Greetings everyone, and welcome back to October Horror Fest! I hope you all enjoyed Halloween yesterday, and I’m glad to be back for day two! Today I watched a movie that I haven’t seen. This film, however, is in one of my favorite horror franchises. I hope you all enjoy it! Without further ado, sit back, relax, turn off the lights, grab some Candy and Popcorn, and let’s review…
Child’s Play (1988)
Child’s Play is a 1988 horror classic that defined the genre going into the 1990s. Released ten years after Halloween, it shows a new perspective on the evolution of horror. Child’s Play introduced the killer doll Chucky to the world, a horror icon still in pop culture today. Chucky falls right into the uncanny valley. Too realistic to be a cartoon, but not realistic enough to be human. This aspect of Chucky shines throughout the movie, and makes for a truly terrifying experience.
The film starts with a gunfight. The scene shows a detective, who we will later come to know as Mike Norris, firing at Charles Lee Ray, the “lakeshore strangler”. As Lee flees the scene, his partner in crime, Eddie, drives away without him. Charles and Mike end up in a toy store, with Lee slowly dying from bullet wounds. Charles, however, finds a doll. This doll is of a Good Guy, a popular kids show. Charles says a strange chant, and lightning strikes the building. Mike rises from the ruble, and Charles is dead. This is however, until we pan in on the Good Guy doll, and the doll blinks.
Crazy beginning, right? Well don’t worry, it gets crazier. We eventually pan into an Apartment, with a young boy named Andy watching TV, obsessed with getting a Good Guy doll. His mother, Karen, can’t afford one for her boy on his birthday. Andy is obsessed with the Good Guy brand, and needs this doll. One thing leads to another, and Karen feels guilty about not being able to afford the doll. Karen meets her best friend Maggie at work, and is able to get one of the dolls in a very suspicious alley.
Karen then brings the doll back to Andy, and of course, he is ecstatic. This is, until Chucky begins to speak to him. He says horrible things, and no one will believe Andy that Chucky is alive. Maggie, shortly after putting Andy to bed, is killed. She is killed by Chucky throwing her out of a window in an iconic and terrifying horror shot. Andy swears to the police, his mother, and Mike Norris, that Chucky was the murder. However, none of them believe him. Chucky even tells Andy to ditch School the following day, and tells him to bring him to Eddie’s place. Chucky, while there, kills Eddie, in front of Andy. Because of his erratic behavior, and no one believing his story, Andy is thrown into a mental hospital.
Karen, shaken, returns to her apartment. She threatens Chucky with her throwing him into the fire, and this is where Chucky’s downfall begins. Chucky talks. He even engages in a fight with Karen, biting her arm and running away. Karen immediately tells Mike Norris, and even goes into dangerous parts of town to find the man who sold her the doll. Shortly after Karen is attacked, Mike is as well. Mike barely survives the onslaught, and runs to find Karen.
Chucky’s kills in the film are extremely well made, utilizing the uncanny valley feel, and by using POV shots popularized by Halloween. Chucky makes his way to the man who taught him about life after death. After Chucky tortures him, he lets the secret loose. Chucky is turning human in the body of the doll, and needs to transfer his soul into the first person he told he was alive. This, unfortunately, is Andy. This begins the climax of the movie, with Chucky, Karen, and Mike all heading to Andy. Andy flees the mental hospital, under hot pursuit by Chucky. Karen and Mike engage in a brawl with Chucky, even managing to burn the doll brutally. Everything seems safe, until Chucky begins to move. He chases the pair around the house, burning flesh and limbs falling off, in one of the scariest horror movie scenes I’ve seen to date. Karen, after barely escaping Chucky again, shoots him in the heart. This ends Chucky’s life, or so we think. We end on a shot of Andy, traumatized from the events that transpired, and knowing that he would never have innocence ever again.
This review was a quick one, but it was one I wanted to get out. I thought this movie was terrific, and it terrified me. I completely recommend this movie to anyone who wants a bit of a scare. I hope you all enjoyed it! Have an amazing day, and always remember, Chucky is your best friend till the end…