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That's the promise with which Good Guy doll Chucky greets his new owner, Andy (Alex Vincent). What Andy doesn't know is that Chucky is possessed by the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif), who is actually trying to transfer his soul to be in Andy's body "till the end". That's the basic premise of this surprise slasher hit that has somehow turned into an iconic franchise.
Child's Play is a film that I've seen several times. This first entry follows the attempts of Chucky to get back into a human body, which turns out has to be Andy. But in the process, bodies start piling up, bringing Det. Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon) to investigate and try to figure out who is actually behind the killings.
I just learned that the original idea of creator Don Mancini was to keep the audience guessing as to who is the murderer: Andy or Chucky; an idea that was scrapped later. Child's Play doesn't really lean into the whodunit angle for that long. The audience knows who's the murderer from the beginning, Andy's mom finds out about it pretty soon, and Det. Norris not long after.
What Child's Play does offer is a pretty effective atmosphere, a lean pace, some nice kills, and a great villain. Much like Freddy, Chucky would turn into a bit of a joke in future sequels, but despite the seemingly silly premise of a killer doll, here he is genuinely scary in moments. Dourif does a great voice work, but kudos also to Vincent for a pretty solid performance, especially for a 6-year old kid.
Another thing that helps the film is how "small" it feels, in terms of length, scope, and settings. The film stays focused on a small core group of characters and moves at a pretty straightforward pace. Sure, there is the need of some suspension of disbelief as we see a 2-ish feet doll murdering people left and right, but the special effects and puppetry do a great job of selling it. After almost 40 years and 7 films, if this film has proved something is that Chucky will indeed be our friend till the end. Hidey-ho!
Grade:
CHILD'S PLAY
(1988, Holland)
(1988, Holland)
"Hi, I'm Chucky, and I'm your friend till the end. Hidey-ho!"
That's the promise with which Good Guy doll Chucky greets his new owner, Andy (Alex Vincent). What Andy doesn't know is that Chucky is possessed by the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif), who is actually trying to transfer his soul to be in Andy's body "till the end". That's the basic premise of this surprise slasher hit that has somehow turned into an iconic franchise.
Child's Play is a film that I've seen several times. This first entry follows the attempts of Chucky to get back into a human body, which turns out has to be Andy. But in the process, bodies start piling up, bringing Det. Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon) to investigate and try to figure out who is actually behind the killings.
I just learned that the original idea of creator Don Mancini was to keep the audience guessing as to who is the murderer: Andy or Chucky; an idea that was scrapped later. Child's Play doesn't really lean into the whodunit angle for that long. The audience knows who's the murderer from the beginning, Andy's mom finds out about it pretty soon, and Det. Norris not long after.
What Child's Play does offer is a pretty effective atmosphere, a lean pace, some nice kills, and a great villain. Much like Freddy, Chucky would turn into a bit of a joke in future sequels, but despite the seemingly silly premise of a killer doll, here he is genuinely scary in moments. Dourif does a great voice work, but kudos also to Vincent for a pretty solid performance, especially for a 6-year old kid.
Another thing that helps the film is how "small" it feels, in terms of length, scope, and settings. The film stays focused on a small core group of characters and moves at a pretty straightforward pace. Sure, there is the need of some suspension of disbelief as we see a 2-ish feet doll murdering people left and right, but the special effects and puppetry do a great job of selling it. After almost 40 years and 7 films, if this film has proved something is that Chucky will indeed be our friend till the end. Hidey-ho!
Grade: