Clapboard Jungle | Do you have what it takes to survive the modern independent film business?

If you have ever thought about becoming an independent film-maker, then you must check this out first. Justin McConnell, who writes, directs and features, has worked as a film festival coordinator, as well as being a cinematographer and editor on heaps of featurettes you’ve probably seen as bonus content, and also directed a number of documentaries and helmed two features. But he has still yet to make his mark in this riskiest of businesses, where it has become harder and harder for independents to make a living due to media giant monopolisation and a market oversaturated with product.

Featuring interviews with a vast range of industry luminaries, Clapboard Jungle (which is available on ARROW from Monday 19 April) follows Justin’s personal journey over a five year period, exploring not only the nitty-gritty of the film business (from pitch to product) but also the physical and emotional strain that comes with it. It’s a fascinating insight and something of a survival guide for anyone brave enough to attempt themselves.

Once you have watched the documentary, I strongly urge you to check out the extended interviews which feature a roll call of some of our favourite cult heroes who all discuss their career highs and lows, and their place in the independent film world today. Poignantly, among them are Dick Miller, George Romeo and Larry Cohen, who are no longer with us – so these are very special indeed.

Clapboard Jungle is available from ARROW from Monday 19 April

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• Audio commentary with Justin McConnell
• Crew commentary: Justin McConnell, co-producer Darryl Shaw, executive producer Avi Federgreen and editor/associate producer Kevin Burke)
• Guest commentary/panel discussion: Barbara Crampton, Richard Stanley, John McNaughton, Gigi Saul Guerrero and Adam Mason
• Deleted scenes with optional commentary by Justin McConnell
• Extended interviews: Anne-Marie Gélinas, Barbara Crampton, Brian Trenchard-Smith, Brian Yuzna, Charles Band, Corey Moosa, Dean Cundey, Dick Miller, Don Mancini, Frank Henenlotter, Gary Sherman, George Romero, George Mihalka, Guillermo Del Toro, John McNaughton, Jon Reiss, Larry Cohen, Larry Fessenden, Lloyd Kaufman, Mette-Marie Kongsved, Michael Biehn, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Mick Garris, Paul Schrader, Richard Stanley, Sam Firstenberg, Tom Holland, Tom Savini, Vincenzo Natali
• Documentaries: Working Class Rock Star (2008) and Skull World (2013)
• 13 short films with optional commentaries and intros
• Trailers, promos, photo gallery and Easter eggs
• Artwork by Ilan Sheady
• Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing by producer/director Brian Yuzna

Cult of Chucky (2017) | The killer doll strikes again – but is it lucky number seven for Don Mancini and co?

Last night, Horror Channel Frightfest opened with the world premiere of Don Mancini and David Kirschner’s seventh instalment in their Chucky franchise, with some of the cast and crew in attendance, including Mancini, puppeteer Tony Gardner, Fiona Dourif, Ada Hurtig and Jennifer Tilly (who could hardly contain her excitement).

First up, however, was The Dollhouse, a 7-minute short made by Tony’s daughter Kyra, in which she revealed how the franchise has become a family business involving Dourifs, the Mancinis and the Kirschners. This was a great introduction, and also showed just how much passion and commitment has gone into making Chucky such a horror icon.

Next up: Cult of Chucky. Picking up four years after the massacre of her family in Curse of Chucky, an incarcerated Nica (Fiona Dourif) believes she is guilty of the crimes and is transferred to a medium security mental institution.

But when the killer doll starts targeting the inmates, Nica quickly comes to her senses. But no one, including her dubious psychiatrist (Michael Therriault), will believe her.

Her only hope is Chucky’s original nemesis Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent), who is now a grown-up survivalist. But Nica had better watch her back as Chucky’s bride, Tiffany (now possessing the body of Jennifer Tilly), has plans of her own…

Over the past three decades and six films, horror fans have watched the tale of the possessed Good Guy doll unfold. The first three were scary were your typical 80s slasher-inspired, the next two took a hit-and-miss comic route, then original creator Don Mancini turned to the dark side with his Hitchcock-inspired Curse of Chucky. Now, he’s ramped up the scare-factor with an insane psychological horror thrill ride for this seventh outing.

Mancini really has fun messing with your head this time round as there are not one but two Good Guy Dolls on the prowl, while the smashed-in head of another is being used as a sadistic plaything by Andy. I, for one, thought Andy and Nica were imagining Chucky was alive until the big reveal halfway through!

Featuring elaborate death scenes and lashings of gore, a great music score and inventive camera-work that makes atmospheric use of the claustrophobic setting – an imposing Brutalist-designed hospital with gleaming white corridors and padded cells, all set in a snowbound prairie land (which gives the whole thing a dreamlike quality); plus some terrific performances from Dorif and co, this is a real treat for Chucky fans. I must say, however, that the film also features one of the most poorly manned mental hospitals in cinema history.

Cult of Chucky is out on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital Download on 23 October from Universal Pictures UK

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Curse of Chucky (2013) | A new reign of terror begins in a fiendishly dark and deadly reboot sequel

‘It’s a doll, what’s the worst that can happen?’
After five films spanning over 25 years, Chucky is the demonic red-headed Good Guy doll that horror fans can’t get enough of. After laying low since 2004’s Seed of Chucky, he’s back with a vengeance in a sixth offering that dispenses with the black comedy of the previous two films to deliver a deliciously dark and deadly reboot/sequel.

‘Guess who’s coming to dinner?’
This time round, the seemingly indestructible serial killer trapped inside a plastic shell has a score to settle and begins his new reign of terror soon after being delivered to the gloomy Addams Family-esque mansion of wheelchair-bound Nica (Fiona Dourif), where the homicidal plaything kills off her not-so-nice mum before the opening credits.

The body count rises, however, when Nica’s self-serving sister Barb (Danielle Bisutti) lands on her doorstep, along with husband Ian, baby-sitter Jill (with whom she’s secretly shagging) and five-year-old daughter Alice (Summer H Howell), not to mention a local priest whose suspicions about the Good Guy doll results in his grisly demise – by decapitation – after being taken ill from eating vegetarian chilli laced with rat poison. It’s the film’s most inspired death scene, btw.

Brad Dourif is back as the the voice of Chucky, but he also gets to play notorious serial killer Charles Lee Ray in human form in a flashback which reveals why he has a score to settle with Nica and her family. Dourif’s real-life daughter Fiona plays his intended victim, who, despite her disability, gives the kitchen knife-wielding Chucky a merry chase before the final showdown.

Curse of Chucky also sees the return of Don Mancini and David Kirschner (the franchise’s original creator/director and producer), and kudos go to them for crafting a suspenseful thriller that not only puts a stylish spin on old tropes, but whose creepy, shadow-filled production design and editing also pays homage to Hitchcock and Argento by way of some classic women in peril psycho-thrillers like Lady in a Cage, Wait Until Dark, and even Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. I’m not spoiling anything by revealing that Chucky survives to slay another day (Mancini says intends on writing a seventh filn, although he’s currently busy working on Hannibal), but the big question is – whatever will become of little Alice?

Curse of Chucky is available to stream on YouTube from Universal Movies UK, and also screens on Sky Movies Premiere HD from Friday 26 June 2015

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