Living with Chucky trailer: documentary gets an April release date

A few months ago, we learned that the documentary Living with Chucky, which was directed and conceived by Kyra Elise Gardner, the daughter of Tony Gardner, the chief puppeteer for the majority of the Chucky franchise, will be released through Cinedigm’s Screambox streaming service (which is headed up by our friends at Bloody Disgusting) in 2023. Now we know the exact release date: Living with Chucky will be getting its Screambox and digital release on April 4th – and along with the release date information comes the unveiling of a trailer. Collider got the exclusive first look at the trailer, and you can check it out in the embed above.

Living with Chucky is said to explore the iconic Child’s Play franchise through a personal and social perspective. The documentary feature utilizes new and archival interview footage to expose the series’ cultural impact over the years, with principal cast, crew members including Don Mancini, Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly, Tony Gardner, and David Kirshner, alongside fans of the franchise like Marlon Wayans, John Waters, and Abigail Breslin.

Gardner had this to say about the distribution deal: “I am very excited to be working with Cinedigm in bringing Living with Chucky into the hands of Chucky and horror fans alike! Making this movie has been a long arduous process and such a labor of love for the Child’s Play franchise. I cannot wait for viewers at home to be able to see the heart that went into creating this film. I hope fans come out of it with a deeper understanding and appreciation for the cast and crew that have brought their favorite Good Guy to life for the past thirty years.“

Bloody Disgusting’s Brad Miska added: “From Lin Shaye to Alex Vincent, the franchise’s exceptional cast, and tongue-in-cheek terror brought shrieks of fright and delight to audiences of all ages. The wit and wickedness of that three-foot doll encapsulate everything that was great about 80s horror. It was not afraid to be funny. It was not afraid to be scary. Simply put, it was not afraid of anything.“

Gardner previously provided the following statement:

I started the journey of making this film several years ago as a class assignment in film school. One semester we were asked to make documentary short films, which was a genre I despised as someone with ADHD. That was until I watched, “Stories We Tell,” which is a fascinating film that unravels a family’s secrets all from the perspective of the filmmaker. It showed me how intimate documentaries could feel and inspired me to focus my film on something personal. I originally intended making a short on what it was like growing up with a special effects makeup artist as a dad. I used to think I had a very normal childhood, but as I grew older I realized not every other kid came home from preschool to monsters, aliens, or fake dead bodies that their father took home from work. Most notably Chucky, the killer doll from Child’s Play, was something I would constantly come home to at the ripe age of four, and would give me nightmares for years to come. When I pitched the short in class, a teacher pointed out how often I referred to Chucky as my own brother and encouraged me to focus on that subset of my life since it is something that has been ingrained in my family for the past twenty years.

In creating the short film it felt like I was piecing together missing bits of my childhood. I was finally meeting the other families surrounding these films that became a second family to my dad while he would be gone for several months at a time in Romania or Canada. They all referred to Chucky as an existing family member and as they revisited their own memories, my seemingly isolated childhood from my dad felt less lonely. It was an incredible experience that resulted in feeling more involved with the “Chucky family,” as my film opened for Cult of Chucky‘s premieres in London and Toronto that year. From there, it was ultimately the fans who inspired me to sit down and turn the film into a feature. They had so much passion and love for a character they considered to be their icon, yet to me is just my little brother who always gets to ride shotgun (I’m not joking, you have to buckle up Chucky anytime you travel). I knew other eighties slashers like Freddy and Jason had their own documentaries, but there wasn’t something out there that was solely dedicated to the Child’s Play franchise in its entirety. It was my chance to show fans, either new or day one die-hards, a glimpse into my reality. 

Little did I know the behemoth task I had just given myself of trying to cover a beloved thirty year old franchise in just under two hours while fresh out of film school. Not to mention the many challenges faced along the way such as the editing process, legalities, and a global pandemic that not only halted the filming process but also affected the entire independent film market. “Living With Chucky” has truly been a love letter not only to the franchise but to the people who work so tirelessly to continue to bring Chucky into the homes of horror fans everywhere. I hope people are able to feel just how much heart was poured into creating this film and possibly take away a newfound appreciation for their favorite franchise.

What did you think of the Living with Chucky trailer? Will you be watching this documentary in April? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below. I’ve been a fan of the Chucky franchise from the start, through all the ups and downs, so I will definitely be watching Living with Chucky.