Trailer Talk is back… but not all that relevant, as today I’m going to look at a trailer that managed to slip under my radar back in April. Another property has a seat firmly on the reboot train, but this time, the train has veered into darkness with a new revamp of a classic horror story involving a murderous doll. No, this isn’t another Conjuring spin off—it’s Child’s Play.
The one I am focusing on in particular is Trailer Two, which traditionally is used to show off more of the characters, story and setting of the film in question. Here we meet Andy (Gabriel Bateman), his mum Karen (Aubrey Plaza) and the new incarnation of the legendary Chucky voiced by Mark Hamill. Most of the reason I want to see this film—and the reason I am even talking about it—is that Mark Hamill is voicing Chucky.
This trailer spends most of its time in the dark, as can be expected from a horror film, and focuses on a few key elements. The first being: no one will believe Andy that their new doll is a murderous psychopath. This is a plot element that has been done to death, so let’s hope it doesn’t linger too long or that it is changed in a way that will make things more interesting. The second focus point is that Chucky is now Wi-Fi enabled. The Wi-Fi element of the story is brand new and while I think could be an interesting development to bring this story into the modern age, it is important that the gimmick is handled correctly (you’ll have to check back with me on this one once my inevitable full review is out). Too many times has a gimmick like this been introduced to freshen up a property, only to do the opposite and effectively ruin the story. Structure-wise, the trailer is extremely well done, barely giving us a glimpse at Chucky himself and instead focusing on small ‘murder set-pieces.’ These set pieces are the things I’m looking forward to; a bit of creativity and absurdity can go a long way into making a slasher like this more fun.
All in all, this trailer is just a solid horror trailer. It may be a bit too dark, and at times a little too fast-paced, but it does well to conceal Chucky from the movie-going public’s ever increasing scrutiny of everything. We only hear one line from the doll throughout, and I think that’s enough—a slight bit of mystery going a long way. Setting up the Wi-Fi gimmick without giving away too much of what it entails and what Chucky can do is done well. Because of this, I’m not just interested because of Mark Hamill’s presence anymore—I’m excited to see how the new development works, and the hopefully insane ways it’s used to kill people. Whether this update is broken or not… only time will tell.
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