#40: Child’s Play

Release Date: November 11th, 1988

Format: Streaming (Tubi)

Written by: Tom Holland, John Lafia, Don Mancini

Directed by: Tom Holland

3.5 Stars

This is right up my alley, and oddly enough, this was my first time watching Child’s Play. What was I waiting for?

This movie has a scene where Chucky, the evil possessed doll, yells, “Batter up!” and smashes a young boy over the head with a baseball bat. I laughed as hard as I’m capable of laughing. 

And I’m not being facetious when I say that this movie is well-crafted. Sure, it’s full of complete nonsense and the plot is total bullshit, obviously, but it is no small feat to have a 6-year-old protagonist be beaten with a baseball bat and have the audience not only not turn against your movie, but instead have the time of their lives and howl with laughter. 

It’s camp, it’s consistent with its tone, and most importantly, it creates a world in which the audience can have fun with the conceit. Of course it doesn’t make sense that a doll would be possessed by a satanic criminal killed during a lightning storm. You can sense the script saying, ‘No shit, get over it. Now let’s have some fun and let Chucky cook.’