Child's Play (DVD)

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The original "Child´s Play" is not a terribly bad film. It has earned a cult following and the low budget horror film has enough of an appeal that Don Mancini´s creation isn´t a bad way to pass the time if you are looking for some classic frights. Unfortunately, the film spawned a series of far inferior and barely watchable sequels that has diminished the appeal of "Child´s Play." November 9th, 2008 will mark the film´s twentieth anniversary and while the special effects and scary moments showcased in "Child´s Play" have not aged well, the familiar story of a voodoo possessed doll seeing revenge against the police officer that killed the man who now possess the Good Guy doll. Anytime a film still can hold an audience twenty years after its release suggests there is something worthwhile about a film and "Child´s Play" has its share of moments.

The film begins with detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon) gunning down the "Lakeshore Strangler" Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif). Before he dies, Ray uses his knowledge of voodoo to conjure up some lightning bolts and transfer his own soul into the body of a doll that is combination of the My Buddy and Cabbage Patch toys from the days when I grew up. This first scene is the only time that entertaining Brad Dourif has actual screen time before he becomes a voice actor for the infamous Chucky doll. Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks) is a single mother who works hard to support her son Andy (Alex Vincent) and for Andy´s birthday she buys the Chucky doll from a homeless man and gives the possessed doll to her son. Soon, murders start to occur around Andy and he is the primary witness, but declares that his doll is responsible. The rest of the story should be familiar to those that have followed Chucky for twenty years.

When you compare "Child´s Play" against other franchise films "Nightmare on Elm Street," "Friday the 13th," "Halloween" and "The Evil Dead," this picture doesn´t pack nearly as many frights, laughs or moments. I would argue that "Child´s Play" is in the next tear of cultish horror pictures, but some will disagree. The antagonists of those pictures are far more memorable, with the exception of "Evil Dead" which is beloved for its protagonist. Chucky does not come across as a complete badass villain like Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers. His height and primitive animation hold him back, but actor Brad Dourif can easily compete with the work done by Robert Englund as Freddy.

The "Child´s Play" franchise went astray with its four sequels. The series continues to deliver a little profit, but none of the far inferior follow-ups have matched the success of the original. In adjusted dollars, the first film is still the more profitable and quality has a lot to do with it. "Child´s Play 2" and "Child´s Play 3" follows the same characters from the first film and horribly mangles the story created for the first film. The final two films "Bride of Chucky" and "Seed of Chucky" injects Jennifer Tilly and a son for Chucky in what could be considered an almost criminal act of capitalizing on a cult film. I point out the sequels because you should avoid them and just remember Chucky for his appearance in this first film.

"Child´s Play" is a fun film and I can remember a time when the movie was released. I was fifteen at the time and was not able to hit the theaters to see the film because I didn´t have a driver´s license and the film was rated R. However, the beauty of the VHS cassette allowed me to rent the film and my same-age nephew Don and I enjoyed the film tremendously. Even at the tender young age of fifteen I didn´t think that "Child´s Play" was a scary film and found myself laughing heartedly when Chucky was burning and continuing his murderous rampage. Watching something that reminded me of My Buddy going on a bloody assault on the babysitter was just too fun to be scary and although many consider "Child´s Play" to be a very creepy and scary adventure, I will always remember it as a guilty pleasure.

Watching the film again and for the first time on DVD I can still laugh and enjoy the Tom Holland directed film. Much of the allure of "Child´s Play" is in the early animatronic doll and the voice work provided for Chucky by character actor Brad Dourif, who found fame with "One Flew Over the Cuckoo´s Nest." In modern times, the motions and movements of the doll are often hokey, but Dourif´s soul shines through in the performance and the film does partially succeed in making a doll a full-fledged character. Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent and top bill Catherine Hicks deliver performances fitting of a B-Movie and I can imagine it was difficult acting against a doll. I´ll never find anything in the film that is remotely frightening, but "Child´s Play" does hold a certain amount of entertainment value.


Video:

I was very pleased with the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation of "Child´s Play." I had not seen the film previously on DVD and only watched its lesser spawn on either DVD or HD-DVD and while this film looks far more dated than any of the more recent pictures; it looks quite good considering its age and original budget. The film possesses a thin sheen of film grain throughout, but the level of detail is more than adequate and while the palette reeks of the late Eighties, the colors have held up fairly well with natural skin tones and decent blacks. The source materials are surprisingly clean and I may have paid witness to one flaw in the original print that I can recollect. The film does look dated and while my only previous experience was on VHS, it looks very good compared to other films of its vintage.