Child's Play
is a 1988 American horror film written by Don Mancini and directed by Tom Holland. It was released on November 9, 1988. The film met with moderate success upon its release, and has since developed a cult following among fans of the horror genre. The film is the first in the Child's Play
film series, which was originally a whodunit film in contrast to the latter sequels. This was the only film in the series released by MGM/UA, as the rights to the series were sold to Universal beginning with the sequel.
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CHILDSPLAY TICKETS
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Plot
{{#ifexist:Category:Wikipedia articles with plot summary needing attention from August 2009
The story begins on November 9, 1988 in
Chicago,
Illinois. While being chased by
Detective Mike Norris, Charles Lee Ray ("
Chucky"), the notorious "Lakeshore Strangler", is shot and mortally wounded by Norris. Before dying, Charles takes cover inside a toy-store finding boxes of Good Guy dolls, and uses a
voodoo ritual that will transfer his soul into one of the dolls. The store is then struck by
lightning, and it burns to the ground.
Later that morning, young
Andy Barclay and his widowed mother, Karen Barclay, are introduced to the audience. It is Andy's sixth birthday and he wants a Good Guy doll he has seen in television commercials. His mother buys the doll from a street peddler. This is the same doll to which Ray had earlier transferred his soul.
That night, as Andy is playing with the doll (who's revealed himself as Chucky via the talking feature of the doll), Karen's sister Maggie, who is
babysitting, scolds Andy for turning on the evening news and placing Chucky in front of the TV. The audience then sees a first-person perspective of someone striking Maggie with a
hammer. She falls out of the apartment window, tumbling several stories to her death. The killer's identity (yet unrevealed to the viewers) is left ambiguous. Andy, when questioned, insists that Chucky has revealed himself to be alive and that he killed Maggie, though he defends Chucky's decision by stating that Chucky told him "Maggie was a real bitch" and that she "got what she deserved."
The next day, Andy, apparently upon Chucky's request, visits the house of Eddie Caputo, Chucky's accomplice who had betrayed him which led him to his death. As Andy pees outside of the house, Chucky is revealed as being alive. He sneaks into Eddie's house and blows out the pilot light on the stove and turns up the gas; Eddie, in panicked self-defense, fires his gun and the house explodes, killing him.
Later, authorities place Andy in a
psychiatric ward for the criminally insane after he is found near the crime scene and suspected for murders. Karen believes the doll to be the culprit after she realizes that his batteries had never been put in, and she threatens to throw him into the
fireplace unless he reveals himself to her. Chucky comes alive in her hands, bites her and runs out of the apartment. She contacts Mike Norris, who is now investigating Maggie's death. Although he initially doubts her story, the homeless man who sold Karen the doll confirms that he retrieved it from the burnt down toy store where Charles Lee Ray was killed. Norris becomes a firm believer after he is attacked by Chucky in his car and survives only by shooting the doll.
Chucky later meets with John (credited as Dr. Death), his voodoo instructor from years past, and asks why his gunshot wound bled. John, under torture via voodoo doll, informs him that his body is slowly conforming to that of a human's, and that he will soon be trapped in the body if he does not transfer his soul into the body of the first person he revealed himself to, which is Andy. Offhandedly remarking that he will "get to be six years old again," Chucky stabs a voodoo doll in the chest and leaves John to die. Karen and Detective Norris, following leads from Charles Lee Ray's case file, find John as he lay dying and receive instructions on how to kill Chucky; although Chucky is a doll, his heart is fully human and vulnerable to fatal injury.
Andy escapes from the psychiatric unit and Chucky brutally kills the head doctor (a cameo appearance by
Jack Colvin) in the process. The authorities believed Andy killed the doctor while escaping. Mike and Karen rush back to the apartment hoping that Andy is there. Chucky reaches the apartment where Andy is and knocks him unconscious with a baseball bat to steal his soul. After a prolonged struggle, Chucky is thrown into the fireplace and as Andy prepares to light him on fire. Chucky says, "Andy, no, please! We're friends to the end, remember?" Andy replies, "This is the end, friend!" and throws the match in the fireplace. Andy and Karen, thinking Chucky is dead, go to help the injured Mike Norris. After Andy gets the first aid kit from under the sink, he discovers Chucky is gone. Very burnt but alive, Chucky chases after Andy and Karen; Karen shoots him several times, missing his heart, but scattering his head, an arm, and a leg in the hallway. After Norris' partner arrives, the scattered doll parts attempt to attack at the instructions of Chucky's screaming, severed head, but Norris finally shoots Chucky in the heart, rendering Chucky dead. As Norris, his partner, and Mrs. Barclay walk out (with Andy in hand) of the room, Andy turns to look at Chucky one last time before leaving.
Casting
- Chris Sarandon as Detective Mike Norris
: The male protagonist; a police detective and Chucky's killer
- Catherine Hicks as Karen Barcley
: The Female protagonist, the mother of a young boy tormenteed by murderous killer doll, Chucky.
- Alex Vincent as Andy Barclay
: A little boy being framed for Chucky's murders
- Brad Dourif as Charles Lee Ray / voice of Chucky
: The main antagonist; a Chicago's Most Wanted who places his soul in a Good Guy doll
- Dinah Manoff as Maggie Peterson
: Karen's friend and Chucky's first victim
- Jack Colvin as Dr. Ardmore
: A psychiatrist from a criminally insane ward
- Tommy Swerdlow as Jack Santos
: Mike Norris's Partner And Chucky's Enemies
- Neil Giuntoli as Eddie Caputo
: Charles Ray's Partner And Chucky's second victim
- Juan Ramirez as Peddler
: A homeless man who discovers Chucky and sold it to Karen.
Production
Child's Play
was filmed at the following locations:
- Chicago, Illinois (on location) The Chicago landmark the Brewster Apartments located at Diversey and Pine Grove served as the location of the apartment where Andy and Karen lived. It is pictured on the movie poster. Silent film star Charlie Chaplin occupied the penthouse of this building when he lived in Chicago.
- Culver City, California (in studio)
Writing
It is rumored that the "Good Guy Dolls" were based on the
My Buddy dolls created by
Hasbro. However, during an airing of the movie on the morning of 7 January 2007, AMC claimed the creator modeled the doll after the
Cabbage Patch Kids. This was confirmed by an interview with the creator,
Don Mancini, which was featured on the
Seed of Chucky
DVD. Don Mancini has stated that his original script, which was a
whodunit story, toyed with the audience a bit longer, making them wonder if young Andy was the killer rather than Chucky. The actual film does make the viewer wonder for more than a few minutes, although it grows increasingly obvious that Chucky is the murderer.
Chucky's full name, Charles Lee Ray, is derived from the names of notorious killers
Charles Manson,
Lee Harvey Oswald and
James Earl Ray. Maggie's death was originally going to be by electrocution while taking a bath. The idea was later used in
Bride of Chucky.
Box office/Reception
Child's Play
had a budget worth $9,000,000 and was released in 1,377 theaters, having an opening weekend of $6,583,963. The domestic gross was $33,244,684 with it making $10,952,000 overseas. Worldwide, the film made $44,196,684 and was #1 at the box office.
Critical reviews were very positive, with Roger Ebert calling it "an effective horror film." The film earned a 70% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Areas of the film that were commonly praised were the original concept, the special effects (which were at the time effective) and the acting. The young Alex Vincent, who played Andy Barclay, was said to have played a generally convincing role as a terrified boy. Brad Dourif, however, was singled out for his creepy and realistic voice-acting of Chucky.
Promotion
Soundtrack listing
#"
Chucky's Animated Theme" by
Mike Piccirillo
#"
I'm Hanging" by
D.B Boyle
#"
Is It Really Love" by Michael Lanning
#"
Grass" by
African Suite
#"
Second Sight" by
David Darling
#
- Dramatic Music - Score"
Joe Renzetti
Comics
It has been adapted in comics a couple of times:
- Innovation Publishing released a mini-series in early 2009.
- In the Spring of 2007, a comic book series which features Chucky was released by Devil's Due Publishing. [1] The series is written by Brian Pulido, the creator of Evil Ernie and Lady Death.
DVD releases
The film was first released on DVD by
MGM in
1999. The film was presented in an open-matte full screen presentation and included a theatrical trailer and a "Making Of" booklet. However the Australian DVD release by MGM featured the film in non anamorphic widescreen transfer. The DVD was re-released in
2007 with a lenticular cover.
A 20th Anniversary DVD was released by
MGM and
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on
September 9,
2008. The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 Widescreen format (for the first time in the U.S. in 20 years) enhanced for 16x9 monitors and includes an English 5.1 surround track and English, French, and Spanish 2.0 surround tracks. Special features include two audio commentaries with Alex Vincent, Catherine Hicks, Kevin Yagher, producer David Kirschner and screenwriter Don Mancini, a "Selected Scene Chucky Commentary," "Evil Comes in Small Packages" featurettes, a vintage featurette titled "Introducing Chucky: The Making of Child's Play," and "Chucky: Building A Nightmare" featurette, Theatrical Trailer and a Photo Gallery. The film is currently scheduled for a Blu-Ray Disc release on September 15, 2009.
References
- http://www.devilsdue.net/chucky