Everybody knows who Chucky is. He's the evil killer doll that lives under your bed - I mean, in the movie world. In 1988, when Child's Play was released, the world would never look at dolls in the same way again.
Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) is a cute little 6-year-old who really wants a Good Guy doll for his birthday. Unfortunately, Andy's mother Karen (Catherine Hicks) doesn't have a lot of money. When she finds a shady guy peddling a Good Guy, she promptly snatches it up. But little does Karen know, serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) transferred his soul into the doll after a shootout with detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon).
This is a horror movie, but there are a lot of hilarious aspects to the film. I found Chucky's potty mouth particularly amusing. In addition to swearing, Chucky's not afraid to take a chunk out of you with his teeth either! Basically, Chucky just wants to get back into a human body, leading him to visit an old voodoo priest who keeps a voodoo doll of himself handy. I'll let you figure out what happens when Chucky pays him a visit.
There are a few creepy moments here and there, and you'll probably want to stay tuned until the end. I liked how the writer gave a reason for the doll being a murderer. Of course, it was the transferred soul of a killer inside the doll, but it's still something.
The performances in this film make up for the somewhat silly story. Hicks was quite good in her role, and she seemed almost too good for a cheesy horror film. She has since moved on to a cheesy TV show, 7th Heaven. Sarandon is not an actor I seek out, but he pops up in a lot of films I watch, and his performance was good as usual. Vincent is a bit of a weak link as Andy, but he's really cute so it's okay. Dourif gets a bit of screen time at the beginning, and he also voices Chucky. Not many people could voice a murderous doll with such skill.
Like most MGM DVD releases, the extras on here are sparse. In fact, they're nonexistent. Unless you count the "collectable booklet," which is like two pages. I got it for under $10, though, so I'm not complaining. Child's Play makes me laugh a lot, but who knows? It might scare you. Either way, you should check it out if you haven't yet. I also recommend 1985's Fright Night, a vampire flick from the same director as this and starring Chris Sarandon.
Child's Play is rated R for violence and language.
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