Halloween Edition: Child's Play (1988) Movie Review

Child's Play (1988) Movie Review

A doll named Chucky is possessed by a serial killer who's spirit ends up in a toy and after Andy (Alex Vincent) receives the "Good Guy" doll for his birthday, Chucky starts talking to him and killing people which no one else believes.

I'm pretty sure that I am one of the few people who have never seen this movie. Sure I've seen clips here and there of pretty much every movie in the series (because who doesn't know the Child's Play series) but I have never sat through and watched this movie from beginning to end. Watching this movie from the beginning something became very clear, this movie is an instant classic and makes complete sense why it has an entire series and such a cult following. The premise alone is quite ingenious. Evil guy sends his spirit to the doll through voodoo, child receives the doll for his birthday, doll talks and goes around killing people and exacting his revenge on the people from his past. It's not only original but unlike many horror movies these days it's based on a concept that's not so far out there. 

I love the whole childlike introduction into who Chucky is before we even get to meet Chucky. Andy is shown watching the "Good Guys" cartoon and eating the "Good Guys" cereal and even wearing the same clothes as one of the "Good Guys". I love this character intro in so many ways because it's exactly how it would happen in real life. I have no idea what kids are obsessed with these days but I can remember back to my childhood when I would dress up like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (that's right, what girl wanted to be April? She just needed to be rescued over and over again) and I would play their board games (like the one where Shredder shoots out and you have to catch him with a pizza scooper) and I would eat their candy (which I would die for these days! That candy in the little plastic green turtle container tasted so good. Plus afterwards my Barbies would get to adopt pet turtles). Anyway, you get my point. Every generation has their own addictions that they live and breathe and I could see how a child could get that into a "Good Guys" doll. 

I thought Alex Vincent was a pretty decent kid actor, which considering most of the movie focused on him and Chucky, was a good thing. There are many movies that I come across where I just can't believe that the kids are scared, or that they are anything other than bad actors, but Vincent comes across as very believable. I was also pretty excited to see Catherine Hicks in something other than 7th Heaven. I've watched (and own) all the seasons of 7th heaven and seeing her in a horror movie was quite a change, but again, she was a pretty decent movie mom. 

My favourite scene has to be where Karen (Catherine Hicks) picks up Chucky's box to take a look at it after Andy is taken away from her after claiming that Chucky is talking to him and committing the crimes. She picks up the box and as she is reading it a package of batteries falls out of the box. The sheer terror that creeps over you proving that in fact Chucky is walking and talking (and killing!) just sent chills right up my back. That will probably go down as one of my favourite people-find-out-about-the-murderer scenes in any horror movie.

Since I'm pretty sure most people know the ending of this movie I would just like to comment that like most horror movies from the 80s, the death of the killer is never believable. They shoot him, burn him and he ends up in pieces, but still is able to try and keep fighting. So unlikely and very typical. 

Aside from some of the technical errors in the movie, it was a suspenseful, original and very well written horror movie. If you're like me and have yet to watch the movie from beginning to end, I beg of you to do so this Halloween season. Just beware, you may never look at another doll the same way....

Grade: A