Featuring Don Mancini, Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly, John Waters

Directed by Kyra Elise Gardner

Lightbulb DVD and Blu-ray, out April 24

A filmmaker whose father was a key part of the production team seeks out other families integral to the Child’s Play films as they recount their experiences and reflect on what it means to be a part of the Chucky family.

I can’t claim to be a fan of the original Child’s Play movies. I think I saw the first one in the late eighties but didn’t go back, until recently, when I found myself charmed and captivated by the new SYFY TV series. With the zeal of a convert, I was looking forward to this documentary about the franchise.

Living With Chucky is made by Kyra Elise Gardner, whose father Tony was central to many of the special effects in the series over several decades. Her approach is to examine the enduring nature of Child’s Play as a sort of family business, where the ‘families’ are either biological like hers – and the father-daughter pairing of actors Brad and Fiona Dourif – or family surrogates, where original child star, Alex Vincent, talks about creator Mancini as a father or older brother figure, or finally fictional ones exploring the relationships between Chucky, Tiffany, Glen and Glenda. Gardner paints an endearing portrait of people living cheek by jowl in an atmosphere of love and camaraderie all thanks to the killer doll.

This is a nice conceit, but it only goes so far, and after a while, everyone talking about how much they love each other starts to pall. It has its place but I found myself wishing she would explore the Chucky phenomenon in a lot more depth. To be fair, there are moments when more complex questions are asked, but no sooner is Gardner starting to touch on the deeper aspects of the franchise than we’re back to the mutual back-slapping. I would have been interested to dig down into how Mancini feels about Child’s Play being associated with ‘video nasties’ and implicated by the British Press in the murder of James Bulger, but it’s clear that Gardner doesn’t want to go there. I can understand why, but it’s an uncomfortable omission, especially as there is an opportunity here to set the record straight as to the intentions of the movies.

Similarly, while there is a brief sojourn into how the films were trailblazers in terms of gender and sexuality, the director lets it go just as that is becoming interesting. On a technical level, I was fascinated to hear the puppeteers talking about the finer detail of their craft, but yet again, just as I was sitting forward on my sofa, we were back to the mutual appreciation. There are also tantalising hints of off-screen politics which are never pursued, and at a roomy one hour and 45 minutes, I can’t help feeling there was more than enough time to explore all of these subjects properly.

Verdict: Living With Chucky is perfectly watchable, but for anyone with a keen interest in horror, especially in a franchise as enduring as Child’s Play, this documentary is a missed opportunity – although on the plus side, it has made me want to go back and catch up on the movies in the series I still haven’t seen. 6/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com