Child's Play (1988 film)

Did You Know?

• During the initial release, protesters gathered at MGM's main entrance calling for a ban, claiming the film would incite violence in children.
• Producer David Kirschner watched the protest on TV; his office worker Jeffrey Hilton dispersed the group in ten minutes, though Hilton never revealed whether he used a threat or diplomacy.
• The film's director Tom Holland recalled the protest incident in 2023.

Plot

Police Detective Mike Norris chases serial killer Charles Lee Ray, the "Lakeshore Strangler", into a Chicago toy store. Ray's accomplice Eddie Caputo flees, pursued by Norris's partner Jack Santos. Mortally wounded by Norris, Ray uses voodoo to transfer his soul into a Good Guy doll. A lightning strike causes an explosion; Norris finds Ray's body beside the doll.

Widow Karen Barclay cannot afford a Good Guy doll for her six-year-old son Andy, but her friend Maggie tells her a homeless peddler has one. Karen buys it and gives it to Andy, who is captivated by the doll, which calls itself Chucky. While babysitting, Maggie is attacked by the living doll and killed. Norris suspects Andy, but Andy says Chucky did it and that the doll told him its real name is Charles Lee Ray.

Chucky convinces Andy to skip school and take a train to a bad neighborhood, where Chucky kills Caputo in a gas explosion. Police find Andy and consider him a suspect; Karen is told he will be sent to a psychiatric hospital. At home, Karen discovers the doll moves and speaks without batteries. When she threatens to burn it, Chucky attacks her and escapes. Karen tells Norris, but he does not believe her.

Production

Screenwriter Don Mancini first conceived the concept in 1985 while a literature major at UCLA, and wrote the first draft in 1986 while studying film at Columbia University. He was inspired by 1980s consumerism, marketing's effect on children, his father's work as an advertising executive, and the Cabbage Patch riots of 1983. His troubled relationship with his father and his experiences as a gay man led him to center the script on a child with a single mother.

Influences included Cabbage Patch Kids, Trilogy of Terror, Magic, Poltergeist, Freddy Krueger, and the Twilight Zone episode "Living Doll". Director Tom Holland noted that My Buddy dolls influenced Chucky's design; the doll's name was changed from Buddy to Chucky to avoid a lawsuit from Hasbro. Charles Band expressed interest but found the script too expensive for Empire Pictures. David Kirschner, who wanted to make a killer doll film after reading The Dollhouse Murders, agreed to fund it.

He sent Mancini's second draft and his doll drawings to major studios, attracting interest due to the success of An American Tail. United Artists won a bidding war after studio president Tony Thomopoulous and MGM/UA Chairman Lee Rich saw franchise potential.

Release

MGM/UA agreed to release Child's Play after a recut received positive test screenings in Southern California. The studio chose not to release it during Halloween to avoid competition with films like Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, instead moving the date to Veterans Day weekend. The film was heavily promoted for three weeks through television spots targeting 12-to-20-year-olds. It opened on November 9, 1988, in 1,377 theaters, earning $6,583,963 in its opening weekend and $8,002,841 in its first five days, the second-biggest opening of the fall.

It grossed $33,244,684 in the U.S. and Canada and $10,952,000 overseas, totaling $44,196,684 worldwide, making it United Artists' second highest-grossing film of 1988 after Rain Man. The film was released on VHS on April 25, 1989, and on DVD on September 28, 1999, with a full-screen presentation, theatrical trailer, and a "Making Of" booklet. An Australian DVD featured a non-anamorphic widescreen transfer. A 2007 re-release had a lenticular cover.

Reception

Critics, previously dismissive of the slasher genre, praised the film for its distinctive villain, unsettling puppetry, concise storytelling, and death scenes. On Rotten Tomatoes, 64% of 95 surveyed critics gave a positive review, with an average rating of 6.3/10; the consensus calls it a chiller that stands out despite tonal tightrope walking. Metacritic gives a weighted average score of 58 out of 100 from 18 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews.

CinemaScore audiences gave an average grade of B. Roger Ebert awarded 3 out of 4 stars, calling it a cheerfully energetic horror film. Caryn James of The New York Times praised it as a clever, playful thriller with deft wit and swift editing. Variety called it a near-miss, commending Holland's technical skill and the actors' straight faces but finding the novelty unsupported by an interesting story. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times described it as scary yet darkly funny, moving with speed and style.

Dave Kehr of the Chicago Tribune gave 1 out of 4 stars, calling it sickening if not relentlessly stupid. Richard Harrington of The Washington Post noted Holland keeps things moving but found the ending ugly and a rehash of shock movies. Philip Strick of The Monthly Film Bulletin found the plot contrived with ludicrous supernatural gobbledygook but praised the action sequences. Leonard Maltin gave three out of four stars, calling it a scary and clever horror thriller with good special effects.