Int: Don Mancini

Last Updated on September 22, 2021

The
Arrow interviews Don Mancini

In my quite disposable opinion, Chucky’s latest foray into doll
snapping,
“Seed of Chucky” was a mucho fun
ride that gave us what us fans wanted from the “Don’t fuck with
the Chuck” franchise and then some. June 7 2005 is the date when
Chucky and his family hit the DVD shelves in all of their “extended”
and “unrated” glory. I recently had the chance to exchange daggers
with Chucky’s daddy “Don
Mancini” and here’s what
he had to say about the upcoming DVD release, the Chucky video game
and the impending sequels.

In terms of the
Theatrical Cut, how many visits to the MPAA did you make until you
had your R Rating?

Believe it or not, just one. I was
amazed, because over the years, the MPAA has really given us a hard
time with this series. Not so much with the films themselves, but
with the marketing materials. The MPAA seems to have a particular
problem with Chucky, because he’s a doll, and therefore might have a
special appeal to children. So, for example, in all the trailers
and TV commercials for SEED, we had to digitally erase Chucky’s
facial scars.

The scars were deemed inappropriate
for general audiences – and yet, they okayed the tag lines “Get a
load of Chucky” and “Fear the second coming.” I guess they just
didn’t get the jizz jokes. Thank God. But considering that the
film itself is so chock-full of gore, foul language, and semen, they
were surprisingly lenient on us. I do wonder, however, how the film
could ever play on anything but pay TV.

Looking back at
the theatrical cut, what is your biggest peeve with it?

I’m pretty happy with it. The
execs at Focus Features were fantastic to work with. They didn’t
really force me to cut anything that was precious to me. Of course,
during the editing process, they had concerns and ideas, and often
they were right, and we’d implement certain changes. They’re smart
people, and we were all pretty much on the same page regarding the
kind of movie we were making – a horror comedy in the vein of EVIL
DEAD II or RE-ANIMATOR. As on BRIDE OF CHUCKY, there was an
ongoing concern as to the “scariness” of the movie, or lack
thereof.

The studio’s overriding concern was
that even though the comedy was working, they wanted the movie to be
as scary and suspenseful as possible. Now, I’m not sure how
successful we were in that regard. I think that the movie’s
absurdity quotient is so high, given that the heroes are a family of
dolls, that it may preclude traditional “scariness.” The movie asks
you to identify with the killers and their problems, not with the
victims. But that said, I’m quite happy with the finished film.
Considering that it’s the fifth in the series, it’s an original and
even eccentric movie. It’s not your run-of-the-mill, formulaic
slasher sequel. I’m proud of that.

The “unrated and
fully extended” SEED OF CHUCKY DVD comes out on June 7, how much
longer will this cut be and is there added gore?

It’s a couple of minutes longer.
Our budget was very tight – at $12 million, it was the least
expensive of all the CHUCKY films – so we couldn’t afford to shoot
much that wouldn’t end up on the screen. It was a very frugal
production. In my original script, there was a sequence in which
Tiffany stalks Little Actress Debbie Lee Carrington on the Universal
backlot. It was hilarious – and suspenseful, incidentally – but as
it was a bit of a diversion from the main storyline, I had to do the
responsible thing and cut it due to budget and schedule.

We never shot it, but we did shoot
the scene which sets up Tiffany’s animosity towards Debbie, and that
scene is included as an extra on the unrated DVD. There’s another
scene near the end of the film, which we cut for pacing, in which we
see the aftermath of the movie’s final murder. The scene sort of
ties up some loose ends regarding two major characters, and I think
fans will get a kick out of it. And finally, the unrated cut
contains a brief “below-the-waist” shot during Chucky’s masturbation
scene. It’s just a little bit of puppet porno. We’re calling it
“Chucky’s dirtiest deed.”

The DVD seems to
be jam packed with fun features and extras. How conscious were you
of the DVD while shooting and did it ever hinder your directing
process?

You have to be very aware of the
DVD version, because ultimately that’s where your film is going to
exist in perpetuity. We had a documentary crew shooting
behind-the-scenes footage all the time, but those guys are total
professionals and they never get in your way. In retrospect, I wish
I had had the wherewithal and the energy to flag certain takes for a
full-on puppet blooper reel, but I had my hands full just making the
movie! But we’ve got tons of features – two commentary tracks, the
behind-the-scenes documentary, a storyboard-to-film comparison (the
boards were drawn by Pete Von Sholly), Jennifer’s hilarious on-set
diary, her video diary which first aired on THE TONIGHT SHOW , etc.,
etc.

One of the best things the DVD
affords a director is the opportunity to fiddle with the picture –
I’m talking about color manipulation and things like that. The
picture resolution on the DVD is actually better than it was in
theaters, and certain digital mattes and things like that look much
better on the DVD. In the digital realm, you just have more time to
play with that stuff, and the format gives you endless possibilities
as compared to film.

I particularly
adored the ending to Seed of Chucky where it offered new
possibilities in terms of where the next film can go. Are you
planning on re-visiting Chuck for another sequel and will you run
with the ending of “Seed”?

Chucky is a bona fide icon of the
genre at this point, so it’s probably only a matter of time before
there’s a demand to bring him back. And whatever we might end up
doing with such a film, I certainly would want to preserve some sort
of continuity with the end of SEED.

Is there a spark
in your mind that would like to bring back old characters into the
next sequels (like Chris Sarandon, Andy…what not)?

You never know…

What’s next on
your plate screenwriting and directing wise?

I’m writing a PG-13 horror-comedy
in the vein of BEETLEJUICE or GHOSTBUSTERS, which I hope to direct
next year. I’m also getting ready to pitch a TV series. My only
experience with TV was co-writing a TALES FROM THE CRYPT episode for
HBO many years ago. (Contrary to rumor, I didn’t direct that
episode; Jack “THE HIDDEN” Sholder did.) But the pace of TV appeals
to me, as compared to the usually glacial pace of feature film
development.

As an avid gamer
I have to ask; a CHUCKY video game…is that feasible in the near
future or what? COME ON!

We’re talking about it. Stay
tuned!

Buy Seed of Chucky here

I’d like to thank Don
for the groovy film that was Seed of Chucky! Looking forward to the
next Chuck sequel or whatever warped dish you come up with next!

VISIT
THE OFFICIAL SEED OF CHUCKY SITE HERE

READ
ARROW’S REVIEW OF SEED OF CHUCKY HERE