Child's Play (1988)

Blurbtastic, Ripoli.

I haven't seen this in the longest time, but when I first saw it I recall instantly becoming a Brad Dourif fan. Didn't really freak me out that much, but it gave me a good excuse to ask for the at the time very popular "My Buddy Doll" so that I could mercilessly fucking destroy it...and I did too.

That will go on every future DVD packaging.

I've been waiting to see if this came up in the franchise thread, but I just don't think it's really well-liked enough to get a mention. I used to be really afraid of Chucky until I actually got around to watching one of the movies (the second one, I think). If nothing else, it does boast some good special effects, although I think you can tell in some parts that it's just a little guy in a suit running around. Also, I can't totally write off five films where Brad Dourif really seems to have fun being such a filthy, evil little shit.

I think people have been begging for a widescreen DVD release of Child's Play since the format was invented. This year, MGM went and released it in WS, but only on iTunes. You bastards.

This movie caused me to be deathly afraid of all My Buddy type dolls during my formative years. The goofier sequels helped quell my fear, but I still think the original is a damn effective horror movie.

Yep, it's fullscreen. Pretty much all the DVDs suck except for Bride of Chucky, which has 2 commentaries and a bunch of other stuff. It's also the only one that I will defend.

I think the movie was pretty good for what it was.

I really dug how throughout the film you weren't quite sure if the doll was really possessed and was telling Andy what to do, or if the kid was just batshit insane, hearing voices, and killing people. For most of the running time, Chucky doesn't do much aside from being a doll. Then all of a sudden..."Hey, there's no batteries in this Buddy doll..." and then Chucky goes into a cussing frenzy.

When I worked at Blockbuster this was the only horror movie some parents would rent. No one I know ever thought it was scary.

I never watched one of these movies until long after the third installment came out. That being said when I was young I had nightmares for years just from seeing the trailers. My lengthy battle with chucky in the recesses of my mind finally ended when I, (with the aid of the token horror movie black friend,) killed chucky with a swiss army knife near the skee-ball at Chuck-E-Cheezes.

I had similar dreams, although instead of going after me he used to go after my cat. Finally I learned that no matter how much of an unstoppable voodoo serial killer he might be, he's still a toy and I'm bigger than him. They then started taking a comical turn after I'd just keep kicking him across the room everytime he got close. You just don't mess with a childhood pet.

Much stranger was my Freddy Krueger dream where he tied me up outside of the Olympics and made fun of the events...

That is awesome.

I remember reading somewhere that the original intention was to confuse the audience as to it actually being the doll or Andy who was just batshit. But why add the bit at the start with Charles Lee Ray if it might just be crazy Andy?

<3 Brad Dourif, though.

You also have to love a movie serial killer named after three real murderers of famous people (even if Charles Manson had other people do his dirty work for him).

Saw this one when it came out and was so disappointed. I actually expected something subtle and scary from the director of Fright Night. Not a slasher movie with the most unintimidating killer ever put to screen. I can't even enjoy this on a funny ironic level cause Chucky's dialogue is so fucking annoying.

What he said.

Damn, I'm getting tired of being right all the time.

Even as a little kid, I knew I had nothing to fear from something I could punt across the family room. That being said, I've always found the obligatory "no batteries" scene a little freaky... mostly for the way that Chuckie rolls underneath the couch after 7th Heaven mom drops him to the floor.

I'm not. Look at all the typing you're saving me.

I will always think of Catherine Hicks as Captain Kirk's whale lady, personally.

See, I would have found that creepy too if there was an air of mystery around Chucky. But since the first scene of the movie clearly establishes the fact that the doll's alive, the battery "reveal" doesn't work.

But I must agree with Rippolli- when he first freaks out on the mom it's pretty funny.

I've never been sure whether I want to see this or not.
This thread... doesn't change that. Damn.

Here's the afore mentioned scene of 7th Heaven mom vs Chucky.

The Child's Play series is not really good, but still miles better than the franchises of Leprechaun, Ghoulies and Puppet Master.

Fuck you Lucky Charms!

For some reason I saw 2 & 3 in theaters. I don't recall the original being that bad but I haven't revisited it in well over a decade.

It has been a while since I've seen the original Child's Play, but it is entertaining for what it is. The list of good killer doll movies is a slim one.

One sequence from that movie that works pretty well is when Chucky decides to attack Chris Sarandon in his car while he is driving. Joe Bob Briggs once called it the best car chase to only involve one vehicle when they showed Child's Play on Monstervision years ago.

You know, I respect TNT's decision to branch out with original programming and a slicker, more universally appealing line-up of shows and movies, but I miss Monstervision. I saw so many horror flicks for the first time there (and even some non-horror stuff like The Warriors), and Joe Bob always had plenty to say during the breaks. I remember one time he even got Wes Craven on the phone during a broadcast of New Nightmare. All I remember from when he hosted Child's Play, however, is him going on about how hot Catherine Hicks was.

Never bothered with this one. Now PROBLEM CHILD 2? That's a bona-fide classic.

Funny that you should mention Problem Child. I was once on vacation with my family and we drove by an old drive-in that was playing Problem Child 2. I begged my mother to take me and she kept refusing. Finally she asked why I wanted to spend two hours being scared by an evil perverted doll. I calmly cleared up her franchise confusion, and she still said no on the grounds that the Problem Child movies are terrible.

If you want to see a movie that is totally on the unintentional laugh side on the spectrum of killer doll movies, I heartily recommend Puppet Master v. Demonic Toys, which is just hilarious. It stars Corey Feldman and the chick from Kingpin so you know its good.

Dolly Dearest. It's chick chucky.

I have to disagree with you here, I think Child's Play is a really effective movie in a lot of ways. It really isn't riding on whether or not Chucky is scary, the way I see it the character that Brad Dourif creates here is what really makes this movie worth seeing. He's sarcastic, he's funny, he's manipulative and he just happens to be a homicidal killer that has very inconveniently trapped himself in a doll. Also, the kid who plays Andy is one of the best child actors I've ever seen, I find it hard to believe that all the sobbing and whimpering and pure terror he conveys is fake.

And hey, I love the end. Yes there is indeed that one shot where Chucky looks 4 feet tall, but the way he screams and thrashes around as he's being burned in the fireplace still gives me shivers. Oh man, and the very end where his arm is attacking that cop and his burned head is lying on the floor screaming homicidal directions at it is brilliant.

Man, they are so cheesy but I love the Child's Play movies and I will see every single sequel that comes out. The 2nd and 3rd kind of sucked but Bride and Seed are two of the most hilarious horror comedies I've ever seen. I can't wait until they do 'Chucky Goes To Space'

I always found the Leprechaun movies to be cheap copies. Ok, the lep isn't technically a doll, but his whole concept (little puppet looking guy kills with oneliners) comes quite close to Childs Play. Only that Chucky is ten times funnier and cooler (can a killerdoll be cool?) than the irish bastard will ever be.

There's probably a good reason Chucky hasn't been to space and in the hood yet and I bet, after Freddy vs Jason, the Lep camp furiously tried to convince Mancini of a Chucky vs Leprechaun. Which they wisely declined. Mostlikely the Chucky camp themselves tried to get into another FvJ outing.

Me, I hope Mancini runs out of money once again, forcing him to do another flick. A remake is also likely to appear in the next few years.

I'd also like to add Devil Doll to the list of funny/bad killer doll movies. If you can track down the MST3K version of this lame British horror flick, you are guaranteed a good time.

"Look, he's using his mental powers to make her do a modest twist."