Child's Play [M]

For his birthday, six year-old Andy is given what he always wanted: a Good Guys doll named Chucky. At first Andy is very excited, but then on the first night of having Chucky his babysitter is brutally murdered. When Andy swears that it was Chucky who did it, he’s not believed, but then his mother discovers that Chucky has been talking and moving without the aid of batteries and the doll’s secret is revealed. Inside the doll is the spirit of serial killer and voodoo practitioner Charles Lee Ray, a man set on the path of revenge. As more murders start to happen a detective and target of Chucky is led back to the same toy and he discovers the real terror is only to come as the deranged doll has plans to transfer his evil spirit into the first human to know his secret… little Andy. 

Yes, all right, I’ve waited this long to watch Child’s Play, one of the most loved horror films featuring one of the genre’s most celebrated killers. We all know that I’m not much of a horror movie person, I tend to get scared rather easily, and the whole killer doll thing just never really appealed to me. Quite literally on a flight of fancy, I decided to hire this out and give it a go, discovering in the process that it’s really not that scary, it’s a pretty simple and mediocre film really, the draw of it is the fact that the killer is a doll. I’ve known quite a few Chucky lovers over the years and I can see why these movies attract such a fan base. 

For his birthday, six year-old Andy is given what he always wanted: a Good Guys doll named Chucky. At first Andy is very excited, but then on the first night of having Chucky his babysitter is brutally murdered. When Andy swears that it was Chucky who did it, he’s not believed, but then his mother discovers that Chucky has been talking and moving without the aid of batteries and the doll’s secret is revealed. Inside the doll is the spirit of serial killer and voodoo practitioner Charles Lee Ray, a man set on the path of revenge. As more murders start to happen a detective and target of Chucky is led back to the same toy and he discovers the real terror is only to come as the deranged doll has plans to transfer his evil spirit into the first human to know his secret… little Andy. 

As far as the writing goes, you know what you’re in for from the very first scene. You’ve got a serial killer who is betrayed by his partner and then killed by a cop, using voodoo at the last minute to transfer his spirit into a doll so he can live on and dish out a little bloody revenge. Young kid knows the truth, but isn’t believed until the doll makes his true nature known to adults and then the fun starts. You can pretty much pick every moment when the doll’s going to suddenly pop out and you practically always know where the story’s going to lead you so running along those lines, this movie isn’t really anything amazing to rave about. 

Special applause though has to be given to the star(s) of the show: the puppeteers. Chucky was a great creation writing-wise and the movie brings him to life wonderfully. The doll itself was innocent-looking enough and then he shows his true colours and becomes more animated, complete with teeth-bearing, evil-eye-squinting, and foul-mouthed raving. The marriage of the doll and the voice provided brilliantly by Brad Dourif, which freaked me out a bit because I only know and love Brad as Wormtongue in Lord of the Rings so hearing him do the voice of this foul-mouthed, murderous little doll was kind of weird and hysterical, so yeah the marriage of the doll and his voice was pretty awesome. 

Starring Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent, and Dinah Manoff, Child’s Play is a predictable film story-wise, but features one of the genre’s most beloved killers who went on to do four more flicks after this one. Filled with murder, violence, voodoo, drama, and suspense, it’s not a ‘keeper’, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It shakes the genre up a little and might make you look at dolls a little differently.