Horror films have been a big part of movie making since its earliest days, nothing is more exciting than going into a movie and letting your imagination run away with implausible horrors that still make you wonder… what if? In the early 1900’s it was Dracula, Nosferatu, Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera, etc. The thought of such villains lurking around in our world could really get our hearts racing. Then mid century the thrills started to change. Terrestrial horrors, demonic plague, and of course end of times. Legends like Vincent Price and Alfred Hitchcock made their way into our imaginations, finding new ways to leave us startled.
Horror movie’s we’re no longer about wolf men and other make belief characters, movies like Psycho made us fear the previously innocent, the sociopaths. After that there were zombies, there were demons, heck there were birds and sharks. Nothing was off limits in the horror genre and as its popularity peaked we saw some of the most memorable films Hollywood has put out. When compared to some of the twisted things we’ve been witness to over the years it’s hard to imagine a 2 foot, red headed doll amongst the pack, but Child’s Play has since spawned several sequels spanning nearly twenty years. Well let’s see just how frightening Chucky is…
Film
The film begins with Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon) in the pursuit of Charles Lee Ray better known to the public as The Lakeshore Strangler (Brad Dourif). Detective Norris takes a shot at Charles and fatally wounds him, but not before he makes his way into a toy store and through a voodoo ritual transfers his soul into a popular Good Guy Doll. The store is then burnt to the ground by a bolt of lightning.
The following morning we are introduced to Andy a young boy celebrating his sixth birthday. He watches a TV commercial for Good Guy Dolls and pleads with his mother Karen (Catherine Hicks) to get one for his birthday. While at work Karen encounters a street peddler who sells her a Good Guy Doll, the very one Charles Lee Ray placed his soul into.
When she gets home she gives Andy his new doll who introduces himself as Chucky via the talking feature in all Good Guy Dolls. That night whilst being babysat by his mother’s friend Maggie, strange things begin to happen and end with Maggie being thrown out the window to her death. At first it is unknown who the killer is and after Andy begins to quote some of the sadistic things Chucky has said it is thought he may be responsible. But through the inevitable turn of events it is revealed that Chucky is in fact alive and back to his sadistic ways and goes on a killing spree whilst trying to get back into a human body.
When we look back into the history of horror films, too many films stand out above and beyond the rest. But when we narrow it down into a more recent (70’s and beyond) cult audience there are only a few that really stick out in my mind. I think of Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Jason Voorhees (Friday The 13th), Michael Meyes (Halloween), and our favorite psychotic doll; Chucky (Child’s Play). No matter how unrealistic and often hilarious this movie can be it’s a clear cut classic. Thinking back to when this movie first came out, I was nearly twenty two years younger than I am now and it scared the hell out of me. I’m not going to lie, I found myself jumping at some of the same places I did back then. Granted I laughed at a lot of them too there’s no denying that Child’s Play is a must watch especially when Halloween rolls around every year.
When I compare Child’s Play to its sequels (with the exception of Child’s Play 2) it truly resembles the downward trend that Hollywood has plagued the horror genre with. To me this film represents a dying era as throughout the 90’s and into present times there are so few memorable horror films, and this is truly among the last of the classics. For those of you that knew this film in the past or are just familiar with its campy sequels (Bride of Chucky, Spawn of Chucky) I really recommend you check out Child’s Play and see where it all started. I can honestly say that this dirty mouthed doll is some of the best remnants of a dying genre.
Video
Presented in 1080p 1.85:1 aspect ratio and encoded in MPEG-4 Child’s Play great looking results. The opening scene had me worried as the picture did look a bit soft; this however was not the case for the rest of the movie. Color and picture clarity were great for most of the picture and the detail on Chucky himself was superb.
The transfer is by no means perfect however. As mentioned earlier softness of the pictures in some shots is noticeable and distracting from an otherwise sharp transfer.
I honestly was not expecting much from this title in terms of quality, but I was taken by surprise on how good this movie actually looked. Fan will be pleased with this effort by MGM as it is surely the best the movie has and probably ever will look.
Audio
MGM has included a 5.1 DTS-HD track and for a horror movie the audio track hits all the right notes creating a dangerous and suspenseful environment. When the movie first started the track did sound a bit muffled, this quickly passed once the gunshots started to fly. Rear channels did a superb job during these high tension moments creating an excellent sound field.
Beside the occasion flat sounding scene I have no serious complaints with what we were given here.
Special Features
We are provided with a decent amount of special features here, unfortunately they are all presented in only 480p.
- Audio Commentary - We are given two audio tracks with this release. The first is with actors Alex Vincent, Catherine Hicks and designer Kevin Yagher. The second commentary with Producer David Kirschner and Screen-writer Don Mancini.
- Evil Comes in Small Packages - This feature should actually the one entitled the making of Child’s Play as it focuses on the film’s production much more than the self titled feature below.
- Building a Nightmare - A feature that focuses on the creation of the doll and the animatronics used to give Chucky his psychotic personality.
- A Monsters Convention - A Q&A with cast and crew during the 2007 Monster Mania Convention.
- The Making of Child’s Play - This feature should be called the making of Chucky as it almost entirely focuses on the creation of the doll. Still this feature is pretty interesting and garners a look. There is some overlap with the “Building a Nightmare” feature
- Photo Gallery
Final Thoughts
I was very pleased to see the release of Child’s Play on Blu-ray as this is one of my favorite horror films, and the movie still holds down as a classic. Fortunately the video and audio are both vast improvements over the latest DVD release. The special features are very entertaining and above the cut, however they are the same as on the latest DVD release. For fans of the film this is a hand’s down purchase.
I need to check this one out again now that it is on Blu!