Move over, ANNABELLE, the original killer doll is back in this week’s premiere of televisions CHUCKY, season 2. Last year, franchise creator Don Mancini brought his monsterpiece to the small screen in a big way. The celebrated series was a hit, turning out to be way better than it had any business being. It followed a handful of high school students in Hackensack, New Jersey, as they were terrorized by the psycho, serial-killing plaything. Starring the voice talents of the original Chucky himself, Brad Dourif, as well as his daughter, Fiona Dourif, and national treasure Jennifer Tilly, returning to play Chucky’s bride, Tiffany, in the guise of actual actress Jennifer Tilly. (For clarification, see literally every Chucky movie ever made.)
The great (and surprising) thing about this series is that its original creator, Don Mancini, has miraculously held onto the reins of the brand since CHILDS PLAY first premiered back in 1988. While most horror franchises have switched studios and creative hands more times than anyone can keep track of (there’s a literal legal war happening with the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise, which is why we still haven’t received the actual 13th installment in that franchise), The CHILDS PLAY series maintains consistency in its storytelling because Mancini has held onto creative control this whole time. While installments like BRIDE OF CHUCKY and SEED OF CHUCKY leaned heavily into comedy and camp, the storyline remained consistent. It was later features CURSE OF CHUCKY and CULT OF CHUCKY that were able to return it to its horror roots while still including the lore of its comedic predecessors. All of this has culminated into a perfect, successful blend of frights, gore, and comedy in the new television series, CHUCKY (And yes, you really should see all those movies I just listed in order to understand what’s happening in this series. I promise, they’re worth it.)
The television show is made for horror fans by a horror fan; it isn’t trying to cater to the masses or to people who are only sort of familiar with the franchise. I applaud Mancini for being consistent in the storyline. While the HALLOWEEN franchise has at least three choose-your-own-adventure plots to follow (including sequels, remakes, and reboots/requels), the CHUCKY series, through thick and thin, has never abandoned ship to start all over (Disregarding the 2019 remake, made disrespectfully against Mancini’s wishes. Don’t see that movie—despite Mark Hamill’s excellent Chucky vocal-impression, it’s just bad.). The series even saw the return of Andy (Alex Vincent), the original little boy being chased by Chucky in CHILDS PLAY, and his foster sister Kyle (Christine Elise) from CHILDS PLAY 2.
Season 2 of CHUCKY picks up shortly after the end of the first season. The aftermath of its surviving characters is well-showcased, and we are quickly brought up to speed on where they’ve been. A fun opening sequence is a total Easter egg hunt of other classic horror franchises, including shout-outs to famous scary scores, cinematography, and classic tropes. The episode’s pacing drops a bit halfway through (maybe it’s the editing?), but the ending sets us up for what is clearly going to be a “religious” experience for fans of the franchise.
I must mention, too, how queer the series is. Mancini, a gay man himself, introduced the first well-fleshed-out gay character I personally remember seeing (maybe ever) in BRIDE OF CHUCKY. SEED OF CHUCKY explores non-binary gender identity (albeit in a dated way), and the leads of the CHUCKY TV series are gay, gay, gay! Unapologetically. As a budding young gay, I remember feeling that there wasn’t really a place for me in the horror fandom universe since most fans seemed toxically macho and gay characters were stereotypes, easily expendable, or shown to be the scary villains. It fills my spooky little heart that young queer horror fans now have excellent representation within the genre. In season 1, when lead character Jake (Zackary Wheeler, excellent) comes out to Chucky, the killer doll replies with, “You know, I have a queer kid. Gender-fluid. I’m not a monster, Jake!” This surprisingly tender moment is a clear middle finger to all the homophobic horror fans who complain that the genre has become too “woke.” Queer coding has existed in the genre since before they were born, it’s only now that we aren’t being hidden in the shadows or made out to be the bad guys (Speaking of Chucky’s gender fluid child, the trailer showed the return of Glen/Glenda, to be played by non-binary actor Lachlan Watson, and I couldn’t be more excited!).
OK, I’m off my queer soapbox now.
The season 2 premiere of CHUCKY is, for me, the perfect kick-off to the spooky season, and I can’t wait to see what else this maniacal doll has in store for us!
CHUCKY is available to watch on SYFY and to stream on the SYFY app. (If you want to catch up, season 1 is streaming on PEACOCK.)
