"KEEP BUSTIN'."

Child’s Play

tn_childsplayWe all know Chucky, the vulgar, red-haired, Jack-Nicholson-sounding killer doll. He’s almost as famous as Freddy or Jason, characters that you don’t have to watch horror movies to be aware of. But when I first saw CHILD’S PLAY in 1988 I honestly didn’t know it was gonna be a killer doll movie. The poster/newspaper ad only showed Chucky’s evil eyes hovering in the sky over little Andy’s babysitter plummeting from the window of their Chicago apartment. A TV ad showed a quick glimpse of him attacking, but I remember thinking of what I was looking at as some kind of crazy witch lady. Maybe a killer dwarf?

An exciting moment in my recent trip to Vegas was seeing a portrait of Chucky and his bride Tiffany posted in the tiny lobby of an Elvis chapel along with Rob and Sheri Moon Zombie, Jon Bon Jovi and somebody he married, Richard Belzer just by himself. There were plenty of horror movies in 1988, but I doubt they’d hang pictures of the killers from BLACK ROSES or HIDE AND GO SHRIEK or even MANIAC COP in there (although that would’ve been a thrill too). Chucky has lasted.

Like anyone I enjoy the pop culture phenomenon of Chucky, most of his sequels and the absurd places this series has gone, but CHILD’S PLAY is something different. It puts a serial killer into the doll in the opening, then puts the doll in the arms of a child and makes us dread what will happen – what is happening when we’re not looking – until near the end. We look accusingly at the doll sitting there limply. We know you’re in there, you asshole. Why won’t you show yourself? For most of the movie his conniving happens in whispers we can’t hear, in low-to-the-floor POV shots, his little hands reaching out, or in quick glimpses, a little thing running by in our peripheral vision. When we finally do get a good look at him in his living-doll form it feels like we caught a bigfoot, or walked in on that dude in the bear costume in THE SHINING. Something we’re not supposed to be seeing.

So in a different way I treasure this more serious, suspenseful first film from director Tom Holland. Yes, the same Tom Holland who plays Spider-man now, who was 8 years old at the time, which is amazing if you think about it, for him to have such insights into not only the world of children, but also their parents. I mean obviously some of that comes from the script, but– Actually, I’m sorry, I seem to have done the math wrong, Holland was negative eight years old in 1988. You know what, that doesn’t seem quite right so let me go ahead and… yeah, I looked it up and in fact this is a different Tom Holland who directed FRIGHT NIGHT and wrote CLASS OF 1984 and PSYCHO II. So he is the #1 Tom Holland in my book even though he was a living adult at the time and it would’ve been more impressive if he did it before being born and then became Spider-man.

mp_childsplayIt is unusual, though, for any type of horror movie to largely unfold through the point-of-view of a six year old boy (Alex Vincent as Andy). This is not some precociously capable kid, either, he’s kind of a doofus. He’s introduced wearing his silly Good Guys cartoon character overalls and making a huge mess creating an inedible breakfast-in-bed as an excuse to wake his mother up at 6 am. But his youthful cluelessness helps him navigate a difficult life. It seems that his father must’ve died at some point, but he’s only seen in a photo that the camera doesn’t even linger on. Andy seems aware of his mother’s tight money situation – she couldn’t buy him the present he wanted because she didn’t find out early enough to save up for it – but doesn’t know the indignity of dealing with her broadly dickish boss at the department store in order to keep a roof over their head and food on the table (and floor because that kid really doesn’t know how to pour a bowl of cereal).

But his obliviousness does make him an easy mark for Chucky. This is one kindergartener who will let his doll talk him into bringing him to the ghetto. He doesn’t necessarily have to know it’s to murder the ex-partner who left Charles Lee Ray behind.

I love the shots of Andy in his puffy winter coat and hat riding the el train into what movies have trained us to think of as “the bad part of town,” also known as “the inner city,” “the hood,” “the ghetto” or “the projects.” He doesn’t know to be scared or to look out for Candyman (whose movie was filmed in this same part of Chicago several years later). Here’s this little kid carrying a doll almost as big as himself, walking past various street people warming themselves over burn barrels, into a vacant lot full of trash piles, and nobody gives him a second look. I think in real life there’s a good chance somebody would check to make sure he wasn’t lost, but it’s also very plausible that nobody would pay any attention to him. I appreciate that they don’t do the usual movie thing of having him hassled by street gangs. In fact the only people who are actually up to no good around here are the one white guy and his evil doll ex-partner.

By the way, what the hell kind of weird operation was Charles Lee Ray running? We know he was called “The Lakeshore Strangler,” so he must be a serial killer going around strangling people, but he also uses a gun, and he has a partner who must be his getaway driver or something, and he regularly meets with a voodoo priest to learn about surviving death. It’s not surprising to learn that the original script was just an evil doll, and Holland added that he was possessed by the soul of a serial killer. That explains why the backstory is kinda awkwardly jammed in there.

Most killer doll movies I can think of deal with antique dolls (DOLLS, PUPPET MASTER), if not ritualistic dolls from some exotic culture (TRILOGY OF TERROR). CHILD’S PLAY uses voodoo as an explanation, but is novel for using a contemporary, mass-manufactured toy. There’s a reference to, if not satire of, the type of children’s marketing juggernauts that made so much money at the time. The Good Guys seem to have started as a cartoon with other merchandise before they were these dolls, which have different names like Cabbage Patch Kids but animatronic technology like Teddy Ruxpin. It might have been tempting to treat the doll as a fad that’s desirable and inaccessible because of its high demand and low supply (see JINGLE ALL THE WAY). But that’s not necessary because for this family it’s hard to get just because it’s expensive. Having to struggle to get the luxuries they want is regular life for them, not a cultural phenomenon like when a new Tickle Me Elmo or iPhone comes along.

Holland claims to have never met Don Mancini, who wrote the original script and all of the sequels, as well as directing SEED OF CHUCKY and CURSE OF CHUCKY. The director added the Charles Lee Ray backstory to Mancini’s idea about a cursed doll killing the people who Andy gets upset at. (There were also rewrites by John Lafia [MAN’S BEST FRIEND]). It seems like there’s some kind of tension between them about who deserves the credit, and why Holland didn’t participate in any of the sequels, even as a producer. But I really like both visions of the character – this one and the one Mancini developed in the later sequels.

The Holland version of Chucky is kind of a best-of-both-worlds horror villain because he spends most of the movie pretending to be an ordinary doll, taking advantage of the creepiness of things that are meant to be cute and inanimate objects that seem slightly alive. We know he’s in there when she’s shaking the limp doll, looking into its soul-less and unmoving eyes, alone in her apartment. The other day I was writing at the computer and dropped something that brushed against my leg in such a way that I believed for a fraction of a second that a cat was nipping at my leg, even though I haven’t had pets in decades. It gave me chills all over to be alone and suddenly think I wasn’t. CHILD’S PLAY is all about that feeling.

In the early Mancini version you wouldn’t have known for a while if it was Andy doing the murders or if it really was Chucky. Holland shows us the dynamite under the table. We know Chucky is alive but we have to wait and agonize as poor Karen isn’t sure if she’s crazy or not. Of course any reasonable adult would expect Andy before Andy’s doll. Either one is gonna be a pretty big parenting challenge.

Shout out also to poor Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon), a homicide cop forced to come to terms with the serial killer he caught being resurrected in the body of a doll. That can’t be good for his emotional state or for his career.

When Chucky does reveal himself it’s another great type of scary because he’s able to look monstrously angry and run at people and I’ve made fun of him for being small before, but pitbulls are small too. Chucky has demonstrated that he can fuck people up. And we’ve seen how he gleeful he was about perverting the innocent relationship between a kid and his imagination, getting a kick out of forcing Andy to have a secret relationship with a corrupting adult. He’s just a despicable asshole of a character, in addition to being a killer doll.

And the effects are fantastic. They created some then-groundbreaking animatronic puppets and didn’t keep them on screen too long, switching expressions and sometimes using a man in a costume (Ed Gale, who also played Howard the Duck), an effective illusion to bring a very strange horror icon to life.

CHILD’S PLAY is a classic. If you haven’t seen it in a while, try it out. It holds up.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 21st, 2016 at 9:07 pm and is filed under Horror, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

33 Responses to “Child’s Play”

  1. And again, I randomly think of a movie for no apparent reason and a few hours later a review of it appears on here. Scary.
    A re-watch will definitely happen soon. I said it before, the biggest flaw for me is still how they try to convince us that Andy might be the killer, although even people who just randomly came across the movie on TV and have never heard of it before have already guessed that it might be the doll. But maybe it works for me better after all these years.

  2. I haven’t seen this movie in a long long time, but I will NEVER forget the scene where the mom holds him up in the air and says she’s gonna throw him into the fire. I mean, from a screenwriting perspective, that’s just going right at it. Some good shit.

  3. CJ, I think when you watch it again you’ll agree that they don’t try to make you think it’s Andy. The opening has Charles Lee Ray doing a voodoo spell to transfer his soul into the doll. Unless maybe somebody thinks the doll is convincing the kid to kill people?

  4. And that was exactly the problem that I had. We see the voodoo ritual at the beginning, we know that there is something wrong with the doll, but as I remember it, the movie tries for too long to trick us into believing that we know nothing and the reveal, that the not-adult-sized killer is Chucky and not the little boy, is some kind of mind blowing surprise twist.

    Again, it’s possible that I show up here in a few days or weeks and say “I WAS WRONG! ALL THOSE YEARS I COMPLETELY MISUNDERSTOOD THIS MOVIE’S INTENTIONS!”, but the last few times I saw it (which admittedly was a long time ago), it was my main problem about it.

  5. Seeing this and the Freddy films at the tender ages of 11 or 12 were certainly the cause of many nightmares. CP1 is especially good, as you say Vern, and despite having not seen it in about 20 years, two shots still are vividly etched in my memory: 1) of a really far of shot of Chucky climbing up some steps 2) and when he’s standing all twisted, melted and burnt near the end. It’s sort of like Terminator meets Toy Story.

    CP2 took it in silly directions but still made it effective. In fact, I don’t know if you’ll know this Vern, but over here in the UK Childs Play 2 was effectively crucified due to a boy called Jamie Bulger being kidnapped, tortured and killed by two 13 year olds. They claim it was because they’d seen Childs Play 2 (and other films) on a pirate video, and it had effected them. Cue a widespread ban on the film, tightening on age restrictions and the general vilification of horror/action movies as art forms. As a beloved consumer of action at that age, believe me it was a dark period for a while.

  6. Last couple of times I watched it, it did feel like the movie was sort of trying to convince you that the kid might be the killer, but maybe the real intention is to show you how the adults in the movie have a valid reason not to believe the kid (I mean, other than the obvious “killer dolls don’t exist”), as he could believably be the killer. Usually, in horror movies, adults don’t believe kids only because “monsters don’t exist” and not because the horrible stuff that happens can actually be explained rationally. For example, Tina’s murder in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: her boyfriend is blamed for it because “he’s a real person and he was at the crime scene” is still more believable than “the ghost of a serial killer did it in her nightmares”, but not because the crime scene really looks like a high school kid just did that with his bare hands. But in CHILD’S PLAY you really see why “the kid did it” looks like a believable explanation to the grownups.

  7. It’s a solid movie but in my opinion Stuart Gordon’s DOLLS is way better, in fact I would call DOLLS the CITIZEN KANE of killer doll movies.

    DOLLS has a more fairy tale vibe to it, which I think is more interesting, plus in that one it’s classic style dolls rather than a modern toy, which I think is creepier, not to mention that in DOLLS there are hundreds of dolls that will ruin your day as opposed to just one (in fairness larger than normal) doll.

    Still, Chucky scared the living shit out of me as a kid, I was convinced the fucker was hiding either under my sink or under my bed, even though I think the only one of the movies I was brave enough to actually watch all the way through was the third one, but just catching a glimpse of the VHS cover of 2 in video stores was enough to let me know that you don’t fuck with the Chuck, so I have a lot of respect for the series.

    But I think Brad Dourif is the secret to it’s success, without his voice bringing the character to life it probably wouldn’t have been such a successful franchise.

  8. CJ, I don’t think that’s what’s going on. The movie knows you’re not stupid. It’s just using Hitchcock’s old “innocent man framed for a crime the audience knows he didn’t commit” gambit to ratchet up tension. It’s a trope that gets repeated at some point in most of the sequels. Because that’s the second layer of Chucky’s dickishness: It’s not just that he’ll kill everyone you know, it’s that his existence is so unlikely that everyone else will assume that you do it.

  9. This movie has one of the best tension breaking jokes in horror history when he tells the old lady “fuck you” because he was called ugly. Loved that as a kid.

  10. I love CHILD’S PLAY. I saw it in the theater when it came out, and I wasn’t expecting anything so thoroughly entertaining. On top of that, it was one of the first Chicago horror shout-outs I’d ever seen, at least until CANDYMAN came out.

    And: Tom Holland is an unsung hero of the genre. I consider the original FRIGHT NIGHT to be an under-appreciated classic. The sequel was lame. The remake was okay… Not great, but pretty decent.

  11. After Caspering* it, I really have to say that I was wrong. At least a bit. I misremembered the 2nd murder in a way, where it was filmed like we wouldn’t see that Andy is peeing outside the house and that a puppet hand turns on the gas. Yet during the first murder, they still give us the “What if Andy did it?” red harring, going even so far, to put him in the same clothes as Chucky. An earlier draft of the movie apparently really played with the concept of “Is it the kid or the doll?” for much of the runtime and I guess that scene was the last real left over from it.

    Random observation: Maybe the main reason, why this movie was pretty well received by critics, was most likely that it plays more like a serious Hitchcockian thriller, instead of the gory slasher movies of that time. The most graphic scene is the electrocution of the doctor and even this something, that by today’s standards could be shown in a Network TV show.

    Another random observation: I always like how accurate the GOOD GUY cartoon in the beginning looked. They not just did their homework in terms of cheap-ish 80s Saturday morning cartoon looks, but actually went to extra mile to have this short clip done by Ruby-Spears (who, among other things, gave us cartoon shows about MR T, RAMBO and CHUCK NORRIS, as well as ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS and the POLICE ACADEMY cartoon).

    BTW, do you think in a parallel dimension a version of this movie exists, where Chucky learns to like Andy and truly becomes a good guy in the end? It could be that dimension’s BAD SANTA!

    *yes, I still try to make it a thing

  12. To the The Movie Bastard, don’t mean to sound a dick but it was the third Child’s Play film that was controversial.

    Kind of ridiculous when you look back on it now, the fact that the newspapers tried to make you believe that a movie makes you a sick depraved killer. Whatever happened to fuckin crazy? To think that the two 13 year olds were given new identities and after a while were free to walk the streets again. Apparently one of them turned out to be a pedophile.

  13. I enjoy this movie, but it has always bothered me that the actual Good Guy doll is so hideous. What kid would actually want to own that nightmare?

  14. The release of CULT OF CHUCKY has prompted me to attempt a revisit of the series. I say attempt, because my tenacity is not what it once was. I couldn’t make it past 80 pages of IT before I got bored and put it down.

    Back on topic, CHILD’S PLAY holds up really well. Chucky is a novel and effectively realized villain. To actually make an animate killer doll menacing and believable is no small achievement of direction and special effects. The film has some genuine creepy atmosphere and Hitchockian shots, and cold, gray, gothic Chicago scenery and locations create a great atmosphere. It’s not really a classic slasher, but is more urban gothic supernatural psychological horror.. A really nicely done film.

    Some misc things I enjoyed:
    -Homeless camp vibe.
    -Homeless, shopping cart-pushing dude who sold Chucky saying, “I don’t no nothin’ about no doll!” in Chicago accent.
    -Catherine Hicks has a great Janet Leigh quality.
    -Chucky’s look (both animate and inanimate) is fantastic, and I like how the film slow burns it before showing us the Kevin Yagher animate Dourif-enriched Chucky.
    -Chucky trying to stab Chris Sarandon in the crotch through the driver’s seat of his car.
    -Sarandon’s incredulous partner, who is kind of like a sleazy-looking Dave Coullier.
    -Shopping mall department store vibe. Very 80s.
    -Catherine Hick’s buddy who crashes through the window. Great face, great performance. Excellent casting.
    -Chris Sarandon. Likewise, a great choice of tall, dark, brooding, handsome lead. The cast looks great here. Kind of DePalma-esque casting, if that makes any sense.
    -Great pay-off. Last 20 or so minutes are fantastic, white knuckle, will this doll every die? fun.
    -Love the look. The apartment building and its elevator. The urban prison-asylum cum child psychiatric services hospital. The precinct. The toy store store front. The elevated Chicago subway. The imposing gothic architecture.

    All in all, a very stylish, effective horror thriller that should be regarded as a true classic. Having only seen this once, maybe twice, in the past, I’d forgotten just how well-done and how much fun it is.

  15. Between CHILD’S PLAY and FRIGHT NIGHT (to say nothing of his TALES FROM THE CRYPT episode) why didn’t Tom Holland’s career stay a float? Those two movies showed he was definitely a cut above the rest.

  16. Agreed. He showed some real filmatic giftings here.

  17. Fuck dis sheet

    Breaking: CHILD'S PLAY Remake Announced from IT Producers - Dread Central

    Breaking: CHILD'S PLAY Remake Announced from IT Producers

  18. While I’m not against a remake, why do they have to do it now, while they put out high quality DTV sequels and just announced a TV series? Something doesn’t add up here.

  19. Well this remake is MGM and Universal does the sequels and the upcoming TV show, so I suspect with horror being hot again and we live in a world of IPs they saw they can still their own (or at least a remake).

  20. That would be funny if the remake wasn’t allowed to use the name Chucky.

  21. For a glorious moment I thought recent comments was fixed after weeks and weeks of it being stuck, but no.

    I hate to be whiner but is it possible for it to ever be fixed? I sure miss being able to actually the most recent comments.

  22. grimgrinningchris

    July 5th, 2018 at 6:07 pm

    It appears to be though… At least to me at the moment.

    What made you think it was fixed and then now not…?

  23. Because I posted and it didn’t show up.

  24. grimgrinningchris

    July 6th, 2018 at 4:55 am

    Actual your post shows at the top of RECENT COMMENTS on my end, that’s what lead me here. But yeah, mine doesn’t show and it has been stuck on the same string of comments since yesterday evening. Oh well…

  25. grimgrinningchris

    July 6th, 2018 at 4:55 am

    *Actually,

  26. Yeah, it’s still not totally fixed.

    But hopefully it won’t be completely stuck for over a month again.

  27. I too sign the Fix Recent Comments petition. All the time I stumble upon some comment by Mr. Majestyk that demands several paragraphs of vitriolic rebuttal, but then I think what’s the point he’ll never see it.

  28. Yup, it’s still busted, it just finally updated again.

    It’s crucial that gets fixed, it totally screws up our discussions on here.

  29. If it helps, for a long time I subscribed to the Comments section RSS feed:

    “https://outlawvern.com/comments/feed/”

    I used feedly for my RSS stuff.

  30. My guess is that it cost money and time to fix.

  31. Pretty funny how my post bemoaning the brokenness of the recent comments is now one of the top comments it’s stuck on.

  32. Mark Hamill was cast as the voice of not-Chucky in the remake and while I still have no plans to watch it, I have to admit that this is a really good choice, as far as casting people who aren’t Brad Dourif goes.

  33. I actually think this looks good and it appears it might have quite the body count.

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