Child's Play (1988)
Average Rating: 6.2/10
Reviews Counted: 28
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 9
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6.2/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.9/5
User Ratings: 245,445
My Rating
Movie Info
Child's Play seems to have been concocted by a parent who went berserk after standing in line for hours on end to purchase a Cabbage Patch doll in the early 1980s. The film opens with serial killer Brad Dourif taking refuge in a doll factory. Dourif is killed by the cops, but not before he has invoked a voodoo curse which transfers his soul into one of the dolls. That particular doll, nicknamed Chuckie, is unwittingly purchased by Catherine Hicks for her son Alex Vincent. Several murders occur
Nov 9, 1988 Wide
Aug 14, 2001
United Artists
Watch It Now
Cast
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Catherine Hicks
Karen Barclay -
Chris Sarandon
Det. Mike Norris -
Alex Vincent
Andy Barclay -
Brad Dourif
Charles Lee Ray -
Dinah Manoff
Maggie Peterson -
Tommy Swerdlow
Jack Santos -
Jack Colvin
Dr. Ardmore -
Roslyn Alexander
Lucy -
John Franklin
Walkabout Chucky -
Ed Gale
Chucky -
Neil Giuntoli
Eddie Caputo -
Edan Gross
Friendly Chucky -
Ted Liss
George -
Juan Ramírez
Peddler -
Alan Wilder
Mr. Criswell -
Michael Chavez
Bellevue Patient -
Aaron Osborne
Orderly -
Michael Patrick Carter
Kid in Animated Commerc... -
Raymond Oliver
Dr. Death
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All Critics (28) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (23) | Rotten (10) | DVD (17)
Fun withers in stretching the thin material to feature length.
Holland's sure handling of the suspense and shock moments lends the film a sharp and scary edge.
Top Critic[A] clever, playful thriller.
Director Tom Holland keeps things moving without rushing them. Unfortunately, Child's Play gets a little ugly at the end.
Child's Play is a cheerfully energetic horror film of the slam-bang school, but slicker and more clever than most.
The things that redeem the film, at least slightly, are Dourif's nasty, insinuating vocal performance and Kevin Yagher's design of the Chucky doll itself.
Dumb-scary horror character plays well for teens.
It's nothing wildly original, but it is pacey and entertaining when it gets going.
It does, however, have some decent scares, a lot of good lines and a memorable villain.
Is anyone ever going to make a really good movie about toys coming to life to kill people?
With humor taking a backseat to good, old-fashioned suspense, Child's Play is an impressive horror highlight of the late-'80s film scene.
'Child's Play' is one of the scariest movies ever.
Insidiously effective.
The 20th Anniversary edition DVD is the one to get - it's a toybox full of brand new extras!
While the sequels may have gotten progressively more campy, I'm pleased to note that the original Child's Play holds up just as well as I'd hoped. (And the new DVD rocks.)
really two movies in one: an effective, genuinely creepy build-up to what turns out to be a schlocky and intentionally comedic horrorshow
I'm sure Child's Play was far from the only film of its era sold as one of the great scareshows of all time.
It took Don Mancini 10 years to bring the Chucky franchise to its current **** glory, but the original Child's Play is pretty ***.
Even after twenty years, Child's Play shows no ring rust. The little flick plays just as well now as it did in its heyday.
An inadvertently silly but effective shocker. Director Tom Holland definitely knows how to spin a scary yarn.
classic horror
Audience Reviews for Child's Play
Super Reviewer
Child's play is one of those movies that the acting is nowhere near perfect in a horror movie such as in "Psycho," but I would come to expect worse from a movie involving a doll that kills people
But overall the best performance, like in most slasher films, is the slasher in general, Brad Dourif as Chucky. Dourif does a magnificent job at making Chucky both a hysterical character and even a tad creepy character. The other actors do decent jobs as well. The child who plays Danny does a good job and Catherine Hicks does a decent job as well as Danny's mother who's trying to cope with all this chaos going on. Chris Sarandon does a exceptionally good job, which you may remember Sarandon from Fright Night and Nightmare before Christmas. Overall, decently acted but nothing spectacular.
Child's play is pretty light on effects for a horror movie but when that doll comes to life the effects actually look pretty decent, and by that I mean two levels up from a Muppet. The effects do look cheesy compared to the movies now but the effects make the film enjoyable and at least pleasing to sit through and even after the doll is burned up the effect looks pretty good, especially when parts of him start coming off. Even if it was meant to be scary or not.
Overall Child's play may not be one of the best horror movies I've seen and it definitely is goofy compared to a lot of other horror movies at the time, but it does a decent job at setting up the story early on and the acting is pretty good for a movie with this goofy of a premise. While this film does fail bad at trying to be scary it at least is enjoyable and entertaining for any fan of these kind of films. So overall I'd give this movie a watch if you have the time for a cheesy but enjoyable film, even if it isn't that scary.
Super Reviewer
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- Charles Lee Ray: Oh god I'm dying.
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- Chucky: Well, John, it's been fun, but I gotta go. I have a date with six-year-old boy...
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- Karen Barclay: I said talk to me, damn it. Or else I'll throw you in the fire. [Chucky comes alive]
- Chucky: You stupid bitch! You filthy slut! I'll teach you to fuck with me!
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- Chucky: It hurt. It hurt like a son of a bitch, it even bled!
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- Chucky: Fuck you.
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- Chucky: Hi Mikey!
Discussion Forum
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Latest News on Child's Play
March 29, 2012:
Fifth Child's Play Still in the WorksBrad Dourif says he's involved in the next sequel, which promises a scarier Chucky.
March 25, 2011:
MGM Plans Child's Play RebootRemake-hungry MGM isn't satisfied with developing new versions of "RoboCop," "Poltergeist," and "Mr....
September 9, 2008:
Child's Play Partners Look Back, Discuss RemakeA brand new 20th anniversary edition of "Child's Play" hits store shelves today; to celebrate, Don...
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Foreign Titles
- Chucky - die Mörderpuppe (DE)
- Jeu d'enfant (FR)
