Poll Position: Chucky makes murdering look like "Child's Play" (1988)

 “Child’s Play” is another classic ‘must see’ movie that has escaped my grasp. Thankfully it won last week and I was hopeful that it would live up to its hype. Staring the loveable and equally murderous Chucky, this late 80’s classic horror movie really started the trend that “I’m too old to sleep with dolls anymore”. Which is something I still haven’t outgrown, I do love my Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. Nevertheless, after the jump I get into the world of homicidal dolls, and unfortunately batteries are included.



Shortly after getting shot by Det. Mike Norris, Charles Lee Ray performs one last black magic act to capture himself in the infamous Chucky doll. He ends up in the hands of Andy as a birthday gift, little did Andy know how life like his 3 foot doll is. Finally free from his plastic wrapped hell, Charles needs to carry out his revenge on the Detective and kill anyone that gets in his way. It’s very easy when no one suspects the doll to be the murderer.

Who still sleeps with their dolls? I bet Andy still gets bullied at school.

Obviously the most entertaining part of the whole movie is Chucky. For 3 very key reasons: he is entertaining, well voiced by Brad Dourif and most importantly how well the special effects are for Chucky. And because how solid Chucky is as a character, this is the reason this movie is good and not just some smuch of a horror film. 

In my eyes, the reason Chucky is such quintessential horror monster is because of his initial appearance. He is cute and very likeable right off the bat. With his rose cheeks and innocent smile, both kids and adults adore him. All up until the point we find out, he has a thirst for blood. Because those rosy cheeks sandwich his creepy and very menacing smile, he still haunts our dreams from night to night. But that isn’t all; he is the only character in the whole movie that is interesting. While everyone else is totally forgettable for many reasons, Chucky’s charm won me over. I caught myself cheering him on. 

Knife sold separably. 

Thankfully Brad Dourif does an equally impressive job bringing Chucky to life with his voice. Even though the other actors were awful (but forgivable because it is a horror movie after all), Dourif brings Chucky to life using only his voice. When he utters the words “Hi, I’m Chucky. Wanna play?” Goosebumps the size of golf balls run up and down my spine.  And as great as his lines are, the best one-liner goes to Andy when he lets out “This is the end, friend” right before burning his doll in the fireplace. Just fantastic!

And because the film was release in ’88, I was going to cut it some slack for special effects on Chucky. But while I watched Chucky moved around so smoothly and almost life like, no slack needs to be cut here. I don’t know, nor do I want to know how Chucky looks and feels so real. Was it animatronics? Excellent puppeteering? A midget in a Chucky costume? Who knows, and who cares. It still gives me the damn heebie-jeebies. Nothing but magic can explain the fluidity and realism that is Chucky.

“Child’s Play” can easily be compared to a vanilla sundae with a cherry on top. Without the cherry (Chucky) a vanilla sundae is nothing to special, it’s boring, mundane and so generic. But the moment you slap that red bad boy of a cherry on top, everything tastes better. Chucky is the reason this fairly uninteresting movie is embedded into our memories. To be honest, the movie does not live up to the hype, it’s boring and monotonous. Thankfully Chucky brings enough to the table to evoke some life into this movie, while take the life way from his victims.