8¼ Pies

Reviewed by Yankee

Plot Summary

Six -year old Andy Barclay wanted nothing more than to get a Good Guy doll for his birthday. After getting this doll, Andy’s life turns upside down as people start dying and he gets all the blame. Has Andy turned into a psychotic killer, did the doll make him do it or is it something else?

Review

One of the down sides of a successful horror franchise is that for those new to the franchise/genre, a certain level of the mystique is automatically diminished. Everyone knows what happened to Frankenstein’s Monster in the windmill, everyone knows about the little girl sucked into the TV and everyone knows the real deal about Norman’s mother and what to expect from the infamous shower scene.
Maybe you were born too late to see “Frankenstein” when it was new to the world. Perhaps you didn’t get around to seeing “Poltergeist” until after all the parodies and culture references ruined it for you. It is even possible that you didn’t care about horror films before you heard all the stories about “Psycho” and its plot twists. Whatever the case may have been or might still be, you missed out on the element of surprise these films had to offer and that is just a shame!

I was lucky enough to be able to see Child’s Play in the theatre at its time of release not knowing a thing about it that wasn’t revealed in advertisement. MGM put the effort into keeping most of the details a secret and for many of us it paid off.

You know that I always make it a point to keep the spoilers to a minimum, but in order for me to properly write this, I will have to assume that you know the “secret” of Chucky. If you are one of the fifteen people on the planet who do not know, then do yourself a favor and stop reading after this paragraph, go rent Child’s Play and watch it! Trust me. It’s worth it. Afterwards, come back and read this review.

So anyway, thinking back to the premise of the movie: a child’s doll that has come to life is running around killing people. Sounds pretty retarded right? I honestly cannot recall what possessed me to go see this movie. And since I cannot remember who I went with, I am not even sure if it was because I wanted to make fun of it or not.

But you know what? I do remember being glad that I did go see it because it was such a kick ass movie! The way the tension built up in the beginning, the way the director made me question if Andy was the killer and the very first moment that Chucky spoke on screen was pure gold! People in the theater went crazy when Chucky called Karen a “stupid bitch”. I am sorry that most people will never be able to experience this the way that I did.

Quotes:

Mike Norris: Give it up, Ray. It's over.

Andy: Look, you stay here; I have to go tinkle.

Chucky: Last night I got shot. You know something? It hurt.

Mike Norris: Believe me now?
Jack Santos: Yeah... but who's gonna believe ME?

Spook Factor: ½ Pie

A funny thing about being a horror movie buff, especially one who grew up on 80’s horror is that you become immune to a lot of things, even when they are indeed scary. I wasn’t really spooked at all by this movie but years later, a girlfriend bought me this DVD and watched it with me for the first time. I had assumed that it didn’t bother her either as she had seen some scary stuff with me, but a few months later when we spotted one of the Macfarlane Chucky figures her first comment was “I hate him!” “What? I thought you liked Child’s Play.” “I do, but Chucky gave me nightmares!”

It just goes to show you: if you want to know how scary a movie is, show it to someone who hasn’t become desensitised to horror yet.

Antagonist: 1 Pie

Mean, self-centered, destructive, vindictive, horrifying, ruthless, cunning, demented… I think you get the idea. Charles Lee Ray is all that and more. He is the worst attributes of all the notorious serial killers rolled into one guy …er… doll! It is no wonder that the police were so determined to nail this guy at the beginning and understandable how he was still hard to stop after becoming a doll. Sometimes you just can’t keep a Good Guy down! ;-)

Story: 1 Pie

I’m sure I will come off as repetitive by the end of this review but what can I say? This movie is Mancini’s masterpeice and one of its many strong points is in the story. We’re given good backstory, a fluid plot throughout, deaths that make sense rather then just written in for thrills and characters that we care about it. Need I say more?

Acting: ¾ Pie

While most of the cast deserves recognition for doing a bang up job, there are certain people that deserve more then a nod. Catherine Hicks and Chris Sarandon are no-brainers as they were already well established. But the ones that will “wow” you are Alex Vincent, who does an amazing job as young Andy and is thoroughly convincing; and of course, as if you need to be told, Brad Dourif, who I have met in person at a convention is AWESOME as Chucky. His voice acting throughout the movie is nothing short of fantastic. You WILL believe a doll could kill!

Directing: 1 Pie

Given the actual concept of the script, I wouldn’t have envied anyone given the task to make this into a movie. Think about how stupid this must have looked on paper. It still baffles me that this was ever green-lit! Regardless, Tom Holland was the right choice, as he knew how to effectively balance out the realistic elements to the fantasy elements in a way that worked. He also knew how to play the audience by making us question Andy’s sanity early on.

Soundtrack: ¾ Pie

I have to say that the music used here was chilling. It cleverly set the mood as each scene unfolded without distracting you from what’s important. However, it still doesn't stand up as a classic that you will remember when heard out of context.

Special Effects: ¾ Pie

If ever there were a strong argument for practical effects over CGI, this is the movie for it. Most of what you see here is great. I cannot give it a full score however, as there are a few instances where it is clear where a still doll was used, a mechanical one was used or a midget dressed as Chucky was used. But it still kicked ass!

Gore: ½ Pie

How much blood and guts should you expect from a movie whose antagonist is a plastic doll? You’d be surprised! You won’t be disappointed, as there is a reasonable amount of gore to sate your hunger but not so much that it contrasts the film.

Replay, Rewatch, Rewind: 1 Pie

This is an entertaining classic. I’ve never hesitated to re-watch this movie. It’s a pleasure to watch it with people who have not seen it before and by golly, Chucky has some of the funniest lines this side of Ash Williams.

Pros

A classic slasher from the late 80’s - that should be enough! Well, also an original premise, great acting, good special effects and the start of a new era.

Cons

Do you know how embarrassing it was to tell all my friends that I loved a movie about a “My Buddy/Cabbage Patch Kid” knockoff that gets possessed by a serial killer and then murders people and tries to take over the body of a six-year-old? Yeah, exactly!

Final Word

I think I can sum this up nicely by referring back to that girlfriend who bought me the DVD a few years ago. She knew what the movie was about, she thought it sounded stupid as hell, but she figured since I liked it that she should watch it with me.

After the movie was over (she was dead silent from about 15 minutes into the film) she turned to me, not believing the words that were about to come out of her mouth, and said, “That was actually a pretty good movie!” I think I’ve made my point here.

Wanna play?