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Jennifer Tilly and the Evolution of Tiffany Valentine

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There’s just something about Jennifer Tilly.  The gifted actress with the whiskey voice is intelligent, funny, and stunningly beautiful.  She’s made her mark on stage and film with a captivating presence that draws viewers in and has made her a star that won’t soon fade.

She’ll tell you,herself, though, that she never imagined the fame or fans that would she would find when she took on the role of Tiffany Valentine in Bride of Chucky.  Four movies and 20 years later, Tilly is still knocking them dead in Don Mancini’s latest release, Cult of Chucky.

I had the enormous privilege of chatting with the talented actress this week, and we spent some time chatting about Tiffany Valentine and the crazy rollercoaster they’ve ridden together.

“When you first met Tiffany back in Bride of Chucky,” the actress explained.  “she was this kind of trashy, goth girl and sort of sloppy and flirty and giddy.  But she was really a broken flower.”

It didn’t take long for that broken flower to flourish, however.  By the time Seed of Chucky rolled around, Tiffany was getting smarter and she was learning just how powerful she really was.  In one of the most meta scenes ever created for a horror film, Tiffany (voiced by Jennifer Tilly) took over the body of Jennifer Tilly who was playing Tiffany in a movie.

Go ahead and read that again, I’ll wait.

The move was brilliant and it brought the actress we love into the franchise in the flesh, so to speak.  But, as we all know, Tiffany wasn’t done, even though the actress admits she wasn’t sure where she really fit in the Chucky universe during the franchise’s Curse of Chucky entry.

If Seed of Chucky was the flourishing of Tiffany Valentine, however, it’s in Cult of Chucky that this beautiful, but deadly flower truly bloomed.

“Don very gently explained to me when we were prepping for this film that Tiffany was classy, now!” Tilly laughed.  “And I thought, classy?  What?  But we started talking and he explained that Tiffany was always more vicious than Jennifer Tilly, and she always wanted to be an actress.  But once she’s in my body she discovers that Jennifer Tilly is a B-list actress, but she wants to be an A-list actress like Cate Blanchett!  She’s very consciously dressing like Cate Blanchett in Carol, now and trying to be really classy.”

In fact, when Tilly shows up in Cult of Chucky, she’s the very essence of Hollywood glamour.  Her vivid, red wardrobe and blonde up-do is the essence of a Hitchcock blonde, especially in contrast to the stark white walls of the mental asylum where Chucky is currently slicing and dicing his way through the patients.

“I think Don wanted me to be his Tippi Hedren in this film,” she says, “and it really works.  Tiffany is Machiavellian.  She comes in and sets things in motion, then steps back to let events unfold before coming back in the end to reap the benefits.  She’s definitely not under Chucky’s thumb anymore.  She’s more evil, now, and she’s more of his partner in this film.”

Jennifer and Tiffany have definitely come a long way in Mancini’s franchise, and yet, with all its success, Tilly was still surprised by the response she’s seen from fans, especially since she entered the world of social media.

“Chucky fans are the greatest, most obsessed, most loyal fans I’ve ever seen,” she exclaimed.  “I never knew that there were Chucky and Tiffany cosplays, Chucky and Tiffany tattoos, Chucky and Tiffany fan art!  It’s all so amazing.  I fly to countries I didn’t even know existed and get off the plane and people see me and run up yelling ‘Chucky!’ and want to hug me.  It’s global and it’s incredible.”

It’s nearly unprecedented what Mancini has done with the Chucky franchise being personally involved in each new sequel.  Writing, directing, and cultivating not only the films but a loyal cast, some of whom have been with him from the very beginning.

“I mean the thing that blows my mind is that he brings back these older characters, but he also brings back the actors that played them originally to do them again,” Tilly explained.  “He brought back Andy Barclay and he got Alex Vincent, who played Andy in the very first film to play Andy again.  He was a boy in that movie and now it’s 30 years later and he’s a bearded vigilante in Cult of Chucky.  Other studios and filmmakers would have started calling casting agents, but Don said, ‘It has to be Alex.'”

It’s a formula that has worked for the filmmaker and Tilly says she hopes to stay a part of the franchise.

“I love Don, and we’ve been friends for 20 years, now.  I still suck up whenever I can to make sure he puts me in the next movie,” she laughed.  “I really feel like I want to be in them until the end of time.”

Miss Tilly, on behalf of the rest of the Chucky fandom, we want that, too.

Cult of Chucky is available to view on Netflix and can also be purchased on DVD and Blu-Ray!

 

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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