While he’s never shared the same popularity as other horror icons like Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Michael Meyers, Child’s Play antagonist Chucky still has his place in the slasher genre. While the original Child’s Play started off as a straightforward horror film, detailing the exploits of serial killer Charles Lee Ray after transferring his soul into a doll, later entries in the franchise tried a different genre approach. The following sequels tried to mix horror elements with a sense of humor, eventually resulting in entries like The Bride of Chucky straying into the direction of Elm Street rather than The Evil Dead. However, recent entries in the series show the franchise returning to its nostalgic slasher roots, starting with the well received Curse of Chucky in 2013.
The newly released red-band trailer for Child’s Play’s seventh installment, Cult of Chucky appears to continue this transition back into horror, even with its goofy premise about a serial killer doll. Taking place four years Curse of Chucky, protagonist Nica Pierce (Fiona Dourif) has been confined to a mental asylum for the crime of murdering her family, despite Chucky being the actual culprit. However, after receiving a “Good Guy” doll from her doctor as a therapeutic tool, a series of violent murders begin taking place around the institution. Suspecting that Chucky could be behind these killings, Nica is aided by the now grown up Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent), who hopes to defeat his childhood nemesis for good. To stop him, however, they’ll have to get past Chucky’s now-human girlfriend Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly), who still holds romantic feelings for her psycho husband doll-in-crime.
Cult of Chucky is being built up as a both a return to form and a Child’s Play reunion, bringing back multiple actors from across the franchise’s nearly 20-year run. This will even include the return of Brad Dourif as Chucky, who has continued to voice the character since his original theatrical debut. The film is set for a non-theatrical release on October 3rd for unrated Blu-ray, DVD, and digital.