The upcoming Cult of Chucky, the seventh film in the Child’s Play franchise, is notable for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest surprises is that Alex Vincent, the actor who played Andy Barclay in the first three films, returns to the franchise for the first time since Child’s Play 3. When speaking with podcast Necronomicast, the film’s writer/director, Don Mancini, revealed key details about the actor’s character.
“Andy is in this movie quite a bit, actually,” Mancini explained. “I’m constantly musing, ‘What would happen if these characters collided?’… ‘What kind of PTSD would Andy Barclay be dealing with, 30 years later?’ If you imagine that this is really happening in our world, what would Andy Barclay be like? What would his life be like? Stuff like that is very interesting to me. So it’s fun to get to explore that. And put it on the screen.”
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While the return of the star might not seem like a big deal to most, Vincent’s return is notable for this particular franchise and the release strategy of the series.
The initial three installments focused on a doll who became possessed by the spirit of a serial killer and killed anyone in his path. Specifically, the killer doll pursued his first best friend, Andy Barclay. The third film in the franchise, which only featured footage of Vincent as a child, was received poorly and is considered by most to be the series’ low point.
With the fourth film, Mancini, who has written all the films, realized that the young child wasn’t nearly as integral to the story as Chucky himself, with the series ditching that concept with Bride of Chucky. All subsequent films have focused on Chucky’s life independent from Barclay and the series continues to move forward.
The plot of Cult of Chucky is as follows:
“Confined to an asylum for the criminally insane for the past four years, Nica Pierce (Fiona Dourif) is erroneously convinced that she, not Chucky, murdered her entire family. But when her psychiatrist introduces a new therapeutic “tool” to facilitate his patients’ group sessions — an all-too-familiar “Good Guy” doll with an innocently smiling face — a string of grisly deaths begins to plague the asylum, and Nica starts to wonder if maybe she isn’t crazy after all. Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent), Chucky’s now-grown-up nemesis from the original Child’s Play, races to Nica’s aid. But to save her he’ll have to get past Tiffany (Oscar-nominee Jennifer Tilly), Chucky’s long-ago bride, who will do anything, no matter how deadly or depraved, to help her beloved devil doll.”
The upcoming film has brought together many of the series’ biggest stars, including Brad Dourif reprising his role as the voice of Chucky for the seventh time.
Cult of Chucky lands on unrated Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital platforms on October 3
