Child's Play

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Child's Play

R

1988

1h 27m

Horror

Fantasy

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

65%

Tomatometer

96 Reviews

66%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

Gunned down by Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon), dying murderer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) uses black magic to put his soul inside a doll named Chucky -- which Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks) then buys for her young son, Andy (Alex Vincent). When Chucky kills Andy's babysitter, the boy realizes the doll is alive and tries to warn people, but he's institutionalized. Now Karen must convince the detective of the murderous doll's intentions, before Andy becomes Chucky's next victim.

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Critics Consensus

Child's Play occasionally stumbles across its tonal tightrope of comedy and horror, but its genuinely creepy monster and some deft direction by Tom Holland makes this chiller stand out on the shelf.

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Donna Britt

USA Today

Jun 6, 2025

Unfortunately, [Child's] Play isn't campy or fun, either. It's not much of anything at all.

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Harper Barnes

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Jun 6, 2025

Has the marks of a cult horror hit.

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Jay Carr

Boston Globe

Jun 5, 2025

Child's Play is junk fun.

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Jack E. Wilkinson

United Press International

Jun 12, 2026

A well-done thriller with some pretty good jolts along the way.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Nov 17, 2025

3/4

A fast-paced horror flick that benefits from fine performances and excellent visual effects.

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David Day

Horror Movie Talk

Aug 11, 2025

7/10

Well, considering that this is the movie that started one of the five most iconic slasher series of all time, I think it’s safe to say that if you enjoy slashers this is for you.

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Jhonathan

Mar 6, 2023

Amazing movie highly recommend it

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Neil

Mar 6, 2023

Classic mix of funny and sinister

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Jacob W

Oct 14, 2022

A horror classic that goes too disturbingly dark with the spiritual at times, but delivers an original and entertaining film. Particularly enjoyable are the special effects, whether Chucky is played by a costumed actor or animated by impressive animatronics. The original in the famed killer doll series is still the best. Brad Dourif brings life to the character and becomes Chucky from the get go. This was the good old days when the character was supposed to be dark and scary instead of being half comedy, and when the good guys were pure and prevailed over the evil villain in the end.

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Daniel Pimienta

Oct 12, 2022

Massive fan of Chucky. Was awesome watching the original in a packed theatre.

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Teddy B

@RT90521672 6 days ago

A lean, mean and intelligent little movie. 'Child's Play' uses the simplicity of its premise and plot as a jumping-off-point for some welcome inventiveness and tense, well-constructed sequences. Not only are Chucky's special effects impressive and convincing, but Dourif's performance imbues this tiny terror with some real personality and bite that is very entertaining to watch, without completely lapsing into clownhood.

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Bret M

@BretM-3 6 days ago

I finally got to fill in another gap on the slasher bingo card! I’ve heard mixed opinions on the Child’s Play franchise as a whole, but most people really like this first movie. And I can proudly say that I also dug this movie! For starters, I really liked Chucky in and of himself. He had a cool personality, and I liked seeing his resourcefulness. I also thought our main human characters were enjoyable and easy to pull for. And I loved a lot of Chucky’s kills. Being a doll that’s smaller than all his victims, he doesn’t have the ability to hold back or pull his punches, which makes for some awesome, bloody kills. Overall, this is a classic that every fan of horror and specifically slashers need to watch! Child’s Play definitely gets my seal of approval!

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Tom Holland

Director

Catherine Hicks

Karen Barclay

Chris Sarandon

Mike Norris

Alex Vincent

Andy Barclay

Brad Dourif

Charles Lee Ray

Dinah Manoff

Maggie Peterson

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Synopsis

Gunned down by Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon), dying murderer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) uses black magic to put his soul inside a doll named Chucky -- which Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks) then buys for her young son, Andy (Alex Vincent). When Chucky kills Andy's babysitter, the boy realizes the doll is alive and tries to warn people, but he's institutionalized. Now Karen must convince the detective of the murderous doll's intentions, before Andy becomes Chucky's next victim.

Director: Tom Holland
Producer: David Kirschner
Screenwriter: Don Mancini, John Lafia, Tom Holland
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: United Artists
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 9, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $32.8M
Runtime: 1h 27m
Sound Mix: Surround

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