Media

Movie Renter's Guide - November, 2009

"Child's Play" (Blu-ray) - Reviewed by Stephen Hornbrook

Synopsis

From the start, there is a gun fight and chase that ends up in a toy store. One of the men, Charles Ray, grabs a Good Guy (Chucky) doll and performs some sort of voodoo magic chant that seems to fuse himself into the doll. Ah the magic of lightning! So many magical powers. Then it's off to the Barclay's house were it's Andy's birthday. He gets awesome clothes for his birthday! Yeah!! Poor guy just wants a Good Guy doll. Fortunately his mom scores one in a shady alley from a homeless guy. Chucky's tomfoolery begins quickly as he manages to turn the tv on to see the 9 o'clock news. He then decides to take care of the babysitter. The police of course expect Andy, since a killer doll is pretty hard to believe.

Andy seems like a pretty crazy kid since Chucky only talks to him. Chucky uses Andy to help him commit several murders. The only way back to a normal life for Charles "the Lakeshore Strangler" (Chucky), is to fuse himself into Andy's body. What ever will Andy do?? He's doomed!

 

Commentary

This was my first time watching the "horror classic" Child's Play. The actor playing Andy (Alex Vincent) reminded me of the incredibly talented Jake Lloyd in The Phantom Menace. That's not a good thing. I did enjoy the use of first person perspective for a view from Chucky's world. It's interesting how horror movies have changed through the years. This was a nice change of pace from the gruesome Saw-esque movies. Fan's of these 80's horror movies should not miss out on this release.

Technical

For a movie made in 1988, the video quality is very good. Excellent film-like quality to it. Colors are rich and accurate. Lots of detail in every scene. Quite a bit of film grain but I'd take that anyday over the fake look of too much digital noise reduction.

Pretty good audio for a movie of this age. Dialoge was a bit tinny and empty, but that's to be expected or a movie of this age. The soundtrack has great atomsphere and fidelity, i was quite surprised. Don't expect the wiz-bang surround effects of today's movie's with this soundtrack, but they are pretty good none-the-less.

Extras

Audio Commentary with Alex Vincent, Catherine Hicks, and Chucky designer Kevin Yagher, Audio Commentary with producer David Kirschner and screenwriter Don Mancini, Scene-specific Chucky commentaries, Evil Comes in Small Packages 3 Featurettes: The Birth of Chucky, Creating the Horror, Unleashed, Chucky: Building a Nightmare Featurette, A Monster Convention Featurette, Introducing Chucky: The Making of Child's Play Vintage Featurette, Original Theatrical Trailer, Still Photo Gallery