That Time of the Month
Child's Play- Friends 'til the End
By: Brandy S.
So, kids, it's that Time Of The Month again and for this installment, we are going to play with some dolls. When I was a kid, my mom used to work at a video store called Video King. Down at the old VK, you could rent five “old” VHS for $5 for five days. Needless to say, I spent five bucks of my mom's paychecks every five days. The first time I ever saw any of the Child's Play movies, I rented the original three sometime in the mid-90's on a preteen whim. When we got our hands on Curse of Chucky, it had easily been almost 10 years since I had seen all of them, so we decided to have a Child's Play binge before delving into the latest installment in the series. The following is a revisiting of movies 1 through 3 (let's face it, Bride and Seed are fun, but they're basically clown shoes), and how I felt about Curse. This write-up assumes you've seen one through three, with spoilers throughout, and some light spoilers on Curse (but nothing plot-wise).
Child's Play (1988)
The one thing that first drew me into this series was the box art on
this VHS. Whenever my mom didn't have a babysitter, my sisters and I
would hang out in the video store while she was working. I remember
walking the aisles constantly – after I got bored of watching the
same movies over and over – checking out and absorbing every thing
that I could. It took a while for adolescent me to work up the
courage to walk through the horror section. My ten to twelve year
old self was not entirely prepared to really appreciate this movie.
I was about three when it came out, and all I knew when I rented it
was that it was about a doll with a knife. As an adult looking back,
all I could really remember is being scared to death of my toys
wanting to kill me. I had a Cabbage Patch Kid at the time, and was
quickly rid of it after viewing the first movie, casting it into the
closet until the next family garage sale rolled around. I couldn't
remember any details about the movie, only that I was terrified by
it, but couldn't wait to watch the other two VHS I got my hands on.
Revisiting the flick was certainly a blast. The entire opening scene
is just magic. From Brad Dourif's lovely locks, to the amazing way
that Chris Sarandon removes his gloves – it's like a cake, and the
frosting is the explosion of the toy store. It's completely
ridiculous, but when it comes to voodoo I can't really claim to be an
expert. Maybe properly casting an incantation does create an
explosion. Especially some ade due damballa level stuff.
Anyway, long story short, Dourif plays Charles Lee Ray, a.k.a.
Chucky, and transfers his soul into a Good Guy Doll right before he
dies. Just so happens, it's the biggest toy on the market, and this
kid Andy (Vincent) wants nothing more for his birthday. He has Good
Guy pajamas, cereal, everything.
Also, he's about the cutest most innocent kid ever, so when his mom,
Karen (Hicks) buys him the possessed doll as a make-up birthday gift,
you feel pretty bad for him. At first, it's fun and whimsy, the kid
is talking to the doll as if it's alive and actually responding.
Then everything gets real as you see the doll running by in the
background and showing up in places where Andy didn't leave it.
After Chucky offs Maggie (Manoff), Karen's BFF, the same Detective
Mike Norris (Sarandon) who was chasing Ray to his demise is assigned
to the case, and Andy becomes the prime suspect.
As Chucky uses Andy to help him carry out his revenge and quest for a
human body, Karen and Mike are tracking down leads to Maggie's
murder, as she's hellbent on absolving her son. During these
interludes, Chucky blows up his old running mate's house, uses a
voodoo doll to torture his mentor, and ultimately tries to possess
Andy's body. While Chucky doesn't really go
berserk-killing-spree-monster-status and rack up a huge body count,
he is super creepy. Perhaps it's the fact that he's a friggin' doll.
The entire movie leading up to the scene where Karen confronts him
and threatens to throw him in the fire – causing him to finally
react and show himself as what he really is – is so unnerving. The
directing is awesome, with the blurry backgrounds that Chucky runs
through, to his mysteriously disappearing from one room and showing
up in another, that they make him legitimately creepy. However,
nothing is worse than the aforementioned confrontation scene where
good ol' mom discovers Chucky has been operating without any
batteries installed, the puppeteering kicks in, Chucky leaves behind
the doll facade, and starts battling it out with Karen. The first
moment his doll face fades away and we see his real face is
unforgettable.
The execution of such amazing effects really made this movie what it
is. Thinking about a movie that involves a doll with the soul of a
serial killer inside seems like a joke, really, and nothing you
should be able to take seriously. Thankfully, Kevin Yagher is a
mastermind, and his execution of the Good Guy doll cannot be touched.
Every scene that involves Chucky moving – his facial expressions,
his movements – is made totally believable. It doesn't look hokey
or fake at all; the shot where he stands up on John's counter, or
even the intense battles that he's involved in don't let the curtain
slip up. Add to all of this Dourif's spot on voice acting, and
they've managed to make him more than a prop. They've turned him
into a character. That is what makes the creep factor still
effective once Ray ditches the doll disguise and it's
no-holds-barred.
The climax battle scene is artful in how well it plays out. Chucky
is turning human in the doll body, but not totally there yet. He
gets roasted in the fireplace, but it doesn't really slow him down.
As if a moving doll chasing you around your apartment and trying to
possess your son's body isn't scary enough, now he's a charred
possessed doll. Then he gets shot literally to pieces, complete with
amputation of his body parts, and ultimately beheading him. Still,
not enough to stop this little bastard. He still tries to strangle
buddy cop guy until he gets shot in the heart and finally stopped –
for now...
To Be Continued...
