The Chucky puppetry is pretty well done, given the basic cable budget; we’re not sure how the killings will look, but again, the creativity needed to make them safe for cable will also make them less expensive to create.
Parting Shot: We go back to the scene where the heavy breathing thing is watching a woman brush her hair through his eyes. He sees himself in the mirror and we see it’s Charles Lee Ray as a kid (David Kohlsmith). A graphic http://www.hookupdate.net/russiancupid-review says “Hackensack, 1965”.
Sleeper Star: Bjorgvin Arnarson is the wild card as Devon. His fake podcast shows that he’s a pretty poised kid, and it does seem like he’s into Jake. Will Jake protect him against Chucky?
Most Pilot-y Line: The way Jake carries Chucky around, like he’s a small child, is so weird, especially when he brings it to school. He might as well have put a target on his back.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Chucky adds some fun story elements to the “murdering doll” dynamic, bringing the franchise back to it’s earliest days, when we found out how Charles Lee Ray became a belligerent, knife-wielding, redheaded doll.
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The Child’s Play franchise has had a good, long life – the original film came out way back in 1988. (Raise your hand if you were EVEN ALIVE then.) But it’s also current, with the most recent film – Cult of Chucky – coming out only four years ago. Details from that film will feed into the new USA/Syfy series Chucky, which will be run by Don Mancini, the franchise’s creator. But will Chucky be as scary – or as creepily funny – on a basic cable budget?
CHUCKY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: A radio broadcast says “3 bodies were found by the Hackensack Mall last night bringing the total to 11.” Out of someone’s eyes, we hear them breathing as they climb up the stairs and see them looking at a young woman brushing her hair.
The Gist: We then see a Good Guy doll with red hair open its eyes. It’s lying down on a table at a yard sale in Hackensack. Jake Webber (Zackary Arthur) picks up the doll for ten bucks and brings it home as he listens to the “Hackenslash” podcast by his classmate Devon Lopez (Bjorgvin Arnarson) – whom he has a little crush on.
The doll is going to help Jake with his creepy sculpture made from baby doll parts. But he can’t get the head off; then it turns on and introduces himself: “I’m Chucky, wanna play?” His dad Lucas (Devon Sawa) isn’t impressed; but he’s been depressed since Jake’s mom died and his business tanked. When he has his much more successful twin brother Logan (Sawa), his wife Bree (Lexa Doig) and overachieving cousin Junior (Teo Briones) over, the night goes poorly, especially when Junior brings up that Jake is gay. Lucas is so enraged that he bashes the sculpture to pieces.
Jake looks to sell the Chucky doll, and brings it to school for safekeeping; of course, the presence of the massive redheaded doll gives new ammo to the people who already torture him during the school day. One of them is Junior’s girlfriend, Lexy Taylor (Alyvia Alyn Lind), who snidely starts a GoFundMe to help him out of “poverty”. Lexy is the first person to see Chucky move from his spot and stare her down, but biology teacher Miss Fairchild (Annie Briggs) comes in with the principal before anything happens.