruption, turning him into his tool.
This changes and expands the role of Chucky to a devilish conscience, extending the relationship of man and the living puppet to a psychological dimension that has always existed in ventriloquist cinema since ‘When the night died‘(Dead of Night, 1945) and this time it has points in common with’ Magic ‘(1978) or the Spanish’ Freddy ‘(1982) by Chicho Ibáñez Serrador. However, these nuances do not detract from the slasher spirit that placed the little redhead at the height of Freddy, Jason and Michael Myers in the 80s and 90s.
A relevant queer background
In the series the doll resurfaces in a neighborhood street sale and is bought by a young artist named Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur), who is working on a grotesque piece made of doll parts. In details like this sculpture you can see the hand of the great Nick Antosca, who co-produces the series with Mancini, with whom he had already teamed up to give one of the bravest and most diverse horror television series ever made, the chilling ‘Channel Zero’. Antosca brings a strange, morbid and dark vision that makes a difference with the latest films, much more reckless.
Mancini also takes advantage of the open-mindedness of current television to include the LGTBI + theme that I had always wanted to deal with and could never by different censures and his Jake accumulates different insecurities that the doll tries to vampirize, derived from his struggle to accept his sexuality. This creates a dark first half in which adolescent anguish accumulates a dark residue that gives a truly murky look to its dynamic with Chucky, although once the first chapters are over everything is channeled into a more tragic adolescent plot.
What is really surprising is the naturalness with which the series develops the sincere scenes of falling in love with Devon (Björgvin Arnarson), where Arthur and Arnarson function in an organic way, making their outcast partner show the vulnerability and connection of the first love with more sensitivity and honesty than many much more self-conscious series and focused on adolescent romantic relationships. And we must not forget that ‘Chucky’ is a horror series, evil, macabre and foul-mouthed.
Wildly funny and gore
This first season presents an enviable collection of creative and unique horror and murder set piecesThey carry on the franchise’s bizarre murder tradition. While some are just cruel and truly gore, others have an impressive tension build, peaking in Episode 6’s balance of suspense and gore, picking up the best of Tom Holland’s wicked handling of tension and the idea of the slasher. festive that has been establishing itself in the saga over the years.
There’s a nifty way to bring back some characters from the other movies and some more forced ones. The flashback on killer Charles Lee Ray doesn’t quite work, although it covers part of the fan’s curiosity, and Jennifer Tilly’s appearance may be too much, but it is fun and adds the elements of madness that have accompanied the adventures. Chucky in recent years. The feeling is one of celebration of a universe and Mancini vindicates himself by firmly believing in this, showing a confidence in his own delusion that makes it work.
‘Chucky’ consolidates the ‘Diabolical Doll’ franchise with very careful animatronic special effects, the triumphant return of Brad Douriff – accompanied by his daughter in three different roles – and a convenient update of the original germ for the new times. It has some structural problems, but it is compensated by grotesque murders, an important role for queer visibility in the genre and an unusual rawness when it comes to choosing its victims, always keeping intact his gross, sardonic and blood-soaked incorrectness.