LogFAQs > #979862428

Snake - Definitely one in the canon of films that freaked me the HELL out when I was a kid. As a kid, it really doesnt get any more terrifying than a toy, especially one youre attached to, one, being alive, and two, trying to ruthlessly murder you and possess your body no matter what. Even as an adult now, Brad Dourif's voice acting sells it as terrifying rather than goofy even if the film threads that thin line mightily carefully. I love Chuckys jerky movements, sudden head snaps, but then surprisingly agile attacks, theres a real kinetic energy to Chucky that keeps him sold as a threat throughout the run time. I like that the film doesnt rely so much on kills as much as other slashers do. The murders drive the plot here and then the rest is built on this quite solid foundation of psychological tension, especially in the strong parent-child bond between Andy and his mom Karen, Andys desperate attempts to convince adults of the situation becoming a quite sobering and harsh reality check. So, a great horror film if you ask me, and kicked off a franchise with more surprising hits then you would expect.

Plasmabeam - Simple yet fun, and the characters all serve a meaningful purpose.

Evilordexdeath - https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c2b5e706.jpg

Bitto - Rating: C-

The movie tries really hard to convince me that the kid could be doing the murders and that it's crazy to think that Chucky is alive. Of course, we live in 2024 and we all know Chucky as a mascot. But even without that...it just seems really obvious, especially with the cold open? Even if you remove that, the clues seem pretty obvious, especially Chucky just...outright admitting that he's a serial killer to the kid after the coworker dies. That said, once Chucky is out and about, it gets good. I really liked the scene of Chucky trying to kill the detective in the car. I feel like if you're going for a "evil mundane object" story, you need to make use of that fact and the car scene feels unique in that aspect. Also...Chucky's trying to take over the kid's body, right? So...why is he trying to kill the kid at the end?

Lightning - Hi, Im Chucky. Wanna play?

One of the most iconic and influential movies of the 80s, spawning a huge franchise of campy horror films, Childs Play is mostly a relatively straight psychological horror for a lot of its runtime, not even fully revealing the living doll until most of the way through the film. It is here that the film is at by far its most effective, when it is playing on that tension of what you cant see. Once Chucky is revealed in a bravura sequence, it does lose a little bit of terror.

There are some great sequences and like Fright Night this is well directed by Tom Holland (not that one, or that one, or that one). I do wish it had kept the mystery going a bit longer, it tips its hand too early with the opening sequence and showing you parts of Chucky moving before the full reveal. Also, all the voodoo parts of this are fairly weird and rooted largely in stereotypes.

For me though the big flaw of this film is something I usually try to not worry too much about in horror movies. This was the only movie on the list where I actually got frustrated with the actions of characters in the movie. Everybody was constantly leaving Chucky unattended despite knowing he was a threat, not aiming for the heart when they knew they had to do that, and not taking the care to fully destroy the doll at the end. It just broke my connection with the movie at a certain point. I dont want to be too harsh though, because the film is genuinely tense in the first half and has some good laughs too like Chucky in the lift. It is just the kind of film thats decent, but you cant help but make it better in your head.

3/5

Karo - A shootout in a toy store leaves a serial murderer mortally wounded, but because this criminal just randomly seems to know black magic, he implants his soul into one of the dolls. A sketchy peddler sells it to an unsuspecting family and much stabby time was had.

Seriously. someone was tasked with making a backstory for an evil doll character and this shit is the best they could come up with? Ugh.

The movie is a dull and predictable affair featuring loads of unconvincing child acting, and some truly shoddy and half-assed writing. Run down abandoned houses generally do not have active gas service, but you do you, script.

All throughout the movie I was like please Chucky just kill the obnoxious kid and generic cop and let this be over. It's just not good, and is emblematic of so many of the problems with 1980's cinema.

Johnbobb - Don't think I don't see what you're doing here, Snake. I know you're gonna say something like "oh, Child's Play is essential to have on an 80s horror list, Chucky is one of the biggest horror icons to come out of the decade and is still relevant 35 years later." But that's not why this movie is here, it's here simply to spite me, the same reason Chucky movies have been in the last two horror lists. I'm on to your game. But joke's on you, the original Child's Play isn't quite as terrible as its sequels. The kid actor is surprisingly not terrible and I do like the general gaslighting paranoia aspect. But I still don't fuck with living dolls

Rockus - Ive never been a huge fan of the Childs Play franchise and probably get more out of them with later installments when they lean more into just how campy the franchise would become. Chucky is still a great villain with a lot of personality though, but his attitude works even more for me in the later films where they can have more fun with it. But one highlight from the first film is you get to see Brad Douriff in it as more than just the voice of Chucky, whom Ive always thought was really underappreciated. An interesting but ultimately kind of novel horror movie, but Im glad they kept making more of them because of how much I like the character.

Seginustemple - This is why you do background checks before teaching high-level voodoo incantations to people. I had the same annoyance with this as I did Fright Night (the other Tom Holland film on the list) which is that it dedicates so much time to the characters failing to convince anyone of the crazy thing that's happening to them, and it comes off as a narratively weak obstacle that drags the story out. I suppose I like my horror to play up the environmental obstacle instead, where the characters can't even waste time with all that 'please won't someone believe me' nonsense because the setting itself cuts off outside communication - arctic base, deep jungle, cabin in the woods, that sort of thing. Anyway, Chucky is certainly an inspired villain with surprisingly intricate animatronics, and Brad Dourif owns the role. I can see the concept being a clever hook in a pre-Seth MacFarlane world, but nowadays the foul-mouthed doll isn't enough to carry the movie for me.