Child’s Play

‘Child’s Play’ has some genuinely scary scenes, but some of them are a bit disturbing. The story is like a twisted Pinocchio tale. Serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) is shot and mortally wounded while in a toy store. So, what can he do before the cops nab him, He uses some kind of voodoo magic to transfer his soul into a “Good Guys” doll. Naturally, the doll ends up in the hands of an innocent child, Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent).

This is where the disturbing aspects of the movie come into play. When Andy’s babysitter (Dinah Manoff) is pushed out a window, the police think the child did it! At every turn, the doll (known as Chucky) only reveals himself to Andy, and he gets the boy to help him with a number of crimes. The authorities aren’t sure whether Andy is insane or whether he is a killer. His mother (Catherine Hicks) begins to suspect the truth.

Of course, trying to convince anyone else is nearly impossible. In general, anyone who sees Chunky dies, and it always looks like Andy is responsible. Here again is a rather disturbing aspect to the story. Finally, Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon), the cop who was chasing Charles, comes to believe in Chucky, and joins the fight to destroy him. This is yet another weak aspect to the film. We get the classic you-think-the-killer’s-dead-but-then-he-comes-back-to-life routine. The thing is, we get it several times, and it gets quite tiresome. Still, the film has enough good frights that you can enjoy it; just don’t let the kids watch. They’ll never want to touch another doll again.