Child's Play

A pretty decent new version of Chucky. Chucky was never one of my favourite horror properties, so I approached the film more coldly, but in the end a nice surprise. Chucky's Design didn't do much, but the main characters did a good job. I enjoyed the cop, there was some humour and surprisingl it's nicely brutal, at least the scene with the lawnmower and saw is worth it. It's a shame the finale didn't push things further, but still on the whole a satisfying flick. 65%. (17.09.2019)

Thirteen-year-old Andy has a new toy, a supermodern doll called Chucky. And Chucky's a little broken, so he starts killing people to make Andy happy. This new version of the horror classic doesn't scare too much, but it entertains with comic brutality, decent actors and a Stranger Things-style atmosphere. Nothing great, but as a horror one-off, the new Child's Play holds up. (27.07.2019)

Can the Chucky doll be taken seriously? I don’t think so. And even though the film tries to milk the audience’s emotions and convey some sort of moral message, it is still a remake of a horror classics that doesn’t deserve more than three stars. On the contrary, three stars might be more than enough here. Moreover, the movie tries to copy the atmosphere of Stranger Things or It, but doesn’t really succeed in doing so. (11.12.2019)

It would be naïve to want something from a remake of Child’s Play today. The 1980s, which sustained a similar theme, are long gone. However, the fact that this didn’t turn out to be an outright disaster deserves praise. The upgrade of the theme with the doll’s connection via a mobile telephone and the misuse of artificial intelligence hits the mark in our current era and despite the fact that Chucky’s sorcery goes beyond all limits of technological logic in later scenes, it works effectively. It’s not possible to see this as a horror movie (unless you’re eight), which the film itself is aware of, and even its cruelest scene is lightened up with ironic humor. The visage of Chucky with glowing red eyes (when he’s being evil) is cool, and his gradual descent into violence is depicted well. These are the movie’s best passages. Conversely, the “spectacular” climax, which is supposed to give the original, more intimate plot development a good kick, hinders the movie with hackneyed and not very imaginative moments. The screenwriter should have given it more time to crystalize in his mind. (05.01.2022)

The Child’s Play brand is unnecessarily applied to this film, but I really like this technological update. And when it comes to “remakes”, I like those that aren’t afraid of reworking the original, which to a great extent is the case here; so, basically… satisfaction. It’s well crafted, the characters are likeable and it’s well acted. On top of that, the film is permeated with an effective humour that’s quite fitting (certainly more than in this year’s It). And for a “kids” horror, it’s also quite bloody. My biggest problem, though, is with the look of the titular doll. It’s ugly AF and I can’t believe that any company would design their super commercial toy like this. (10.09.2019)