Review of Child's Play (1993) by Patrick E — 05 Dec 2009

Childs Play is a classic 80's horror about a killer doll that is surprisingly serious and has some real scares. It's a feat that the director managed to make a film about a killer doll not seem humourous, it could easily have become far too cheesy but the tone remains dark throughout and the end result is a very effective horror film.

The plot is silly, a seriel killer called Charles Lee Ray is shot by a police officer in a toy shop. Knowing that he is dying, he uses some voodoo magic that was thought to him to transfer his mind into the a "good guy" doll. Que Andy. a 6 year old kid who desperately wants the doll. His mother is forced to buy it off a homeless guy as she hasn't enough money to buy a new one. The doll turns out to be Charles Lee Ray who is hell bent on gaining revenge on those that wronged him and using Andy as the scapegoat to do so. Plenty of horror action ensues as Chucky goes on the rampage.

The plot is ridiculous and doesn't even have a hint of realism but this works in the films favour as you are expecting a light hearted horror but are given a dark and scary one. The first half an hour is great, there are fleeting shots of chucky and you are never quite sure if the doll is alive or if Andy is doing the killing. Once Chucky starts to reveal himself it becomes a little silly at times as the effects aren't the best but if you just go with it then it has some great scares. Plenty of kids are frightened to death of their toys coming alive to hurt them and plenty of adults are frighened by this as well. The plot moves along at a good pace and there is plenty of horror action at the climax.

Childs Play really is an excellent horror film, just don't expect it to be a light hearted one.