It's actor Brad Dourif's birthday today! We also have a new movie in the series on the way, so why not re-visit the 'Child's Play' franchise? This will go over a little slower than the first time as I have less time than usual for a full on marathon. This will be a re-review of the series and as such, several elements or opinions may have changed since my first go around. So without any further delay, let's start with 1988's 'Child's Play'.
The film is directed by Tom Holland (Fright Night) and stars Brad Dourif, Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, and Alex Vincent. Serial killer Charles Lee Ray is gunned down inside a toy store after a short pursuit. The next day, young Andy Barclay is having his birthday and all he wants is the new Good Guy doll, an interactive toy that wants to be your best friend. However, his mother is unable to afford the doll until finding a homeless man willing to sell one. What follows is a series of bizarre events and horrific murders as young Andy tries to convince his mother that his doll, named Chucky is more than just a toy.
With my first review, I stated that I feel the original movie while obviously a big influence wasn't exactly my favorite in the series and that hasn't really changed. Like most origin movies, a slower pace to build everything up properly is a given but 'Child's Play' does space things out well. While I do think its somewhat sluggish in pacing despite the short running time (next to 'Child's Play 3') the film makes up for it by having well written characters that are easy to care about, especially young Andy who is so cute and innocent and you feel so bad for the hell he and his mother go through. Chris Sarandon's Mike Norris is also charming and despite his initial disbelief (and who could blame him really?) of Andy's story, you see that he truly does care about the safety of these two and is willing to solve it even at the risk of his own life. The stand out here is Dourif of course and it baffles me that this man was only given the awards spotlight once. He gives it his all here, and in just a voice performance alone he breathes life into the animatronic doll and much of his performance seems to be put into the design of the Chucky doll itself. The mannerisms that Kevin Yagher and his team brought through their puppetry and design are still amazing even 30 years later.
What I didn't mention before is the score by Joe Renzetti and his incredible ending theme. It fits the picture perfectly, having a child like softness much like a nursery rhyme while having that edgy creepiness at the same time. But what's disappointing is the score as a whole, which doesn't have the same sound to it. It's pretty minimal throughout but whats here to me just didn't fit as well as that creepy theme song. Its tense and works for the more sinister moments, such as the babysitter's stalking scene but overall it feels like two different sounding pieces of music and it throws me off. I much prefer Graeme Revell's score for the sequel but we'll get there when we get there.
So having watched the movie again after giving it some much needed rest, I did enjoy it a little more but I still have some big problems. As I said, the movie takes a while to get going and even after a tense scene it takes a bit too long to get to another. While I praised the film's robotics and special effects work, some elements have never worked with me even back when I first saw it. There are obvious little people as stand ins for Chucky, often wearing cheap and goofy looking masks and it really throws me off. I understand they couldn't have him do some things and it was 1988 when this stuff was fairly new but I can't say with honesty that it doesn't look strange or comical. And for whatever reason, the film does just abruptly end and overall the climatic fight with Chucky is a bit mediocre. They establish throughout the movie that he is turning more and more human, but only a gunshot to the heart would kill him. It's a bit silly even for a killer doll flick.
I really enjoyed going back to the original 'Child's Play' film and while I don't think a remake was needed, it will be interesting to see what they have up their sleeve. As for the original, it still has some of the same flaws I established before, but at the same time I was much more forgiving and really came out on a bit of a high. It's still not my favorite in the series, but It was a lot better than I remembered.
7/10
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