Child's Play (1988)

Childs Play is a movie which defied expectations and in my opinion has been the best film watched so far on this Halloween challenge. One of the most pivotal points I took away from this film was it's music. Now I may not have a music degree or any real knowledge other than being able to hear but in contrast to Scream and Hocus Pocus the music stood out so much more. It was as if the film makers were intentionally removing dialogue scenes in favour of scenes with spooky background tracks to draw out tension which I would say worked in their favour. It created a good atmosphere that wasn't shown in the other two where the focus was more on the anticipation of something happening than the actual action which for a horror film I feel is something that should be the focus. But that isn't to say there were not moments of action to keep the viewer entertained, there were plenty, but if I am honest the key moments I focused on was the realism.

It may sound obvious that a film about a murderous doll isn't going to be the most realistic but surprisingly that isn't the elements I am thinking of. In fact it is more about the actual humans in the film and their unrealistic character choices. For one if a child told me their toy wanted to watch the news and I said no and put them both to bed, only for the toy to appear back in the living room with the TV miraculously turned into the news I would be leaving. I would phone the parent to come collect the child while I moved half way across the country never to be seen again. Still it is a horror film so it's natural for the characters to act at least a little stupid for the sake of the plot otherwise no film would have ever commenced. However there remains questionable moments based on the world itself. For example, the way in which Maggie dies was insane. You're telling me she got hit with a hammer which sent her tumbling back but then she realised it was a moving doll that hit her and continued to move back so quick and hard that she broke and feel out of the window!

Stumbling back and hitting the window sure but how weak must those apartments be made for her to tumble that easily out of the window. And it wasn't even as though it was a full floor to ceiling window which I suppose could have made more sense but it's from the waist up. So Maggie's torso hit the window so hard she broke through it and flipped outwards. That is some crazy supernatural strength forget the possessed doll. Not to mention her so called best friend, the one she was so close with that she appointed her the aunt of her child, barely showed any emotion of grief for her. The tears were minimal, the frown non existent, it was really giving influencer apology. In the same scene the police officer was also trying to accuse Andy of being the culprit that caused her death. With movie logic I can see why they jumped to that assumption after all he was the only one known to be there but using the footprints as evidence HAS to be a reach. You're telling me a 6 year old has feet small enough to be the same as that dolls. Or alternatively the doll has feet the size of a 6 year old. Either that boy has tiny feet or that doll has massive ones and I'm not sure which one is scarier.

Then there was the whole storyline of Eddie's death. What kind of a time was the 80's that a child was able to leave school both that easily and travel across town by train without having a single person raise an eyebrow. Was it truly that normal for 6 year olds to get a train and travel alone why was not one person looking curiously. If that happened now the child's mother would have been rang the moment the school wasn't contacted of any absences to enquire where he was. Which means Karen would have been out and searching for Andy within minutes. Focusing on the death itself I am yet to understand why the building exploded. It has gotten to the point where I am truly beginning to question my knowledge of the world because I understand how the gas and gun would have created a boom but enough to bring down an entire building? A very large fire, yes. Enough to blow off the room doors and blast the windows and ceiling, sure. But the second Eddie shot his gun the entire brick house crumbled including the roof so once again I am questioning how well made these buildings were made.

Moving onto the largest portion of the post: Chucky himself. I genuinely do not think I could give you a straight answer between if I loved his character or hated him. I will say the writers are to be commended because at no point did I guess how the doll was going to get possessed. Before starting the film I had the idea that it would come about during a manufacturing error and the doll would simply be made that way. However after the film opened with a chase scene and seeing Charles curse Eddie with revenge I was sure it was going to be a Five Nights at Freddie's moment where his soul would just possess one of the dolls that surrounding him. But introducing magic as an unavoidable form was never a route I pictured them taking. All kudos to the writers for originality because apparently I had no clue what was happening. Progressing from that I did enjoy how the Chucky doll itself was based on a popular kids cartoon and not just a random toy as I had thought. Though that did make me wonder what the mascots real name is. I know the common name is Chucky but the officers said Chucky was the name that Charles would use so if that is were it came from what was the original name of the 'good guys' doll. Was it just good guy? Maybe it's revealed in one of the many other movies or perhaps someone could tell me.

I also really enjoyed the physical doll animations. The creators did a great job at drawing out suspense because from the first point of view shot we got from Chucky I was begging to see how he walked and was not disappointed when it was finally revealed. I was expecting to see a really clunky puppet that makes it obvious it was a doll and takes away from the movie experience however it was made quite seamless. I'm sure if I really wanted to analyse it and look for errors I could find them with ease but that's not what I wanted to do, I was simply experiencing the film the way it was presented and each movement although a little slow was impressive. Especially when I was picturing a literal wind up robot doll. The only inconvenience I would say I had with the movements is that he seemed to do everything he wanted despite being a literal doll. I was hoping for a short moment when Chucky goes to grab his knife but it's slid in a position where he can't reach it because he has tiny plastic arms but that time never comes. I will say that was a minor flaw I simply would have enjoyed and the use of having the hairline recede over time as he became more human all but makes up for it.

Speaking of which the magic of how Charles took control of the doll is something I didn't like. The lore of having Charles learn about avoiding death prior to this incident was something I was glad for and thankful they didn't just randomly feel the urge to say those words. However the concept of becoming human didn't make sense to me. So you're telling me that in theory if Charles remained in that form unharmed he would become human again, as in a child again? Because the good guys doll is a doll version of a young boy I assume which means would he not have just become another child that just so happens to look like the dolls or would he becomes a smaller version of himself in human form? If it is the first it is a confusing element of the spell to have but I do enjoy the irony of if he had just given up on revenge and being evil he would have gotten his chance to live like a child again without even needing to kill Adam. Thinking of Adam, I also wasn't a fan of the idea that it had to be him who was sacrificed because he was the first to know that it was really Charles in the doll. I have nothing else to say other than why. It was just such a peculiar condition to add to the spell that I have no assumption I can make for why.

The final point I have on Chucky is how he died. Through watching these Halloween films I am beginning to learn more about myself because I once again I found myself rooting for some unusual choices. Like how I was pleading for Adam to be the killer. In the end it was Adam who set Chucky on fire which was an iconic scene and he slayed the final line 'this is the end, friend' which I was thankful for because until then he was moderately monotone. Yet that wasn't the last straw to end Chucky nor was it as powerful for my liking. Instead I wished that the creators had allowed Adam to be the one to officially shoot Chucky through his heart and kill him. Give this six year old a gun he can handle it. It would have also made the line 'this is the end, friend' so much more powerful and badass but they didn't which felt like a missed opportunity. Instead it took two adults to shoot him and even then I don't understand why it took them both. Karen shot him in the back, where his heart would be, the only difference being she did so while he was lying in his stomach but it still would have hit the same end point. And yet it wasn't until Mike shot him in the front through his chest that he met his end. Which to me just reads as misogyny because god forbid a women get the final kill.

In conclusion Child's Play (1988) left me with a lot of questions in terms of lore and realism, but it is all questions I can ignore if I want a film to watch. It doesn't put me in the typical Halloween spirit and yet I can see myself watching it again. In fact I am quite interested in watching the following sequels and see what happens next. Once again the music was great for building suspense and while it ended very abruptly for my liking I did really enjoy it. For that reason I have rated this film much higher and have only one random thought to leave with you all.

Was Toy story inspired by Child's Play? Both have a child named Andy who have toys that can move and talk and come to life.