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| Child’s Play: 20th Anniversary Edition |
Last night was fantastic. Friends Paul and Vanessa invited me over to their place for a movie night. And this was not just any movie night. You see, Paul and I had been reminiscing about the movie Child’s Play for quite some time. We both remember watching it during our youthful years, and it scared us both quite a bit. Child’s Play was released in November 1988, which, assuming I saw the movie shortly after its release, I would have been 7 or 8 years old at the time. That’s right folks, Child’s Play was released about 23 years ago *sigh*. Anyway… surely a ‘horror’ movie that frightened us as kids would still be totally freaky, right? And since Vanessa hadn’t seen it, surely she would be scared by a doll who comes to life and kills, right?? Well…. let’s just say we weren’t scared at all, and there were a ton of laughs throughout the night! The movie was amazing…
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| Original Poster: “Child’s Play: You’ll wish it was only make-believe.” |
Just so I don’t completely ruin the complex plot, the brief synopsis is that a criminal (Charles Lee Ray), trained in some kind of dark ‘voodoo’ arts, transfers his soul into a Good Guy doll. A boy, Andy, wants this doll for his birthday… but when he gets it, little does he know it’s alive! The story begins with the typical doll pleasantries: “Hi, I’m Chucky. Wanna play?” But soon things take a turn for the worse. Chucky wants revenge. And he wants to kill.
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| Andy is so excited about the new Good Guy doll! Lucky for him, he gets Chucky. |
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| “Hi, I’m Chucky. Wanna play?” Dolls should not be alive. Crazy freaky. |
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| But he wasn’t excited for very long. Especially since Chucky started killing people. |
There’s something about horror movies from the 80’s and early 90’s that I love. They’re all quite cheesy. They usually have some weird supernatural element to them. And when you watch them years later, you realize how bad the acting was. And yet, there’s a special place in your heart for these movie gems :).
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Chucky’s signature roll in the movie. Only dolls who are alive can drop and roll.
This movie is so fake. |
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Chucky tries to transfer his soul into Andy’s. Well naturally.
He doesn’t want to be a doll forever! |
Andy’s mother, Karen, really is the rock in this movie. She will do anything to protect her son. She will also try her best to protect the useless cop, Mike. Here’s one of my favourite scenes:
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| Beat-down! Chucky is about to totally club Mike with a baseball bat. |
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| Karen will do whatever it takes to protect her son and Mike. |
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| So Karen shoots Chucky in the leg… |
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| And he goes flying… |
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| And flying… |
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| And flying. |
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| But he’s persistent, and gets right back up for more killing. |
One of my favourite lines in the movie occurs when Andy is about to torch Chucky in the fireplace:
Chucky: “Andy, nooo. Please. We’re friends ’till the end, remember?”
Andy: “This IS the end…. friend.”
Brilliant. Whoever wrote the script deserved an Oscar. Something tells me, though, that the writer never received an Oscar for this movie.
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| “Andy, nooo. Please. We’re friends ’till the end, remember?” |
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| “This IS the end… friend.” |
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| But is it really the end? *suspenseful music* |
As great and amazing as this movie was to watch, the acting was sub-par. I know he’s just a kid, but Andy’s acting was hilarious! Out of curiosity, I wondered what ever became of the actor who played Andy in the movie. The all-knowing Google came to my rescue. Turns out that after Child’s Play 2 and some other movie, he quit acting. But like all child stars, they resurface at some point. Also, I found out that the actor who played the terrible cop, Mike, is Chris Sarandon, whose first wife was Susan Sarandon, which is how she got her last name (born Susan Tomalin). Who knew?
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| From TMZ. Alex Vincent as Andy in Child’s Play, 20 years or so later. |
So what’s next on the retro horror movie list? Maybe Pet Cemetery (1989). Or if we’re looking for something legitimately scary… A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Last I remember, that movie was SCARY!
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| A Nightmare on Elm Street. CLASSIC! |
Author: rickohikes
Avid hiker, mountain lover and fitness enthusiast with insatiable wanderlust. Usually battling with an injury and my mental health, but I always persevere!
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HIKES & HAMSTRINGS 
Having not seen all of Child’s Play (I seem to always fall asleep just when things start to really cook), I for one, thank you for the play by play, complete with awesome pictures :)Did you ever get around to watching The Shining?
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I didn’t! It’s on my list of movies to watch though 🙂
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