'Chucky' Composer Joseph LoDuca on Introducing Hope to the Franchise, the Theme of Bullying, and Season 2
Who knew that a 1980s horror franchise about a doll that comes to life would still have legs in 2021?
In case you missed it - or have been missing it, Don Mancini has continued to build upon the world established with Child’s Play films in the form of a new series on both Syfy and the USA Network simply titled Chucky.
The show takes place after the events of the seventh film in the franchise Cult of Chucky, and revolves around the titular possessed Good Guy doll as he returns to his hometown of Hackensack, New Jersey, finds himself a brand new batch of victims, and even tries to trick a lonely teen into becoming his protégé.
While it may not seem like many people are talking about it, or that it’s not getting the same kind of buzz that the content on Disney+ or Netflix get, the show has proven to be quite popular. By blurring the line between the horror and coming-of-age genres, the series acts as both a love letter to fans of the films and a recruitment tool for new, younger ones.
Sure, this time around there’s still tons of gore and humor, but there’s also a surprising amount of heart - and we don’t mean physically. Most notably, for the first time in the franchise’s history there’s hints of hope and redemption. Interestingly enough, these themes are made prevalent through the show’s music.
Legendary composer Joseph LoDuca has also become an integral part of the franchise once again, as he scored the premiere season of the show. In an exclusive interview with FilmSpeak, he explained that the decision to introduce the previously foreign, positive concepts came naturally.
“[Taking place in] the suburban world where Chucky creates havoc and kills off parents and unwitting bystanders,” he says that it only felt natural to use music to narrate, “the trauma that they have to face...and make it feel genuine within a realm of human emotion.”
What makes this particular story feel so rooted in human emotion is the fact that the series’ protagonist, Jake, is also falling in love for the first time. However, he’s falling in love with another boy from his school. On top of all the usual feelings of inadequacy and rejection that teenagers feel, his are amplified because he’s well aware he’s different. From the moment we meet Jake, we understand that he’s an outcast. Not only do his peers reject him; he rejects himself. And that makes him such an easy vessel for Chucky to feed off.
The series is many things, but with all of its complex themes and characters, LoDuca also believes it's a cleverly masked allegory for something else. He says, “I think that in the first season of Chucky, [it’s] really about bullying.”
“To take this outside the realm of Chucky,” he adds, “and I'm perhaps entering into a little bit dangerous territory - when you've got school shootings, and you've got stuff that happens out [of school] and what our children have to experience these days, it's not terribly removed from a lot of kids’ reality.”
On the off-chance you were wondering why he referred to the series thus far as Season 1, or why he keeps mentioning “We're going to get to do this again”, it was announced Monday evening, that the show has been officially renewed for a second season. But for LoDuca a second season always seemed like a no-brainer “because the fans have responded so well.”
Additionally, LoDuca discussed the long-rumored Freddy Kreuger/Chucky crossover, also known as Holy Grail of horror films Child’s Play on Elm Street, as well as his work on the forthcoming Evil Dead video game.