Special Series · The Art of the Tease(rs)
Child’s Play 2 (1990)
Occasionally, I’ll revive one of my old “special” columns from my early days. Formerly titled In Praise of Teasers, I’ve rebranded my look at coming attractions The Art of the Tease(rs) and brought it back for a short run over the next few weeks.
Starting in 2013, I used these peeks at past previews to highlight the fun (and short!) creatively mounted campaigns that generated buzz from audiences who caught them in front of movies back in the day. Some of these I remember seeing myself, and some I never had the pleasure of watching. More than anything, it makes me long for studios and advertising agencies to go back to showing less in modern trailers because the amount of spoiler-heavy material shared now is ghastly. Today, where all aspects of a movie are pretty well known before an inch of footage is seen, the subtlety of a well-crafted “teaser” trailer is gone.
Let’s revisit some of the teaser trailers I fondly remember and, in a way, reintroduce them. Whether the actual movie was good or bad is neither here nor there but pay attention to how each of these teasers works uniquely to grab the attention of movie-goers.
The One-Sheet
Lobby Card
Plot: With his mother in a psychiatric hospital, young Andy Barclay goes to live with foster parents just as the toy company behind the Good Guy doll rebuilds Chucky to clear its name. The killer trapped inside the doll still needs Andy, and he comes looking for him.
Released: November 9, 1990
Directed by: John Lafia
Starring: Alex Vincent, Jenny Agutter, Gerrit Graham, Christine Elise, Grace Zabriskie and Brad Dourif as the voice of Chucky
Studio: Universal Pictures
Box office: $28.5 million domestic, $35.8 million worldwide
Trivia:
- Universal ran a 900 phone number that let fans call in and hear Chucky’s voice. According to the AFI Catalog, it logged 40,000 calls in one month.
- For the trailer shot of Chucky stomping a jack-in-the-box flat, the prop box was made of soft lead so a rig on Chucky’s boot could crush it on cue.
The Taglines
Sorry Jack, Chucky’s Back
Also on the campaign: “It’s Playtime…Again.”
Why It Works
Ask around about this teaser trailer for Child’s Play 2, and you’ll hear several horror fans easily able to tell you where they were when they first saw it (in theaters before Problem Child?). It’s short, sweet, and memorable. I’d also wager a bet and say that for many, like me, this was the first of the Chucky films longtime franchise fans saw, not the snazzy 1988 original. Not knocking the dependable 1988 Tom Holland-directed introduction to the cute doll possessed by the soul of a serial killer that launched a successful inventory of films plus a recent TV series, but John Lafia’s follow-up is often highlighted as a more colorful and fun outing. They’re just two different apples off the same twisted tree. I like the taste of both, but sometimes I prefer the sour tang of Child’s Play 2 more than the crispness of the one that started it all. Plus…can you deny how fantastic the ending of this one is?
Universal Studios (which bought the rights to the franchise from United Artists in 1990) did good with this nifty teaser, developing not one but two taglines. “It’s Playtime…Again.” and the infamous “Sorry Jack, Chucky’s Back” are indeed for the industry history books. A full trailer would follow later, but it’s not nearly as effective as this brief warning to anyone resting easy, thinking they were safe from another recess with our favorite Good Guy.
Written by Joe Botten
Joe Botten is The MN Movie Man, a Twin Cities film critic writing spoiler-free reviews since 2012. He also writes for Loud and Clear Reviews, a Rotten Tomatoes approved site. Find him on Instagram and Letterboxd.
Looking for something?
Search by actor, movie, director, genre or keyword.
Leave a Reply