Director:- Tom Holland
Having never seen any of the multiple editions of the Chucky film series, but hearing alot about the franchise, I expected this film to be horribly scary. So it was with mild fear that I slid the DVD into the machine, found a couch to hide behind and switched off the lights!
When a serial killer is killed by a police detective (Sarandon) in a toy store, his soul transpermiates into a child's "Good Guy" doll. A single parent (Hicks) buys the possessed doll unwittingly from a street peddlar as a present for her son, Andy (Vincent). Soon it becomes apparent that the doll isn't quite right...
The concept of the possessed doll- Chucky- was genuinely scary, and would have come across very well on the big screen. However, the doll was easily at its scariest before we saw it move. Firstly, it is seen sitting on the couch watching the news, then it is sitting in a completely different position when the camera pans back... creating the only genuine moment of suspense in the film. It's what you don't see that makes the situation frightening. When Chucky starts to become more human he becomes vile rather than scary. The concept of a sweet and innocent doll, who says nothing, yet does evil deeds would have been more plausible. Instead we get a swearing, horrible monster in its place who just makes you want to crush him with a steam roller.
The living doll idea, scary though it is, is nowhere near enough to carry the film. The plot is very linear and basic. Several scenes were very troubling, and implausible. At one point we see Andy, a five year old boy remember, boarding a train in a busy station. Nobody even takes a second glance. Secondly, the completely false voodoo doll scene, showing very poorly the 'possession' of a man who seems rather to be suffering from the effects of having a swarm of wasps trapped in his pants. Some films look good no matter what era they are made in. Child's Play is not one of them. It seems dated, and the acting was a little poor to boot.
For all of the hype and supposed 'legend' status of Child's Play I was unimpressed. Whilst I liked the possession of the doll concept, the film wasn't anywhere deep enough and fell short of my expectations and wasn't really long enough to explore the idea. I won't be rushing out to watch the multiple sequels.
IMDB.com Rating:- 6.5 (46,819 votes)
Supermegahybrid Rating:- 2.5 stars
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