Child's Play

Dolls have never been so fucked up before.

Continuing with horror films that made my day, it's time to talk about a 1988 masterpiece: Child's Play, AKA Chucky el Muñeco Diabólico. For such a laughable premise, Child's Play delivers quite a thrilling experience. Everyone knows the story. A serial killer known as the Lake Shore Strangler (Brad Dourif) is mortally wounded by a Chicago cop Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon). He manages to break into a toyshop, and with his dying breath, says a voodoo chant that transfers his soul into the body of a doll (yes, that's the laughable premise) Some would say only in the 80's such a silly story would be consider as a serious, strong plot. I agree.

I wouldn't be too surprised if after reading that paragraph, you might think Child's Play was an idiotic film. But thanks to Tom Holland's confident direction and the taut editing, what we have instead is a very effective horror film, not to mention satisfying because the sheer amount of enjoyment to be had is so unexpected.

Let's fucking play, you motherfucking piece of shit!

Chucky has become quite an infamous figure since its origin in 1988. As the sequels progressed, it has skirted the waters of controversy with the Jamie Bulger murder, and eventually evolved into black comedy when Bride of Chucky was created in 1998. But with the original film, no-one had ever heard of him, and didn't know what to expect.

Child's Play is a horror film through and through. But it also has traces of light humour, elements that would be further expanded upon in the future. Holland shows a style of horror-film directing similar to Wes Craven. The scene where Maggie is babysitting Andy (Alex Vincent), the lad who ends up with Chucky, she is being stalked by Chucky. In the background, the TV is showing a horror film, almost acting as an internal commentary of the events.

I'm such a tender doll.

Now where are the fucking pots! I wanna get high!

Holland's direction is truly excellent, allowing Child's Play to transcend it's admittedly slender plot, into a gripping, suspenseful horror show. This is a film that doesn't insult the intelligence of it's audience. It toys with our expectations, giving us enough subtle hints to tip us off of what's going on, but not too much that it doesn't give the game away.

For the first forty minutes, we don't even see Chucky moving around. Except for the occasional blinking, head turning, and mumbling the dialogue the doll has been programmed with. These are all things the doll can do anyway, and they're incorporated into the plot whenever it demands it.

But as Chucky plots revenge on those who betrayed him, we realise there will come a time when we will see him in all his glory. And that time comes when Karen Barclay (fiestily played by Catherine Hicks), Andy's mum, threatens to torch Chucky, and he comes to life right in her hands. This is when the puppetry comes into play. And for 1988, they're not half bad.

Some of the facial expressions they get on Chucky are alarmingly sinister. And some of the movements Chucky makes took me by surprise. In one single continuous shot Chucky walks from one end of a room to another, and we actually see him climb up onto a bed. Or another one where he is in a fireplace, and kicks the grate away. This goes to show what puppetry can be capable of when given the chance.

Brad Dourif lends his voice to the character, making Chucky into a frightening presence, complete with put-downs, puns and maniacal cackle. There are times when his voice isn't always synchronised with his mouth like it should be, but the effects are well above average for the time.

So, I ain't your favorite toy no more?

Some of the plot elements concerning Chucky possessing Andy's body before he becomes trapped in the doll permanently are a bit hard to swallow, just because he was the first person he told his secret to. I don't see why that should be true, but the events are kept moving at a fast enough pace that you really won't care.

Child's Play is a very entertaining horror film, with a bit more originality than you might expect. It all builds to a suspenseful climax with Chucky being slowly destroyed before he can possess Andy. It does occasionally lapse into unintentional amusement at the events, but I still believe this is a reasonably diverting motion picture.

Die!!!!

I love the ironic gag Holland adds at the end, with the final shot of an open door. Symbolising that the door has been left open for many sequels to follow. 

Here's the movie trailer: