Child's Play (1988)

Film: Child's Play (1988)

Stars: Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent, Dinah Manoff, Brad Dourif

Director: Tom Holland

Oscar History: No nominations

Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

All October long, The Many Rantings of John is running a marathon dedicated to the Horror classics of the 1960's-90's that I'm seeing for the first time this month.  If you want to take a look at past titles from previous horror marathons (both this and other seasons) check out the links at the bottom of this article.

By the late 1980's, horror films had started to lose some of the in-theater cultural cache that they had once had.  The introduction of the VHS was a huge step for movie fans (something I wish they'd remember today in an era where we abandon the freedom of physical media for the tenuousness of streaming), but it also meant that people didn't have to go to movies to see their favorites, they could just watch films at home.  This also coalesced around the horror industry running out of a lot of great, original ideas.  Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, & Leatherface were people that you could rent at the back of your gas station in increasingly low-grossing films...you didn't need to go out to the actual movie theater to enjoy them, you could do so in your living room.  One of the few creations from this time period that really entered the pantheon, though, was an unlikely horror figure: a child's doll named Chucky.  A surprise hit for MGM, the movie launched an unusual franchise that continues today (Chucky's on cable, y'all).

(Spoilers Ahead) The plot of this movie is, to put it mildly, pretty stupid, so bear with me as I try to explain this one.  Charles Lee Ray (Dourif) is a murderer who performs a voodoo curse when cornered in a police fight and transfers his soul to a toy doll.  This doll is bought from a homeless man by Karen (Hicks) because it is the one wish her son Andy (Vincent) has for his birthday.  When Karen's friend Maggie (Manoff) is killed while babysitting Andy, the detective put on the case Mike Norris (Sarandon) assumes that it is Andy who pushed her out the window, but in reality it is the doll, who goes by Ray's nickname of Chucky, as he reveals his true nature to both Karen & Norris while trying to kill them.  After Chucky realizes that he can only get himself out of the doll by transferring his soul into Andy, who first awakened him, this leads to a standoff which gets all three main human characters nearly killed, but ultimately they burn Chucky's remains...with him ready to comeback in a sequel.

As I said, the plot of this movie strains credulity, and is easy to mock (it is a running joke in my family that my mom, whenever this movie shows up in commercials around Halloween, would refer to Chucky as a "naughty dolly," and my mom not being someone who is impervious to horror movies shows how easy it is to smirk at this creation).  It shouldn't work...but it does.  The film does have some moments of horror.  When Karen realizes that Chucky doesn't have batteries & Andy is telling the truth...it's a good jump scare, particularly if you didn't know it was coming, which of course given Chucky's place in pop culture today would be impossible for a modern audience member, even one going in fresh to the Child's Play franchise like me.  But for the most part the movie's horror elements can't really work.  It is never really explained how, for example, Chucky can convincingly overpower grown adults who could clearly break off the arm of a normal doll, or why Karen doesn't just throw the doll away the second her son starts projecting onto it post her friend's death (as any normal parent would do in this circumstance).  That Chucky's body count is so low at least tries to reflect this, but it also makes him less believable as a threat.

Where it does work is in the humor.  Dourif is perfectly cast as the rough-and-tumble killer with a sly sense of humor.  The effects of the talking doll are pretty good for 1988, but it's the personality that Dourif inflects that sells this, making him seem like a comedic mob hood out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon...except that he truly intends on killing everyone in his pathway.  Dourif's vocal work keeps you interested, particularly given how late in the film he shows up (for the first thirty minutes it's not entirely clear if Andy is mad or if Chucky is real), and once he's totally revealed to everyone you get to see why the franchise would skew toward comedy.

Past Horror Month Reviews (Listed Chronologically): The Golem, The Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Frankenstein, Freaks, The Mummy, The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man, The Black Cat, The Bride of Frankenstein, Mad Love, The Raven, Werewolf of London, Dracula's Daughter, Son of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man Returns, The Mummy's Hand, The Invisible Woman, The Wolf Man, Cat People, The Ghost of Frankenstein, Invisible Agent, The Mummy's Curse, The Mummy's Tomb, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, Phantom of the Opera, Son of Dracula, The House of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man's Revenge, The Mummy's Ghost, The Uninvited, House of Dracula, She-Wolf of London, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, It Came from Outer Space, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy, Revenge of the Creature, The Creature Walks Among Us, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, The Blob, Village of the Damned, The Innocents, The Masque of the Red Death, Night of the Living Dead, The Wicker Man, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Carrie, Dawn of the Dead, Halloween, The Amityville Horror, When a Stranger Calls, Friday the 13th, The Evil Dead, Poltergeist, A Nightmare on Elm Street