Child's Play

Ah, and so it is that we come to both our first 'slasher' film and our first 'iconic franchise' film and it comes in at number 93 on the rankings of the '100 Greatest Scary Movies'. I actually never saw Child's Play when I was little, though it probably would have given me dreadful nightmares. Chucky the Good Guy doll is without a doubt one of the most recognizable characters in the History of Modern Horror, hacking and slashing his way through five films and racking up a body count upwards of thirty.
I wonder if Don Mancini thought when he was writing this that we would still be talking about it over 20 years later. As a whole, the series is a little off-kilter. The first entry is a strong horror movie, but the next two were abysmal to say the least. Then came Bride Of Chucky in 1998 and the series took a hard left turn from straight up horror and slash right into clever self-parody. That film was great and I stand by that statement. The best thing these 'slasher' movies can do at a certain point in the life of their franchise is to turn the horror on its ear and make fun of it. But that can only go so far and by the time Seed Of Chucky was released in 2004, it all seemed pretty stale.

But we are not talking about the series; we are talking about the original, the one that started it all. One thing that I do love about the 'slasher' film genre is the mythology that is created; the back-stories of the killers are often the only clever bit of storytelling we get and it is the absolute basis for why this character is being driven to kill. In this case, we have a psychopath named Charles Lee Ray, also known as the 'Lakeshore Strangler' who, in a desperate attempt to escape the police who have cornered him in a toy store, transfers his sole via voodoo magic into a doll. Not the most believable concept, but okay, we'll go with it. Through a series of events, this doll ends up in the possession of Andy Barclay, a little boy of six years old played by Alex Vincent. Then the killings occur and being the only person present for said killings, Andy gets the blame.

Perhaps a more artistic way to do this would have been to make us constantly second guess ourselves into thinking that it possibly was Andy who was doing the killings and that the life of the doll was all in his head. But this is not that kind of movie and we get to see Chucky in all of his murderous glory, spouting one-liners before every kill and cursing like a sailor. In all actuality, the Animatronics in the film are done quite well and Chucky in movement does seem more or less lifelike. The true soul of the character, however, comes from the voice work of the great character actor Brad Dourif. It would have been very tempting, I would think, to simply phone this one in, but Brad plays it with evil delight. Every word sounds utterly slimy coming out of his mouth. He plays it cool when he needs to but lets loose in a furor when Chucky loses his temper. I fact, the voice work is so good that at times, you may even forget that you are simply watching an Animatronic doll.

'Slasher' films are not typically read into too deeply, but the origins of the movie are fairly interesting and do give it a bit more substance. Not much, mind you, but a tad. Writer Don Mancini's father worked in marketing and as a child, Don was subjected to countless advertising campaigns and as he grew up he became fascinated with the effects that such things had on children. So in that regard, it is somewhat interesting to watch Andy's relationship with the doll grow, while quite unsure of is really happening and seeing his mother's reaction to the whole thing. She wants to believe her son, but the things that he is telling her are fundamentally unbelievable. And the moment in which she finally realizes the truth is just classic. I mean, what doll wouldn't freak out and unleash a flurry of profanity if you tried to put it in the fire?

I hesitate to call this movie good, but I can't entirely denounce it either. Chucky is iconic, there is no denying that and he may yet be back, but this reviewer is hoping a next installment is mulled over carefully before going forward with it.