"Chucky's Halloween" (Inspired by "Child's Play") (BOTB 2022 Day 31) Recipe

 

Bring Out the Boos 2022

Day 31: "Chucky's Halloween" (Inspired by "Child's Play")

By: The Film Bartender

    There have been numerous iconic slasher movie villains. Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Leatherface to just name a few. But none of them are like Chucky. The small killer doll is one of the most iconic characters in horror movie history, and has single-handedly spawned a successful franchise of films, a reboot, and even a new television series! On Halloween night, celebrate by drinking Chucky's Halloween, a beautiful mixed beverage inspired by the colors of the classic and original killer doll. 

    "Child's Play" is a 1988 slasher movie written by Don Mancini, John Lafia, and Tom Holland (no, not the young actor who has donned the Spider-Man tights), and directed by Holland. It starred Alex Vincent, Brad Dourif, Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Dinah Manoff, and Ed Gale. The movie begins with a murderer being gunned down by Detective Mike Norris. What Norris doesnt know is that the murderer he just killed used dark magic to put his soul inside of a doll named Chucky, hoping he will live on through the child's play thing. 

    Karen Barclay then goes to buy that doll for her child, Andy. Andy loves the doll, but it is only when the demented doll murders Andy's babysitter that he realizes his doll is alive and causing terror all around him. When he goes to his mother and tells her, he is institutionalized, with doctors believing he is a crazy child that killed his babysitter. Now it is up to his mother to convince the detectives that the doll is alive and murdering people before Andy becomes just like his poor babysitter did. 

    When the first film released, it did excellently in the box office, grossing over $83 million in the worldwide box office on a $9 million budget. The critics and audiences all agreed that this was an enjoyable and well made slasher movie, with positive reviews coming in after its initial release. Because of the great box office turnout and the good reviews from critics and audiences, it spawned four theatrical sequels and two straight-to-video sequels: "Child's Play 2", "Child's Play 3", "Bride of Chucky", "Seed of Chucky", "Curse of Chucky", and "Cult of Chucky", respectively. 

    The second movie garnered mixed reviews, with some saying its a horrible slasher films and others saying it might be better than the first film. From there, the rest of the sequels did horrible in the box office and in their critical reception, except for "Bride of Chucky". The franchise seemed like it was dead, that Chucky had slashed his final victim in "Cult of Chucky". However, the studios had more in store for the killer doll. 

    In 2019, a reboot of the first film was released, written by Tyler Burton Smith and directed by Lars Klevberg. The reboot starred Gabriel Bateman, Aubrey Plaza, Brian Tyree Henry, Tim Matheson, Trent Redekop, and Mark Hamill as the famous antagonist. The reboot deviated a lot from its source material, especially due to the fact that Chucky was now an AI doll that was controlled by an app and developed a very close friendship with Andy and his friend group at the apartment complex he lives at. When the film was released, it turned in a modest box office of around $45 million, but not making as much as the first two films. The critics gave it mixed reviews, with some liking this new direction the filmmakers are taking and some wondering why this movie was even remade. 

    After the reboot, a television show was announced, following a new group of kids that interact with the killer Chucky doll. In contrast to the reboot, the television series was highly regarded, and is going into its third season in 2023. So, with eight films and a television show to his name, it's just obvious that Chucky would get his own special drink to commemorate this Halloween season. Keep reading to find the full recipe for Bring Out the Boos 2022 Day 31's cocktail, "Chucky's Halloween"! 

Ingredients:

- 1 oz Vodka

- 1 oz Gin

- 1/2 oz Blue Curaçao

- 1/2 oz Grenadine

- Ice

Directions:

1. In one glass, combine the vodka and grenadine. Stir together to mix. 

2. In another glass, add the gin and the blue curaçao. Stir together to mix.

3. In a rocks glass, add ice. Then, pour in the red cocktail. Using the back of a bar spoon, float the blue cocktail on top of the red, having it sit upon one another. DO NOT MIX.

4. Serve. 

Film Fact: Chucky's full name, Charles Lee Ray, is derived from the names of notorious serial killers Charles Manson, Lee Harvey Oswald, and James Earl Ray. 

    You have now made your very own cocktail inspired by the classic slasher killer, Chucky! This concludes my Bring Out the Boos 2022 series, and ends the Halloween season for the Film Bartender! Stay tuned for the next Bring Out the Boos series in 2023, and enjoy the next series I will be starting for film cocktails - Quentin Tarantino! Drinks inspired by "Reservoir Dogs" will be coming next so definitely keep an eye out for it! Until then, happy drinking!