Child's Play (1988) Reviews

• A modern classic

  jluis19842006-03-29

  When people nowadays think of Chucky, the living doll, they think of the foul mouthed psycho doll complete with body modifications and a punky bride in a movie filled with funny one liners and black humor. However, when Chucky came to life almost 20 years ago, he was a real thrill that redefined the horror genre of the late 80s and spawned a series of imitators (some better than others). Director Tom Holland crafts this very original tale written by Don Mancini, where a dying sociopath (Brad Douriff) uses voodoo to transplant his soul to an inanimate toy. Catherine Hicks plays Karen Barclay, a single mother who gets the possessed toy for her little son Andy (Alex Vincent), not knowing what is hidden deep inside the doll. Despite its apparent cheesiness, Holland truly creates a haunting atmosphere filled with suspense by following the trick Steven Spielberg used in "Jaws". While we know from the very beginning that the toy is haunted, we never get a glimpse of what he can do and neither does the characters; only the young Andy knows the truth, but nobody believes him. Unlike its current MTV-inspired incarnations, "Child's Play" starts a bit slow, but suddenly it turns into a suspense-filled roller-coaster with enough thrills to keep you at the edge of the seat. Holland directions truly makes the difference between a cheap B-movie and the classy film this one has become. Brad Dourif makes a superb job and this movie started his now-legendary career in the genre. Catherine Hicks is a very good lead character, surprisingly realistic, thanks in part to the very well-written dialog. Chris Sarandon completes the cast as the detective investigating the mysterious murders surrounding Chucky and Andy. The movie moves at a very good pace, despite its slow start; it has that 80s feeling and it is surprisingly violent for its time (it was released when rules were turning a bit stricter). It has great special effects and a very creepy atmosphere inside it's urban landscape. While many reviewers consider a flaw the fact that Chucky's possession is not a mystery, I believe that a lot of the suspense is in the fact that we know that, but the characters don't. It is a very well constructed film in the end, and definitely better than its current sequels. 8/10

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• This is what a bad movie looks like when it's well made.

  Anonymous_Maxine2004-12-01

  Child's Play is built upon a pretty laughable premise – some hardened criminal finds himself wounded and cornered by the police, so he chants some mystical words, lightning clouds form in the sky, and he transports his soul into the body of a kid's doll of the My Buddy variety. But the movie is so well made that it is able to remain effective despite its questionable premise, kind of like Darkman, another movie with something of a goofy plot but that still manages to come off as a great action horror film. Some of the best moments in the film come early on, before anyone but Andy realizes that Chucky is alive. Kind of like what Steven Spielberg did in Jaws, director Tom Holland leaves Chucky as a lifeless doll for a good portion of the beginning of the film. As is to be expected, it's much more difficult to show a living, running, stabbing, screaming doll than it is to show a regular doll, which itself manages to stare blankly in such a way that you know there's something going on in its head. There's nothing worse than hearing someone criticize the acting skills of a little kid, but I have to admit that I found Alex Vincent's performance as Andy a little trying at times. Granted, the kid deserves a lot of credit for performing reasonably well in a horror film at the age of 7, which is certainly more than I could have done at that age, but for every time that he effectively portrayed a scared little kid, which happened often, there were at least as many times when he spoke with the wooden monotone generally associated with reading a cue card. That being said, the effects in the movie are very impressive. There are a few goofs in there, but you have to look pretty hard to find them, and the doll itself was very well done. Brad Dourif makes one of his earlier appearances, showing up in Child's Play just long enough to get shot and then transfer his body into the doll, and then spend the rest of what is now a total of five movies trying to get out of it, which may have something to do with the fact that his voice is more famous than his face. He was mostly known as the timid Billy Bibbit from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest before he did Child's Play, and the success of this movie clearly had a significant impact on the rest of his career, since so many of his later performances were in decidedly dark roles. Note: watch for the only funny scene in the movie, which my itself is so funny that any other comic relief isn't even necessary. As Chucky ascends in an elevator, and elderly woman notices him, but her husband tells her to just leave it, whoever forgot it is bound to come back for it. When she exits the elevator, she looks back with a grimace and says, 'Ugly doll…' Chucky's response is one of the funniest things I've ever seen in a horror film.

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• Original and scary.

  HumanoidOfFlesh2000-11-08

  I've seen this brilliant horror movie over twenty times so far and it is still great."Child's Play" is wonderfully original-a great concept(the soul of a serial killer in the puppet)and villain(Chucky!)are perhaps the keys to it all.Plenty of shocks and scares,pretty good acting and lots of violence.The direction and editing are so tight and carefully done.Now I can see why this movie was such a huge success in 1988.Managing to be both frightening and classy,this is a nerve-wracking experience.I actually found "Child's Play" to be a very scary film.I did not find it too gory,but what gore there is it was done to heighten intensity levels to the extreme.All in all,I wholeheartedly recommend it to any open-minded viewer,who likes to watch horror movies.The hammer in the head scene still gives me goosebumps.

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• The beginning of the most iconic killer doll ever

  KineticSeoul2014-06-05

  This movie starts out pretty slow with a killer named Charles Lee Ray doing voodoo magic to put his soul into a kid's doll. After that it starts to get slow and generic even with the killer doll with things not making much sense (and I am not talking about the Chucky doll thing either). But when Chucky starts his sinister cacklying and cursing that he is known for the movie does pick up. The build up to that point isn't that bad though and I can understand why they had to go in that direction at first. It does add a sense of mystery even if the audiences does know what is going on from the start. The trademark Chucky voice really does add flavor to this slasher. As a matter of fact I wouldn't be shocked if Heath Ledger was inspired by Chucky for his role in "The Dark Knight" now that I think about it. It's cool to see Chucky not going on that unstoppable killer slasher direction, he uses stealth and pulls tricks to kill someone. Plus whenever found, he could just act like a regular doll. Which actually does adds to making him quite a dangerous and sinister killer. This does not have a lot of blood and gore, nor does it have a lot of body count but it does have entertainment value for a horror slasher movie. Overall this is a slasher movie that had a lot of cool and new elements to work with when it came to the direction at the time. And it's understandable how Chucky became one of the most memorable killer villain from the 80's. Thanks to Brad Dourif signature voice as Chucky. 8/10

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• Not very scary, but entertaining nonetheless

  axlroseisgod2003-07-29

  Child's Play was billed as a horror movie, but it's hard to categorize it as such. Especially by 1980s standards. There's no brainless teenage cattle, no gratuitous nudity, and no ridiculously high body count. If anything, Child's Play runs like an episode of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone. It's creepy, but ultimately not shocking. This is no coincidence. An episode of The Twilight Zone called Living Doll used a similar premise. Child's Play is done very well, considering it's about a serial killer who uses voodoo magic to transfer his soul into a doll. The acting is way above average for a horror movie and the momentum builds nicely. The viewer is forced to wait quite awhile before they actually see Chucky kill anyone. If anyone has seen VH1's "I Love the 80s" then you've probably seen Dee Snider mock the movie: "It's a doll! Step on it! It's over!". If Chucky tried to go on a killing rampage, this would work. But he doesn't. He uses stealth and cunning to make up for the failings of his diminutive body. He reveals his true self only to young Andy, the boy who gets him as a birthday present. He kills all his hapless victims without much trouble. After all, who would suspect an innocent little doll could kill you when you're not looking? Perhaps the biggest problem with Child's Play is that it was billed as an evil doll movie. Chucky was on all the posters and commercials, knife in hand. It would have worked much better as a suspense thriller, where you suspect that little Andy Barclay is the murderer. Despite it's failings as a horror movie, Child's Play is still a great movie because it paints a dismal and accurate picture of the 80s: the frustration of single parenthood, the dark dangerous inner cities, and trying to get your kid that overpriced toy that they just *have* to have. Child's Play also came at a time when dolls were really popular: Teddy Ruxpin, Cabbage Patch Kids, My Buddy, and Kid Sister were all hot items. Little kids loved these things, but there's something inherently sinister about dolls. Those glassy eyes and perma-smiles seem insincere. Overall, Child's Play is a movie that probably succeeded because it was in the right place at the right time. Nonetheless, it's worth at least a few viewings. Chucky is easily one of the top 3 horror movie villains of the 1980s along with Freddie Krueger and the Gremlins. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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