Child's Play (1988) - Got to love Chucky!

I didn't watch this thriller until about 2009, and oh my I was amazed. To have been made in 1988, the film completely exceeded my expectations. Yeah it sounds pretty cool - a wicked little doll (good guy) following his plot to escape his plastic figure body and to take the soul of a poor innocent little child. Sounds pretty nasty too doesn't it? This film, in my opinion, is absolutely remarkable and is most definitely worth a watch! Guys if you haven't seen this film yet then wow, where have you been? What really impressed me was how incredible the voice for the evil little doll Chucky was played by Brad Dourif. His voice is perfect for the role of Chucky - very rough, and extremely nasty. It was very successful in portraying this very small doll into a powerful, frightening little character who you would not want to mess with!

The film begins with a young little boy named Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent), who sees a brand new commercial for the little dolls named 'good guys', and therefore asks his mother Karen (Catherine Hicks) to purchase one for his upcoming birthday. At Karen's work, herself and a friend discover a mysterious man out on the streets selling a Good Guy for a very low price, and Karen who can't afford the full price at any official store, makes a huge mistake by purchasing the Good Guy from this random man. What she doesn't know about this doll is that it is possessed by the spirit of Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif), who was a well-known serial killer, who died at the hands of the police and transferred his spirit to this Good Guy doll through some voodoo. From this very moment, Chucky (Andy's Good Guy), resumes his killing spree by pushing Andy's babysitter out of their 5th floor window to her death. After witnessing his doll do this, he obviously knows Chucky is responsible for this horrific incident, but the police believe he may have mental problems. From this very moment, Charles begins to get even closer to release his soul from the body of Chucky's, and to take to body of Andy Barclay.

I feel the plot is very simple, and I cannot find a way to criticise it. The acting is also way above average, being absolutely outstanding. All of the actors act very well to build momentum and tension to the film as it progresses. Seriously though, if you haven't seen this film you must watch it just to hear how amazing the voice of Brad Dourif is in Chucky's body! It's possibly the most amazing voice for a 'come-to-life' doll I've ever heard. There is also a long wait until we witness Chucky actually kill anyone, but I find this is very clever. It causes us to feel great shock after we see him kill his first victim. 

I really can't decide who I prefer from the 80's as a horror character. I'm currently stuck between the wicked Chucky, or Freddie Krueger. For me, it may just be Chucky, but I'm unsure at the moment.
The only thing I could criticise about this film is that although it is categorised as a 'horror', I didn't really find it scary at all, and there were no huge jump-scares. Okay, there were definitely moments where I was thrilled as to what was coming next, but I wasn't exactly nervous at all to expecting it. Perhaps you could blame the lack of fear in the film on the evil little Chucky, but he was my favourite part about the film. I would class this film as a 'thriller' more than a horror, however the voice of Chucky played by Brad Dourif was incredible and I could easily re-watch the film just to hear his awesome voice.
Overall, Child's Play is a top quality thriller, containing very impressive imagination by portraying the character of Charles Lee Ray through a small little Good Guy. There is a lot of violence in the film, mainly coming from Chucky, with a fair amount of gore. Although I have classed it as a 'thriller', and not a 'horror', I will still admit there were a few decent scares in it, but just not enough in my opinion for a 'horror'. Brilliant film though guys, you must watch if you haven't seen it and listen to the awesome voice of Brad Dourif!