Want to hear more from the actors and creators of your favorite shows and films? Subscribe to The Cinema Spot on YouTube for all of our upcoming interviews!
Child’s Play is an upcoming 2019 slasher horror film from Orion Pictures and KatzSmith Productions, the company that produced the 2017 smash hit, IT. The film is a reboot of the classic franchise that introduced the world to the iconic killer doll, Chucky. With the surprising success of 2018’s Halloween, both critically and commercially, it’s not surprising that another reboot of a classic horror villain is already upon us. Well, judging by this new poster and trailer, it seems as though Chucky is back and ready to slice and dice his way to the top of the box office.
Let’s start with the trailer. It’s a competently edited trailer that hits all the beats it needed to. I found the music to be especially well utilized (I’m a big fan of this film adopting Harry Nilsson’s “Best Friend” as it’s theme) and the sound design created a very creepy atmosphere. It definitely felt like a typical horror film trailer.
Now, what does this trailer reveal to us about the new story of the film? Not a whole lot, but it does seem to confirm a lot of the speculation online that, since he’s a piece of artificial intelligence in this incarnation, Chucky will have access to all the different pieces of technology from the Kaslan Corporation, the company that created the doll. For instance, there’s an audio byte that talks about the Kaslan car and it is immediately followed by a gruesome car crash where, evidently, some poor people will become Chucky’s victims.
I think this idea is very intriguing and is totally fresh for this franchise. Let’s not forget that this film was greenlit from the pitch, “What if your Alexa could kill you?” and it totally shows in this trailer. We also got a better sense of Andy’s friends and what kind of role they will play in this story. It seems as though they will be similar to ‘The Loser’s Club’, in the sense that they all team up to take down Chucky in the third act. It only makes sense, given that the same people who worked on IT worked on this film as well.
My only notable gripe with this trailer is how Chucky looks in action. His voice is PERFECT and I’m still over the moon about the casting of Mark Hamill. However, the quick little cuts of what the doll itself looks like troubled me. It looks so cartoonish that I’m afraid it may lose its edge, and in turn not be scary at all. It’s been confirmed that this film will use practical animatronics, with CGI used to touch up the face, and, based upon these few glimpses of the doll, it looks like the CGI might be a bit much. Granted there’s only like 2 seconds of footage here, but it’s enough to worry me a bit. All in all, it’s a well enough made trailer that should excite the franchise fanbase as well as general horror film fans.
Now onto the poster. This poster is awesome! I love the vulnerability and true terror this poster portrays. It gets right to the heart of what makes Chucky scary: He’s small, silent, and could be anywhere without you noticing. I love that Andy is sleeping peacefully, completely unaware of what’s about to come. It’s the perfect representation of Chucky and what this film is about in a single image, and that’s all you can really ask a poster to do.
Look out Jack, Chucky’s back!
Are you excited for the new Child’s Play? What did you think about Chucky’s look in this trailer?
Let us know in the comments and make sure to follow us on Instagram @thecinemaspot_ and Twitter @thecinemaspot !
