Low Key but Effective Late 80’s Slasher
At this point, I’ve seen all the entries in the main three slashers franchises of the 1980’s, but I had yet to really dip into the Child’s Play franchise. I’ve heard that it gets extremely bizarre the further you go into it, but I at least wanted to watch Child’s Play, the original from 1988, so when I spotted it on TV, I gave it a try.
The movie introduces us to Charles Lee Ray, a killer, who is about to die after a shootout with police. He’s taken refuge in a toy store, and as he is dying, he invokes an incantation that transfers his soul into something else – one of the Good Guy dolls in the store.
At this point, we meet single mother Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks) who is doing her best to raise her six-year-old son, Andy (Alex Vincent). Andy is a fan of the Good Guy cartoons and really wants a doll for his birthday. When Karen gets a deal on one that is too good to pass up, she snags it.
It’s obvious where this is going, and the movie doesn’t really waste much time going there. Yes, this doll, who says his name is Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif), is the one with the killer’s soul in it. Can Andy get anyone to believe him?
I thought the movie did a good job of telling us an origin story without slowing the pace down at all. I’m sure the marketing made it obvious what was going on back in the day, but at this point, we all know what Chucky is and have a good idea what is going to happen. The movie doesn’t skip any plot points, but it doesn’t belabor them, either. The result is a story that moves along well and engaged me in the action despite the predictable plot.
One thing that really helps is that the cast is fantastic. Slashers have an often well-deserved reputation for being filled with actors who aren’t as strong as they could be. That’s not the case here. Catherine Hicks is fantastic as the lead. Chris Sarandon plays the detective involved in the story, so between the two, you have adults who can make their characters and their reactions believable as the action unfolds. They perfectly cast Alex Vincent as well. He’s young, but he makes Andy come to life wonderfully. The same holds true for the rest of the cast. I’m sure it helps that the majority of the cast are adults playing adults instead of the typical teen cast.
Those looking for a high body count slasher will be disappointed. This one does have a few good scenes of suspense, but it plays out a bit more like a mystery than a slasher, which is fine by me. Maybe that’s one reason I enjoyed it. I can see complaints that this isn’t super scary for a horror film, and I can’t argue with it. What’s here works, but don’t sit down expecting a super intense jump-fest and you’ll be fine.
And how effective is Chucky at being creepy? Very. It may seem ridiculous that this oversized doll would be able to kill adults, but they make it work. And the puppetry involved in bringing him to life is very effect, even all these years later.
Having said that, this movie does have late 80’s vibes, from the fashions and hair to the soundtrack, some of the editing, and special effects. I got over that in a few minutes and found that to be part of the movie’s charm.
This is an R rated film, so keep that in mind if you choose to watch it. Since I watched it on TV, some of that content was cut down, which I appreciated.
Child’s Play is a little dated and a little light on true scares, but it still works and it’s still an entertaining movie.
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