Child's Play was one of, if not the first horror franchise I got connected to. Even though that this wasn't the first one I saw, I still was able to admire it as a good start for the series. The whole premise is about a living doll named Chucky going around killing people, and the sequels do get quite silly after about 4 of them (cough cough Seed of Chucky). So, if that's the case, how good is the original Child's Play to be considered a classic? Let's see...
Infamous serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) is gunned down by Det. Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon) - but does a chant with a Good Guy doll just before his death - in the toy store. A day later, it's the birthday of a 6- year-old boy, Andy Barclay (Alec Vincent), and gets the same Good Guy doll named Chucky from his mother, Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks). One night, however, when Karen's friend Maggie (Dinah Manoff) babysits Andy, she is mysteriously murdered and this raises awareness for everyone, including Det. Morris. This goes as far as claiming the murder on little Andy. Thus, he is taken away from his mother for a while. Suddenly, when Karen is at the fireplace with the doll, she discovers that it's alive, scaring her, which leaves Chucky to run off and do his own bidding. Turns out that Andy was right about him being alive, earlier in the film.
This is a horror classic, and for good reason. First of all, I love the concept of your own toy causing all of this trouble, even if it may have been done before, but not to this extent. The effects on Chucky are very well done, and Brad Dourif gives a greatly scary performance as the killer doll, without being too comical in the role.
Speaking of great performances, the acting is all great and believable in the situations they're in. Catherine Hicks, for example, does great as the fearful mom who's truly worried about her son and dislikes it whenever she's being fooled with or when people don't believe her about the doll being animate. The only character I think could have been handled a bit better would actually be Andy, as he does get slightly annoying due to the acting by Alex Vincent. But I can't exactly fault him since he was little at the time. Besides, I think he's one of the better kid characters in horror films.
Now, despite this being in the horror genre and that there wouldn't be many messages, if one at most, this one does have an interesting, hidden moral. It could be about parents stressing about their children about getting what they want. This could potentially lead to bad locations to get said thing their child wants and ending up badly depending on the change put in the product. But hey, this is just a guess of what the meaning could be and may not be true.
Overall, though, Child's Play is a very well-made horror movie of the 1980's and one of my favourites of all time. With an intriguing plot and premise, acting that would be suitable for more than just horror, solid suspense, and an excellent villain, this is for horror fans and movie fans alike who like to see something different. That being said, however, it may be technically the best, but it isn't my favourite (see my list of the Child's Play/Chucky movies from best to worst for further information), but it is very, very close. Therefore, I would give this fun horror flick a solid 9 out of 10.
Infamous serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) is gunned down by Det. Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon) - but does a chant with a Good Guy doll just before his death - in the toy store. A day later, it's the birthday of a 6- year-old boy, Andy Barclay (Alec Vincent), and gets the same Good Guy doll named Chucky from his mother, Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks). One night, however, when Karen's friend Maggie (Dinah Manoff) babysits Andy, she is mysteriously murdered and this raises awareness for everyone, including Det. Morris. This goes as far as claiming the murder on little Andy. Thus, he is taken away from his mother for a while. Suddenly, when Karen is at the fireplace with the doll, she discovers that it's alive, scaring her, which leaves Chucky to run off and do his own bidding. Turns out that Andy was right about him being alive, earlier in the film.
This is a horror classic, and for good reason. First of all, I love the concept of your own toy causing all of this trouble, even if it may have been done before, but not to this extent. The effects on Chucky are very well done, and Brad Dourif gives a greatly scary performance as the killer doll, without being too comical in the role.
Speaking of great performances, the acting is all great and believable in the situations they're in. Catherine Hicks, for example, does great as the fearful mom who's truly worried about her son and dislikes it whenever she's being fooled with or when people don't believe her about the doll being animate. The only character I think could have been handled a bit better would actually be Andy, as he does get slightly annoying due to the acting by Alex Vincent. But I can't exactly fault him since he was little at the time. Besides, I think he's one of the better kid characters in horror films.
Now, despite this being in the horror genre and that there wouldn't be many messages, if one at most, this one does have an interesting, hidden moral. It could be about parents stressing about their children about getting what they want. This could potentially lead to bad locations to get said thing their child wants and ending up badly depending on the change put in the product. But hey, this is just a guess of what the meaning could be and may not be true.
Overall, though, Child's Play is a very well-made horror movie of the 1980's and one of my favourites of all time. With an intriguing plot and premise, acting that would be suitable for more than just horror, solid suspense, and an excellent villain, this is for horror fans and movie fans alike who like to see something different. That being said, however, it may be technically the best, but it isn't my favourite (see my list of the Child's Play/Chucky movies from best to worst for further information), but it is very, very close. Therefore, I would give this fun horror flick a solid 9 out of 10.