Living with Chucky

What if you grew up with a killer doll. For writer and director Kyra Elise Gardner that's exactly what she did.

Her father was the makeup artist and head puppeteer who literally helped bring a killer doll named Chucky to life. The titular Chucky has been starring in his own film franchise for over 30 years so Kyra was curious to see how her Dad has been spending his time. Which led her to create this documentary and was also a great excuse to meet the cast and crew involved in the franchise. Like any good documentary it has a purpose. Kyra has grown up hearing about the crew but has never had a chance to meet them. So, she set out to interview all of the key contributors to find out why Chucky means so much to them. Including the film's creators, crew and stars.

Initially the film brings you up to speed on the premise of the franchise and then takes you on a blow-by-blow journey through each film. Even though there are massive diminishing returns with the Chucky sequels, I'm always fascinated with how bad films are created. It helps you understand the decisions people made and what they were hoping to achieve. These films have been surrounded with some controversy which I would have liked to see explored more but I can understand the reason for leaving some elements out due to their sensitive nature and the fun tone of the film.

You don't necessarily need to be a Horror aficionado to enjoy this doco, although it would definitely help as Horror nuts will lap up all of the backstage secrets and on set stories. If you have an interest in the filmmaking process it offers great insights into the techniques and skills used. Although be warned, if you're more on the squeamish side, there are moments of blood and gore that could be a bit too much for the more discerning viewer.

On the whole this is a solid documentary exploring people's fascination and love for the horror genre, in particular, a little doll named Chucky.

• Nick

@WatchItWombat.

Fans of the franchise will absolutely love this documentary. From interesting back stories to how the films have affected each person, it is amazing to see and learn things about a franchise that so many people have grown up with. My only complaint was there wasn't more, I was so intrigued with the sections on just the movies that I wanted more about each production. I found about this documentary from BD and the director's social media and the behind the scenes had me hopeful, but my hopes were surpassed in every regard. The beginning is very informative but it gets immensely emotional towards the end and shines a whole new light on the family behind these scenes. I can't recommend this enough to fans of the franchise.

This was a documentary that I heard about through podcasts and it went on a list of ones to check out. Growing up I was a fan of the Child's Play films. I don't even know when I fully watched the original, but my sister and I had seen Part 2 and 3 regularly. We even watched Bride of Chucky when it came out. I had seen Never Sleep Again, which was the documentary about A Nightmare on Elm Street series as well as part of Crystal Lake Memories for Friday the 13th. I was intrigued about this one for this series. I watched it at work, treating it like a podcast.

What I like here is that this one goes into each of the movies of the series. We hear from the likes of Brad Dourif, the voice of Chucky, Alex Vincent, Tony Gardner, David Kirschner and Don Mancini. This is a great combination of actors on screen and people who worked behind the camera. It is fun to hear about the struggles, seeing how everything came together and just behind the scenes things. Then as this goes, it brings in others like Fiona Dourif, Christine Elise, Billy Boyd, Jennifer Tilley and more.

Something I should include here is that one of the puppeteers from the beginning, Tony Gardner, his daughter is the one behind this. This is showcasing how this series is truly a family affair since she grew up around the franchise. Along with that would be Fiona, since her father Brad is the voice. She also has starred in Curse and Cult of Chucky. I'll be honest, this made me tear up late when they leaned into this.

Now a gripe that I've seen from other people is the fact that they gloss over Part 3. I do think part of that is the fact that they didn't get Justin Whalen or any of the other people who were in it. I do think that this whole series of films could aided from going more in-depth. I would have liked to see this expanded to focusing closer to 20 minutes plus on each installment. Something to keep in mind to documentary filmmakers out there.

Despite that issue, this is well-made. I like the behind the scenes stories. Seeing the clips from the film and then showing us what went into it was a good touch. I enjoyed this documentary and would recommend it to fans of this franchise. It falls short of other ones like it, but still worth a watch.

My Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

It amazed me seeing how so many people were connected through this one doll. This documentary included people that met him all the way from the original Child's Play to the most recent third season of the Chucky tv show. I watched all of them before looking at this so I was happy seeing how people have grown. I had no idea that the actress that plays Nika is the actual daughter of the actor who plays Chucky! He must be really proud of her. I also saw the YouTuber behind Dead Meat on this, amazing! I love his kill count videos! This movie is a must watch for anyone that likes Chucky, regardless of which entry they prefer.

Excellent overview of the history of Chucky. I'm incredibly jealous I didn't get to direct this myself. The heart is there and not a second is wasted. The nostalgia as a 90's kid is felt with each interview. It's endearing hearing stories of the cast and crew and how these films formed and affected families.

If you're a big fan of the series, this is exactly what you're hoping it is. You also get a small glimpse of how the industry functions in general. Overall, it's a human story with a horror franchise at its center.

I took away a star because I cringed each time those DVDs were handled and how poorly the disc tray was closed. There's no excuse for that.

9/10 Good Guy Dolls. The other one went missing...