'Child's Play' was directed by Tom Holland and stars Katherine Hicks as a single mother who is seeking that perfect birthday present for her son Andy (Alex Vincent). She happens to come across the one thing young Andy wants more than anything: A Good Guy doll named Chucky and brings it home only to discover that her good fortune was too good to be true. Chucky is in fact possessed by the spirit of a recently gunned down serial killer (Brad Dourif) and is now looking at young Andy for a new human form and won't let anyone stand in his way.
The 'Child's Play' franchise was my introduction to the modern horror genre after growing naturally with the Universal Monsters and 50's B Movies and of course still being a young child by that point, it naturally scared me for many years. I think most people will tell you Chucky was one of their first childhood boogeymen and that mainly comes down to two things: the character himself, and the concept of a child's toy acting on its own. When one grows up however, you do lose much of the strength in the film but we do still get the character which you could swear was specifically written with Dourif in mind as he elevates both the original and the many sequels to come above the usual 'killer doll' cliche. He's wickedly funny, has one hell of a scream, and is threatening all of which earns him a spot alongside your Michael Myers, your Jason Voorhees, and your Freddy Krueger.
Really if you want to go by statistics, the 'Child's Play' franchise has had far more hits than misses when compared to your average horror franchise and some of that I would attribute to the loyal creators Don Mancini and David Kirschner, who have both stayed on the series since day one with Mancini having directed the last three films himself. These two know the characters, they know the world and its rules so even when a newcomer comes in you always have Mancini and Kirschner to keep everything in line. Is 'Child's Play' the best horror movie? No. Is it the best killer doll story? No, in fact that honor I feel should go to the classic 'Twilight Zone' episode 'Living Doll' as it has a much better pace and more suspense. 'Child's Play' let's you know from frame one that the doll is in fact alive and evil, which I feel should have been stretched out more, making the film more tense in wondering whether young Andy is committing these acts or if its in fact his doll.
Minor spoilers here, but I think the best part to let the audience know the doll is in fact alive would have been to cut out the whole beginning and only revealing the truth once the dolls batteries are shown to not have been in the doll. That could have made the film overall and specifically that scene even more memorable. The acting at times can also be a little lopsided, particularly from young Alex Vincent and I really don't mean to pick on a kid but we don't see him at his best until the sequel. I also wish we could have had more time with Kate his mother to get some more emotion in there or had her have more scenes with Chris Sarandon's policeman to get some more development there.
Overall, 'Child's Play' does hold up well but it has some cracks here and there. The story and Chucky himself will always be timeless, but the film's pacing, suspense, and acting are of lesser quality and really despite being the start of the franchise, it's far from the best.
(C+)
'Cult of Chucky' will be available on October 3rd. We will be reviewing the other films in the franchise for the rest of the month. We'll also be looking at the newest 'Chainsaw' film 'LeatherFace'.
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