How Child's Play Inspired Real Life Murders

Created by Don Mancini in 1988, the horror franchise Child's Play follows the demented deeds of possessed doll Chucky

and has continued for over 30 years, becoming one of the strongest and most versatile of slasher franchises

But playtime was almost over for Chucky, when two separate and savage murders were linked to the film series

These horrific occurrences altered the trajectory of the Child's Play series forever

Today, on Scream to Screen. We're going to take a deep dive into how Child's Play inspired a series of real-life murders

In 1988, the writer of the original Child's Play, Don Mancini, was only 24 years old with one other film credit to his name

but he also had a script about a killer doll entitled Batteries Not Included

Upon finding out that Steven Spielberg was producing a film with the same title

the Mancini's script changed its name before filming, first to Bloody Buddy, but then finally to Child's Play

Taking inspiration from the Talking Tina episode of The Twilight Zone, Mancini's original script had some significant differences

from the final version of Child's Play seen by audiences. The doll dispatching the violence in the story

was a supernatural manifestation of the main child character's id. The doll would strike out against people who the child, named Andy

in the original draft, as well as the final version, perceived as threats

This would be changed when director Tom Holland took on the project

and rewrote the script, resulting in the doll becoming the character of Chucky

Chucky was a Good Guys brand doll that was possessed via voodoo incantation

by the soul of a notorious serial killer named Charles Lee Ray

While Chucky has gone on to become the series' defining character, the inclusion of voodoo never sat well with the original writer, Mancini

And in subsequent films, all penned by Mancini, the plot point becomes increasingly derided and mocked

But what Mancini did embrace, as did movie audiences in 1988, was the bent charisma and miniature menace of Chucky

brought to foul-mouthed life by actor Brad Dourif. Dourif would go on to voice the character in all seven installments of the franchise

with Chucky being voiced by Mark Hamill for the 2019 remake. With Dourif's unique combination of genuine unhinged malice

coupled with his impressive comedic timing, Chucky quickly inherited the mantle of wisecracking

but wrath-filled slasher from Freddy Krueger. The first film was a hit

and Mancini returned to pen its sequel two years later. With a new director on board

Mancini was now the burgeoning film franchise's main creative connective tissue, and he embraced his red-haired stepchild left over

from the original film's rewritten script with open arms. Child's Play 2, again, followed not only Chucky's story

but the original film's protagonist, young Andy. The child who Chucky continues to try to subdue

in order to transfer his soul into the boy's preferably human body. With Andy and other child characters in peril

throughout the original trilogy of child's play films, there an undeniable extra level of uneasiness in the horror films which plays off the dark humor also on display But there would be nothing funny about the real horror some would seek to connect to the franchise

after the release of the third film. In England, two unrelated murders

the first occurring in December of 1992 and the second only three months later in February of 1993

were both associated with, according to some, attributed to the Child's Play films

The kidnapping, torture, and murder of Suzanne Capper in Manchester began a week before her demise on December 7th

16-year-old Suzanne Capper was described as a naive, impressionable young girl who thought of her eventual killers as her friends

Capper trusted them, getting to know the group while babysitting for one of them, a woman named Jean Powell

Capper became a mainstay at Powell's home, while Capper's own home life became uncertain with her parents separating

Capper was one of many figures flinting in and out of Powell's house. Figures like Bernadette McNeely, a woman with three children who, along with her boyfriend, Anthony Dudson

also lived with Powell as well as Powell's ex-husband, Glenn Powell, and frequent visitors Jeffrey Lee and Clifford Pook

all of whom would be convicted of Capper's murder after the events of the week beginning December 7, 1992

On that date, upon arriving at Powell's home, Suzanne Capper found all her supposed friends waiting to ambush her

The reasons for the kidnapping and subsequent torture and murder were baffling and petty

with various explanations ranging from Capper taking a coat that belonged to McNeely

to McNeely and Dudson contracting lice after sleeping in a bed that Capper had also used

Regardless, over the next five days, Suzanne was subjected to a series of violent and depraved acts

that escalated over the duration of her captivity. It began with Suzanne being held down while Glenn shaved her head, eyebrows, and pubic area

and then placed a plastic bag over her head so the entire house full of occupants

could take turns hitting Capper with belt buckles and large ornamental wooden spoons

Following the beating, Suzanne was next locked in a cupboard. Out of fear of Suzanne's screams disturbing Gene and Bernadette's children, who also lived in the home

the group moved Capper to Bernadette's abandoned home, just a few doors down, where the torture continued

Suzanne Capper's two front teeth were removed with pliers, and another was snapped in half, which left the nerve exposed

She was also injected with amphetamines and burned on the face and body with cigarettes

Even more inhumane punishment followed, accompanied perversely with the routine forcing of headphones on Capper

so that electric dance song, Hi, I'm Chucky, Wanna Play? by 150 Volts

which featured dialogue samples from the film Child's Play, could be blared at full volume into the helpless girl's ears

McNeely would also often begin her torture of Capper by uttering the words

Chucky's coming to play. In the early morning hours of the 14th of December 1992

it finally ended. Taken to a secluded spot, Capper still alive was covered in petrol oil and set on fire Then she was left for dead Although she would eventually expire from her injuries including severe burns which covered 80 of her body Susanna Kapper lived long enough to name her attackers

and give details of what she endured to the police. While Kapper's killers were arrested and awaited trial

another thoughtless murder possibly associated with the Child's Play films took place on February 12, 1993

When two-year-old James Bulger was taken, tortured, and then murdered by two 10-year-old boys named John Van Abels and Robert Thompson

the abduction took place while the two-year-old's mother, Denise Bulger, was momentarily distracted at the butcher shop

The two boys quickly took their victim, dragged him into various locations, inflicting unthinkable hurt to the small child

including beating and stoning the boy, until he finally died. Van Abels and Thompson then took his body to a deserted railway track

leaving it there tied up to be found days later. The case of unparalleled viciousness towards a child by other children outraged the nation

and made Van Abels and Thompson two of the most reveled criminals in British history

They were found guilty of murder and sentenced to at Her Majesty's pleasure, requiring their imprisonment to be constantly reviewed

In June 2001, they were both paroled into society and given new identities

Unlike the more direct connection of the Capper case, the relation of the Child's Play films, in this case, is much more tenuous

It hinges on a scene from Child's Play 3, in which Chucky was killed after being splattered with paint and having its face beaten

A fate which was eerily similar to the paint-covered body of the Bulger boy

This would become a relevant discussion at the boy's murder trial, with the judgment of Mr. Justice Moreland stating that exposure to violent movies

may have influenced the behavior of the boys. as it had been revealed that Van Abels had been exposed to the horror film

which had been rented by his father a month before the murder. But the police did not agree

Albert Kirby, the director of the murder investigation, gave evidence that Van Abels was not living with his father at the time

and the chances of him having viewed the film while it was rented were unlikely

The official conclusion was made that there was no link, with psychiatric reports presented to the court

further denying the association between the actions and the film, as it evidenced that the young Venables had an inversion to horror movies

And while the connection with Child's Play is more direct, though still not damning in regard to the murder of Capper

her murder trial coincided with Bulger's trial and therefore did not receive as much media attention

resulting in the public's memory linking the film more with Bulger's tragedy

despite the expert opinion being that the films were not to blame. series creator don mancini never thought his films were to blame either but he realized that

they would have to change if they were going to survive and thrive even before the ignominy of

the murders there were signs that child's play was in need of an overhaul with the fact that

the third film had underperformed at the box office in the franchise weakest box office and adjusted million Mancini came to the conclusion that the limits of the protagonist character Andy had been fully explored for the time being

as was the conceit that Chucky would continue to pursue any other child

in an attempt to resurrect himself. For true resurrection of the series as a whole, as well as its villain

Mancini decided to let the series outgrow any childish association it used to carry

Starting in 1998's Bride of Chucky, the series dropped not only the notion of having a child protagonist

but even using the title Child's Play at all. Following the success of Bride, Mancini followed it up with The Seed of Chucky

Curse of Chucky, and The Cult of Chucky. More than just a simple rebranding, the new Chucky offshoot series stood in contrast to the earlier entries

by being decidedly satirical and knowingly campy. In short, the horror series with elements of dark comedy

had become a series of dark comedies with elements of horror. Heralding the new direction, Bride of Chucky opened on October 16, 1998

and became the franchise's highest grossing entry, grossing $73 million. Mancini's newfound creative control, along with the inclusion of actress Jennifer Tilly

as the voice of the titular Bride, turned Chucky into one of the few surviving slashers from the 80s

to maintain their icy grip on their audience decades after their first appearance

While most of the contemporaries failed to change with the times, or even worse, attempted to shove their respective slasher icons into new, at the time, trends like found footage horror

Chucky may be the most unlikely of his alumni to prosper, manage to stay relevant and even increase his popularity by exploring a part of his mythos

that has always been there but never exploited to its fullest potential

Ironically, by embracing the absurdity of the film's central conceit

of a serial killer stuck in the body of a doll and no longer playing as a straight horror

the series now transformed into a much sillier story and has grown into something designed for a more adult audience

maybe because adults have a much easier time separating their fantasies from reality

or maybe Chucky's lasting reach has something to do with Why we live in a time when many adults still play with their toys

Walk into a Spencer's gift shop, and not only will you find loads of Chucky merchandise

but you'll find countless items aimed at adults featuring with other icons from their youth

And while many of these other characters have laid long dormant, with the occasional rustle of an attempted reboot, Chucky has never left the audience's side

With Bride of Chucky and its sequels, there also came comic books, cameo television wrestling appearances, Saturday Night Live stints

a reboot, and now an upcoming TV series. Perhaps creator Don Mancini's creative pivot

following child's play association with real-life murders wasn't to find a new audience that wasn't comprised of children

as much as it was to keep the audience he had and have Chucky grow up right alongside with them

In this era of perpetual youth and near-terminal nostalgia, it seems Chucky has found a way to make sure playtime never ends

Hi, I'm Chucky, and I'm your friend to the end