When Charles Lee Ray needs to get quick escape from cop Mike Norris he takes his soul and buries it into playful seemingly good guy doll Chucky. Little does he know a little boy by the name of Andy Barclay will be the new owner of him soon-to-come. Charles confides in Andy while he commits numerous murders. Once the adults accept Andys story as truth its too late.
Review
When people nowadays think of Chucky the living doll they think of the foul mouthed psycho doll complete with body modifications and a punky bride in a movie filled with funny one liners and black humor. However when Chucky came to life almost 20 years ago he was a real thrill that redefined the horror genre of the late 80s and spawned a series of imitators (some better than others).
Director Tom Holland crafts this very original tale written by Don Mancini where a dying sociopath (Brad Douriff) uses voodoo to transplant his soul to an inanimate toy. Catherine Hicks plays Karen Barclay a single mother who gets the possessed toy for her little son Andy (Alex Vincent) not knowing what is hidden deep inside the doll.
Despite its apparent cheesiness Holland truly creates a haunting atmosphere filled with suspense by following the trick Steven Spielberg used in "Jaws". While we know from the very beginning that the toy is haunted we never get a glimpse of what he can do and neither does the characters only the young Andy knows the truth but nobody believes him.
Unlike its current MTVinspired incarnations "Childs Play" starts a bit slow but suddenly it turns into a suspensefilled rollercoaster with enough thrills to keep you at the edge of the seat. Holland directions truly makes the difference between a cheap Bmovie and the classy film this one has become.
Brad Dourif makes a superb job and this movie started his nowlegendary career in the genre. Catherine Hicks is a very good lead character surprisingly realistic thanks in part to the very wellwritten dialog. Chris Sarandon completes the cast as the detective investigating the mysterious murders surrounding Chucky and Andy.
The movie moves at a very good pace despite its slow start it has that 80s feeling and it is surprisingly violent for its time (it was released when rules were turning a bit stricter). It has great special effects and a very creepy atmosphere inside its urban landscape.
While many reviewers consider a flaw the fact that Chuckys possession is not a mystery I believe that a lot of the suspense is in the fact that we know that but the characters dont. It is a very well constructed film in the end and definitely better than its current sequels. 810