SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains massive spoilers for developments thus far in Chucky Season 3. If you are not caught up on the show, proceed at your own risk!
The Chucky TV series is a brilliant continuation of the titular killer doll’s big screen antics, but it’s also a love letter to horror fiction in general. While maintaining a strict continuity within the canon, it regularly finds clever ways to reference classics of the genre – both directly and subtly. This is certainly not something that has changed at all in Season 3 of the show, as perfectly evidenced by the notably presence of the Amityville house in Episode 3, “Jennifer’s Body.”
I had the special pleasure of interviewing Chucky creator Don Mancini virtually earlier this month and discussing the work on Season 3, and one of the subjects I brought up was the show’s demonstrated affection for the horror genre. Noting the presence of the Amityville House in the new run, I asked if references in the series typically develop organically or directly, he explained,
Both, but I would say more it comes up organically. In the scene when Chucky goes to the doctor – that sequence itself is specifically kind of Beetlejuic-y. But that scene ends with Chucky saying, 'How can I reverse this? What can I do?' And the doctor, he looks in his computer and he prints out, 'Well, it's going to require an evil that even you yourself can't possibly comprehend.' And Chucky's, 'I'm intrigued.' So, when we got to that point in the room, and I think it was one of my fellow writers, I think either Amanda Blanchard or Nick Zigler, I think suggested Amityville – because we needed to put Chucky on a path to the White House.
“Jennifer’s Body” (episode titles are also all horror references, by the by) is a key chapter in Chucky Season 3. In the first two episodes, audiences are left in the dark as to why it is that Chucky has taken up residence with the first family, but important questions are now answered. In addition to recapping events that transpired immediately after the cliffhanger in the Season 2 finale (and unleashing a shocking Andy Barclay murder dream sequence), the story reveals that the homicidal Good Guy has an aging problem. The exorcism that was performed on him (see Season 2) is clashing with the voodoo magic of Damballa, and it’s causing him to grow older despite the fact that he remains in doll form.
He learns that the answer to his conundrum is performing evil deeds on historically evil grounds, and this is why he ends up at the White House… but the story demanded that he couldn’t just go straight to Washington D.C. Don Mancini continued,
The reason he's there specifically is a potential solution to his existential aging crisis. He needs to spill blood in the most evil place that he can find. And so the White House [laugh] is it. But he needs to be on a path. So it was, I think it was either Amanda or Nick Zigler who suggested that [the Amityville house] could be a fun path. And we went, 'Oh yes. That's really fun.' Also, I've always been amused by the fact that Dutch colonial houses so often show up in the horror genre. So I knew that would be a fun thing for Chucky to muse on. Like, what is it about the Dutch? [laugh] Must be all the weed!
From Don Mancini’s brain to Chucky’s mouth: its delightful magic.
As noted by Chucky in “Jennifer’s Body”, the Amityville House is located in Long Island, New York, and it’s notorious for being the location where Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed his parents and siblings. Author Jay Anson wrote a book about claims of paranormal experiences from the family who moved in after the murders, and that work was eventually adapted as the 1977 film The Amityville Horror. Many movies with Amityville in the title have been made since then to exploit the name recognition of the reported haunting, but Chucky’s interest in what is arguably the world’s most famous Dutch colonial is all based on its true history.
The chaos that Chucky ultimately unleashes while inside the Amityville house is quite a sight to behold, and it’s one of many brilliant highpoints in the most recent run of episodes. The three episodes of Chucky Season 3 that have aired are now available to stream with a Peacock subscription, and the midseason finale will debut on USA and Syfy on Wednesday, October 25 at 9:00/8:00c. The show will then go on hiatus until next year (the season has been split in half because of the Hollywood labor battles), but be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more from my interviews with the amazing filmmakers who make this awesome show.
Learn more about all the scary stuff coming to the small screen with our Upcoming Horror TV shows guide.
