CHILD’S PLAY (1988)
The Beginning Of An Unlikely Horror Franchise
What makes a great horror franchise? One that is meant to stand the test of time? This is something that has been pondered by studio executives for years, a code that has been cracked only a handful of times.
Tom Holland’s CHILD’S PLAY launched arguably the most unexpected of horror franchises. The franchise horror landscape at the time was dominated by films starring masked killers like Jason Voorhees, and Michael Myers, as well as razor blade fingered nightmare slasher Freddy Krueger. The first two villains were undead monsters, who never spoke, their sole purpose seemingly the slaughter of as many random teenagers as the runtime would allow. Krueger of course was also an undead killing machine, however he had much more personality than Jason or Michael. This was thanks in no small part to Robert Englund who played the nightmare man of Elm Street. Upon seeing the success that New Line Cinema had with the NIGHTMARE films, Paramount Pictures had with the FRIDAY series, and Universal had with their Myers-backed franchise, MGM wanted in on the action.
Their entry into the ‘80s horror canon came in the form of a pint-sized Good Guy doll named Chucky. Chucky made his debut on November 9th, 1988, in the first CHILD’S PLAY installment. It recouped a considerable amount of its $9 million budget in its opening weekend, and would go on to gross over $44 million worldwide during its theatrical run. It was clear from its box office performance that the folks at MGM were onto something with Chucky and the CHILD’S PLAY franchise. The world of CHILD’S PLAY was born from the mind of Don Mancini. He did not do it alone however, having help from screenwriter John Lafia, and the first film’s director Tom Holland. Also working behind the scenes to bring Mancini’s vision to screens was F/X wunderkind and designer Kevin Yagher. At Mancini’s suggestion, Yagher used a brand named My Buddy doll, popular at the time, as a sort of blueprint for what Chucky would come to look like. CHILD’S PLAY also had a team of puppeteers led by N. Brock Winkless IV. They helped to make Chucky even more lifelike with the assistance of remote controls for the doll’s facial movements. Additionally inside the first Chucky suit was Edward Gale, whose previous credits included HOWARD THE DUCK.
It wasn’t until the casting of Brad Dourif that the character of Chucky fully came to life. Dourif was tasked with playing both the human version of the character, Charles Lee Ray, and lending his iconic voice to his doll form, Chucky. At the film’s beginning, The Lakeshore Strangler (Charles Lee Ray) is being doggedly pursued by Detective Mike Norris through a business district of Chicago. Ray is mortally wounded by a gunshot and manages, through a Voodoo incantation, to transfer his consciousness into a “Good Guy Doll.”
After Dourif’s villainous turn, the cast is led by Alex Vincent as Andy Barclay, the boy who is desperately begging for a Good Guy Doll at the beginning of the film. His mother Karen, played with obvious maternal affection by Catherine Hicks, hates the look of disappointment on her son’s face when she is unable to get him the gift he truly wants. She inadvertently brings Chucky into their lives. Chris Sarandon filled the cop quota and is the man responsible for ending the life of Charles Lee Ray at the Playland Toy Store. Neil Giuntoli played Ray’s accomplice, Eddie Caputo. And rounding out the cast as Karen’s best friend (and Andy’s auntie Maggie and Chucky’s first victim) is Dinah Manoff.
Chucky is obviously an anomaly as a horror film franchise villain, not just because of the unusual choice of making the villain of the franchise a pint-sized child’s doll. Due to the obvious size constraints, Chucky has to use other attributes to even the odds in his quest for revenge against those who have wronged him. Chucky uses his wits and cunning in dispatching of his victims, making him much more akin to Freddy Kruger of the ELM STREET films. This is illustrated best when Chucky seeks revenge on his former accomplice Eddie Caputo, who is seen cowardly fleeing from the scene of Ray’s eventual demise near the beginning of the film. Along with his human owner Andy, who Chucky convinces to skip school and take a train to the squat he knows his former friend to frequent, the doll sets his plan for revenge in motion. After leaving Andy, Chucky scurries over to the dilapidated home that Caputo is using for a hideout. While he slumbers, Chucky turns on the gas in the stove before slamming the door shut, waking his sleeping former friend. Alerted to the sound and with gun in hand Caputo begins clearing the rooms of the house, until certain that the only place the intruder could be hiding is the kitchen. Guns blazing Caputo shoots first, causing the house to explode ending his life, never the wiser that he had been bested by his former friend.
Chucky does not cut the most intimidating of figures. However that is not to say he is physically incapable of defending himself. He is adept at using a variety of weapons, as evidenced by the scene when Chris Sarandon—oozing his usual smarmy charm, as Detective Norris—is returning to the station after rescuing Karen from being attacked by a group of homeless men. In this scene, Chucky is laying in wait in the back of Norris’ unmarked car and while the cop tries to light a cigarette for the road, Chucky attempts to strangle Norris with a length of cord. Norris manages to avoid being strangled as the car careens through the slums of Chicago by burning Chucky with his car’s cigarette lighter (it being 1988 cars were still equipped with car lighters). The effort to strangle Norris thwarted, Chucky uses a knife and attempts to stab Norris multiple times destroying the captain’s seat. This back and forth continues until the car flips over thanks to all the chaos inside.
While not the common antagonist in a horror picture, Chucky definitely feels like an inspired choice. The film that birthed it all way back in 1988 is perfect evidence for the case that Chucky is one of the best horror franchise villains of all time.
