Heather Langenkamp has been considered a horror icon since her appearance in 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, but her upcoming role in Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of Stephen King’s story The Life of Chuck appealed to her for its non-typical approach to horror. Taken from King’s latest story collection, If It Bleeds, The Life of Chuck may very well be the strongest of its four included novellas. The moving tale of a man who has known for a long time how he is going to die, is more in line with the drama and real-life horrors of The Shawshank Redemption than the supernatural terror of The Shining.
During an interview with Bloody Disgusting, Langenkamp shared her view on why she was really excited to be part of The Life of Chuck. She explained:
I was just the most excited actor in the world when I got the call from Mike Flanagan to play a part in his movie. And it wasn’t a horror movie in the typical sense; it’s a much more deep and philosophical movie about life. I’m an old lady now, and I feel like this movie is going to really appeal to people who like to think about their existence here on planet Earth in a more Stephen King-y kind of way. It folds back on itself in time. It kind of time travels. It has people in it who are grappling with their existential reality of knowing that they’re going to die. It’s super interesting. I can’t give away too much, but I’m really excited because I’m so tired of keeping it a secret.
The Life of Chuck will debut at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, but is still to be given a general release date. However, the combination of Flanagan’s success with previous King adaptations of the Netflix hit Gerald’s Game and the wildly underrated semi-sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep, fans are hoping that they don’t have too much longer to wait to see the movie.
In addition to Flanagan’s history with King movies, there is also the stacked cast, which includes several first-time collaborations for the director, including Tom Hiddleston and Chiwetel Ejiofor. However, he has also assembled a list of stars well acquainted with his previous work, such as Oculus‘ Karen Gillan, Doctor Sleep‘s Jacob Tremblay, and The Fall of the House of Usher‘s Mark Hamill, as well as Langenkamp, who worked with Flanagan on The Midnight Club.
Who Else is in The Life of Chuck?
The Life of Chuck has pulled together a very strong cast. Alongside the aforementioned list of stars – which on their own would be enough to carry a movie – but there are even more big names involved in the production. There’s Scream and Five Nights at Freddy’s star Matthew Lillard, for one. Then there’s David Dastmalchian, fresh off his lead role in Late Night with the Devil.
Harvey Guillén will continue his jump from the small screen (as Guillermo in What We Do in the Shadows) to movies. The scene-stealer is fresh off a supporting role in Blue Beetle and a voice role as Odie in The Garfield Movie. Finally, there is Mia Sara, known to many for her role alongside Tom Cruise in the cult fantasy Legend, who is making her first major film appearance since 1994’s Timecop.
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The cast is rounded out with more frequent collaborators of Flanagan’s, with Doctor Sleep‘s Carl Lumbly, Oculus‘ and Ouija: Origin of Evil‘s Annalise Basso, and The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and The Fall of the House of Usher star Rahul Kohli joining Flanagan’s wife and frequent collaborator, Kate Siegel, in the extensive cast list.
