Child's Play


3/4

Starring: Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Brad Dourif, Alex Vincent

Rated R for Horror Violence and Language (I guess)

It’s “Toy Story” from hell: a slasher movie where the villain is a possessed doll.  There’s no way anyone could take this movie seriously, but for the most part, director Tom Holland takes things mostly straight.  And you know what?  It actually works.  “Child’s Play” is a surprisingly creepy movie, with a few laughs along the way.

Facing imminent death, serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) performs an act of voodoo to transfer his soul into that of a Good Guy doll, a hot new toy.  Hard working mom Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks) is desperate to find a Good Guy doll for her young son Andy’s (Alex Vincent) birthday.  As luck would have it, her friend Maggie (Dinah Peterson) found one cheaply that’s being sold by a homeless guy outside her work.  The problem is, the one she found is the possessed toy, and it isn’t long before Chucky (as he calls himself) makes her take a header out the window.  Andy knows the truth, but will he convince everyone that his Chucky doll is a serial killer before it’s too late?

The beauty of “Child’s Play” is that it’s as scary as it is funny.  Although there aren’t as many one-liners as there are in future installments (I assume), the sight of a doll running down a hall with a snarl on his face and a pocket knife in hand is hilarious.  It’s also creepy.  Director Tom Holland also knows how to capture the general eeriness of your average doll.

The acting is rather strong for your average slasher movie.  I liked the characters, especially Karen.  She’s your average loving mom who will do anything to protect her son.  Her performance gives the film a lot of its punch because we care about her and Andy.  Chris Sarandon is adequate as the cop, but he gets the job done.  Of course, much of the acting honors have to go to veteran creep Brad Dourif.  Not only does he know how to get the blood pumping using only his voice, he understands the concept of comic timing (his utterance of “Fuck You” to a little old lady who calls him ugly is laugh-aloud funny).

The script is a little underwritten and the film plays dumb for too long, but it is what it is, and it does that rather well.  You can bet that I’m going to see the sequels.

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