Child's Play [1988]

Amazon.co.uk Review

Horror maestro Tom Holland (Fright Night) brought wit and devilish energy to this 1988 scarefest about a murderer (Brad Dourif) who wills his soul into an innocuous doll named Chucky, and reveals himself only to the toy's owner, a frightened little boy. Catherine Hicks plays the child's mother, and Chris Sarandon a detective; neither of them knows what to make of the kid's story. Monster-doll stories are always wonderfully surreal, and Child's Play is no exception. Holland oversees some finely tuned special effects that allow Chucky to express himself and do some damage--it is truly unnerving but somehow good, subversive fun. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

CHUCKY'S DEBUT AND ONE OF THE BETTER KILLER DOLL FILMS OUT THERE.......2007-11-04

Police Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon) is called to a toy store where serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Douriff) is hiding. After a lengthy cat-and-mouse game with each other, Charles is apparently killed by a freak lightning bolt that almost destroys the entire store. The owner of the toy store (Alan Wilder) is concerned that the incident will ruin the reputation of the new toys that are slated to go on sale the next day. Norris assures him it will be fine, and leaves, unaware that one of the toys contains Charles' spirit inside. Young Andy Barclay, (Alex Vincent) who takes better care of his mother Karen (Catherine Hicks) than she does towards him, accidentally buys the same toy doll for Andy at his insistence. As she goes out one night, she leaves Andy with a babysitter (Dinah Manoff) and the doll, Chucky, kills her in front of Andy. When Karen returns, she finds the babysitter dead and Andy begins telling her that Chucky was the one who did it. No one believes him, but there is no evidence to pin on Andy, so the whole incident is forgotten. More murders occur around the people Andy's friends with, eventually leading everyone else to believe that Chucky really did commit the murders. Enlisting Mike's help, Karen and Andy try to stop Chucky from transferring his spirit into Andy to make him human again.

The Good News: This is perhaps the one singular film that helped to kill off the popular doll phase in America, and for good reason. Chucky was absolutely terrifying. The best example of this simply has to be Douriff's voice for Chucky. That voice is absolutely scary. What gets me, though, just has to be that high-pitched laugh of Chucky's. That gave me the creeps the first time I heard it. There are also several key scenes in the film that have led to this conclusion. Towards the end, when Karen is with Chucky and she looks in the back and notices that his batteries are gone, she starts a fire and threatens to throw him in if he doesn't respond to her, and he comes alive and starts to viciously attack her. This is my overall favorite scene in the film, and is quite scary when first seen. Chucky doesn't have his whole creative killing scenario yet, so here he simply resorts to the classic kills. There are a few stabbings, one electrocution, a strangling, and a pretty violent blow to the back of the head, which are pretty common in films if you look for them. The beginning, where Mike is inside the toy store with the human Chucky, along all the corridors featuring Chucky dolls, being unsure of where Charles is hiding, is quite unsettling. The first kill, of the babysitter, is a personal favorite simply because of the setup. Andy is in getting ready for bed and presumably has Chucky with him, but for three or four times, the babysitter finds Chucky in the living room with the TV on. Getting mad at him, she threatens Andy to go to bed, and then she is pushed over the railing to her death. We know its Chucky, but the setup of Chucky keeping reappearing is totally payoff. I also want to talk about the opening, as it is really a spectacular one. Despite the creepiness, the scene also features some great special effects. Charles putts his soul into the Chucky doll, symbolized by the lightning bolt, and then there is a tremendous release of energy and a catastrophic explosion. For a film featuring simply awesome special effects, this is the perfect way to get us ready for them. Of the special effects, the stand-out is Chucky. The realistic ness of his movements, the creepy manner of his walk, and Douriff's vocalizations combine into the perfect combination to bring Chucky to life. Speaking of which, the ending simply has to be the all-time wet dream for those who love the 'Can't kill the killer' slasher rule. I won't spoil it, but it simply has to be seen.

The Bad News: Not too many things are bad here. Fans of the bust-a-gut-laughing of later Chucky will be disappointed because he doesn't have as many lines as later incarnations, and is no where near 'Bride' as the funniest entry, so be forewarned if that's what turned you onto Chucky films. Also, this isn't as gory as the later films, and looking at its European ratings, those are accurate rating reasons. The second and third sequels are far bloodier than this one, those this is the classic of the series.

The Final Verdict: Unless you're a fan of the smart-alec only Chucky, any horror fan will love this movie. Tons of great scenes, an all-time classic killer, and the beginning of one of its better entries all combine in one scary package. See this at any cost, cut-up, censored, illegally, whatever.

Child's play the first chucky movie and the BEST!.......2007-08-05

Child's play is an awesome movie it come's 3rd place in my all time favorite movies.

The reason i like this film is because it was half comedy half horror
which makes it a black comedy don't worry this isnt that scary but you might want to consider getting rid of your dolls lol.

I would recommend this film for 12+ s because below that would be terrified of an actual doll coming to life and killing them :P.

The reason this film is a 15+ is because of the amount of bad language chuckys mouth is disgusting.

So people who love black comedys this is the film for you as it will have scary and funny parts to it.

1hr and 30 minutes of pure coolness.

I would recommend this to anyone.

BUY IT NOW!

The First of the Chuckie Films.......2007-03-30

I only recently watched this film. I've seen all 5 of the Chuckie films and own them on DVD. The last two I didn't think were that great, but the first three I think are brilliant.

This film has an interesting storyline, and I think that the idea of a serial killer pocessing a doll is great. Also I feel that the director of this film made a good decision by choosing Brad Dourif to voice Chucky, as I think that his voice blends in well with Chuckie, and makes him more of a funny character.

Okay Chuckie is evil, yet there are moments in the Chuckie films where he makes me laugh, such as the scene in the second film, where he buries a good guy doll. The way he laughs at that moment and the way he looks at the same time, I find quite funny. I found it clever how they chose the name Charles Lee Ray, which is Chucky's real name.

They got the name Charles from CHARLES Manson, Lee from Harry LEE Oswarld and Ray from James Earl RAY. A basic combination of those three names.

This film starts of in the early hours of the morning, with Charles Lee Ray. He is chased by a cop, who follows Charles into a toy shop. There Charles is shot and fatally wounded. To avoid death Charles gets his hands on a good guy doll and mutters a voodoo chant, transfering his soul into the good guy doll.

Later that morning, a woman buys that doll as a present for her son Andy's 6th birthday. Charles in that doll, calls himself Chuckie. That evening, Andy's babysitter is pushed through the window, and Andy claims that Chuckie did it.

Soon Chuckie is shot and to his surprise feels pain and actually bleeds. He learns from an old friend of his, who taught him the voodoo chant that he's becoming human again, and to get out of the good guy doll, he needs to transfer his soul into the body of the first person he revealed his secret to; which was his true identity. And that person is Andy.

It is then when Chuckie attmpts to do so and the only people who can save Andy is his mother and the very cop who shot him at the start of the film.

This is a great film that musn't be missed. If you do enjoy wacthing this film, then watch the others. You won't be disapointed.

Brilliant horror.......2007-02-28

Child's Play is a brilliant and origional horror movie. It creates a new spin on the slasher genre by having the killer be a childrens' doll (NOT a spoiler, it is known from the very start of the movie that the doll is the killer).

Serial killer Charles Lee Ray is chased by the police one night and hides in a toy warehouse. They police follow him in and shoot him. As he dies, he envokes some kind of power by chanting a spell and putting himself into the body of one of the toys - a Good Guy doll. Six year old Andy badly wants a Good Guy dollso his mother buys him one for his birthday - the one that contains the spirit of Charles Lee Ray (who we will come to know as Chucky)! As the body count rises, so does the terror as Chucky is determined to put his soul into Andy's body, killing everyone in his way.

Child's Play is scary and quite gory and has some origional deaths. In my opinion, the start of one of the best slasher movie series.

What was all the fuss about ???.......2007-01-15

When I watched this film, I thought, why did this film have such bad press. It is entertainment from the moment it starts until the last moment. The little boy acted very well and was convincing. I totally bought into the idea that no-one would believe that a doll did it and so it had to be the nutter kid. The total evilness of Chucky is so real. I have an aversion to dolls like that anyway and have always wondered what they got up to when you weren't looking. Special effects aren't bad for the time and Chris Sarandon is fine as the cop who is investigating the babysitter's death. The best bit for me though, was when Chucky launches an attack at Mike (Sarandon) in his car and tries to use him as a dartboard. Hilarious stuff, even though we should have been terrified. When you thought that a piece of melted plastic couldn't possibly rise again, Chucky kept on comin.... If you like to be scared but not too seriously then this is for you.

UK DVD:

UK DVD List

UK DVD