Child's Play (1988)

Child's Play is usually categorized with other definitive horror films of the 70's and 80's, such as Friday the 13th, Halloween, and A Nightmare on Elm Street, while it's a lot different, in ways I'll get into later.

Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) is a serial killer who is finally killed by Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon). However, he performs a chant right before he dies. Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks) is a single mother who works in a jewelry department in a department store. She lives in an apartment with her six-year-old son Andy (Alex Vincent), who is like any normal six-year-old. He loves the television show `Good Guys', and they have lots of toys and dolls that you can buy. When his birthday comes around, he doesn't get a $100 Good Guy, but Karen buys one from a peddler off the street for $30. However, that doll, whose name is Chucky, is actually filled with the spirit of Ray, who tries to kill everyone.

At times this can be pretty effective, even scary, even when they add to it with predictable, cheap scares. When Maggie (Dinah Manoff, who overacts throughout the entire movie) is slowly walking through the kitchen with no music, with the phone in plain sight, do you think it's going to ring? Thankfully, there aren't too many of them. The entire plot is pretty clever, not just a `Craven' or `De Palma' theme. Also, the puppetry of Chucky was pretty good, for it being 15 years ago. The cinematography was good, with many first person shots, which were effective.

Dourif, who played a gentle man in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, was very good, especially in the beginning, when we actually saw him. Why he isn't a big name now is beyond me. Hicks was good for what she was required to be: panicky and caring to Andy. Sarandon didn't do anything for me, as the obligatory police officer. Vincent talked like stereotypical movie children did, enunciating every syllable.

The music really helped, with it booming to prove its point of being a horror movie. It could have had some humor, like other horror movies do, to help it out some. Since it's less than 90 minutes and a horror films, they didn't worry about anything like plot holes or continuity errors. A few I noticed: how DID he go into Chucky, besides the chant, why would the Chucky doll be burned up, the dates continuously change. That scene with voodoo was very cool. That's about all I can say, so I won't say any more.

My rating: 7/10

Rated R for language and violent situations.