A single mother gives her son a much sought-after doll for his birthday, only to discover that it is possessed by the soul of a serial killer. A film by Tom Holland, starring Catherine Hicks, Alex Vincent, Chris Sarandon, Dinah Manoff, Neil Giuntoli, and Brad Dourif.

In 1988, detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon) chases serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) through the dark alleys of Chicago at night. Charles is heading to the getaway van’s rendezvous point.

A police car closes in as the sound of sirens fills the air. Eddie Caputo (Neil Giuntoli), Charles’ accomplice, gets spooked and drives the van away. Charles gets shot and has no other option but to break into Playland, a nearby local toy store.

Desperate, Charles breaks into Playland, a nearby local toy store. Detective Mike follows him inside, and they exchange gunfire. Charles is hit by a bullet for the second time, the wound proving fatal. In a furious outburst, he vows revenge on Mike and Eddie. Just as Charles is about to die, he grabs a Good Guy talking doll and chants a voodoo incantation, attempting to transfer his soul into the doll.

A bolt of lightning strikes the toy store, causing an explosion. In the aftermath, Detective Mike finds the remains of Charles Lee Ray lying dead next to the doll.

Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) lives with his single mother Karen (Catherine Hicks), in a Chicago apartment. Super excited, Andy tears into his birthday present, hoping it’s the famous Good Guy doll he’s been obsessed with. Disappointment washes over Andy as he discovers clothes and a Good Guy Tool Chest instead of the coveted doll. Karen, noticing his glumness, admits she knows he wanted the Good Guy doll, but she couldn’t save up enough in time for the expensive ($100) toy.

At work, Karen’s colleague, Maggie Peterson (Dinah Manoff) tells her about a homeless peddler in the alley behind the store selling a Good Guy doll. Karen follows her colleague to meet with the peddler, asking for $50. Reluctantly, Karen decides to buy it for $30, knowing how much Andy wants it, despite Maggie warning her that it’s too much money for a doll that they don’t even know if it’s defective.

When they return to the store, they run into Mr. Criswell (Alan Wilder) who notices that Karen left her station while it wasn’t her break time. He then forces her to take a shift for Mrs. Howe who has taken sick leave, even though Karen tells him it’s her son’s birthday and that she has to pick him up from daycare. Maggie steps in, offering to fill in for Karen, but Mr. Criswell dismisses her, asserting that Maggie works in the shoes department, not in jewelry. However, Mr. Criswell allows Karen to take off from 5pm to pick up her son and return to work by 7pm. Maggie offers to babysit Andy for Karen tonight.

Karen picks up Andy and returns to their apartment. There, Karen gives Andy the Good Guy doll. Andy is very pleased with the doll. He introduces himself to it, saying, “Hi, I’m Andy. What’s your name?” The doll replies, “Hi, I’m Chucky, and I’m your friend to the end!”

At Andy’s bedtime, Maggie turns off the TV and takes Andy and Chucky to the bedroom, even though Andy tells that Chucky wants to watch the nine o’clock news. While Maggie finishes cleaning in the kitchen, she’s startled by the sound of the TV coming from the living room. There, she finds Chucky sitting in front of the television. She grabs Chucky and marches him back to Andy, accusing him of putting the doll there to scare her. Andy, however, denies it.

Later that night, Chucky sneaks out of Andy’s room and brutally attacks Maggie with a hammer. The attack sends her plummeting out a window to her death. Detective Mike is called in to investigate. Initially, he suspects Andy due to the presence of tiny child-sized footprints at the crime scene. However, Andy’s shoes are checked and none of them match the prints.

Noticing flour clinging to the soles of Chucky’s shoes, Andy frantically tries to tell his mother and the detective that the footprints on the kitchen counter belong to Chucky. Karen, however, dismisses it as a childish story. After the police leave, Andy reveals to Karen that Chucky has confided many things in him, including his real name: Charles Lee Ray.

Directed by American filmmaker Tom Holland, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Don Mancini and John Lafia, based on an original story by Don Mancini, CHILD’S PLAY takes a familiar horror trope – the possessed object – and injects it with a shot of dark humor and surprisingly effective chills. What truly elevates Child’s Play is the impressive work on Chucky himself. For the late 80s, the animatronics and stop-motion animation were top-notch. Chucky’s movements are a chilling mix of childlike innocence and coldblooded menace.

The filmmaker mesmerizingly captures the unsettling idea of a doll coming to life, especially when paired with Brad Dourif’s deliciously evil voice acting for Chucky. Undoubtedly, the combination of a relatable child protagonist, a genuinely iconic villain, and impressive special effects makes this film an instant cult classic.

CHILD’S PLAY was theatrically released in the United States on 9 Novvember 1988. The film grossed over $44 million against its production budget of $9 million.

The film was released in 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on August 16, 2022, by Shout! Factory, featuring newly-restored native 4K scans from the original camera negatives, HDR Dolby Vision and HDR10, with original aspect ratio: 1.85:1, English audio in Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD 7.1, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.

After moving to a new city, young Andy Barclay receives a special present from his mother — a seemingly innocent Buddi doll that becomes his best friend. When the doll suddenly takes on a life of its own, Andy unites with other neighborhood children to stop the sinister toy from wreaking bloody havoc. A film by Lars Klevberg, starring Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, Brian Tyree Henry, and Mark Hamill.

Serving both as a remake of the 1988 film of the same name and a reboot of the successful Child’s Play franchise. The film original film has spawned six sequels, a television series, a remake, comic books, a video game, and tie-in merchandise. The first, second, and fourth films were box office successes It also won a Saturn Award for Best Horror Franchise. Although it’s a remake of the original film, 2019’s Child’s Play centers around an Artificial Intelligence doll, unlike the original plot which involved a doll possessed by the spirit of a serial killer.

At the Kaslan assembly factory in Vietnam, where world-famous artificial intelligence dolls called Buddi are manufactured, an overworked assembly worker is upset as he is fired by his supervisor for unsatisfactory performance. In an act of retaliation, he disables all of the safety protocols on the chip before installing it on a Buddi doll he is assembling. (Why was it apparently so easy to disable the safeguards?) He then commits suicide by jumping from the roof.

Revolutionizing the toy industry, the Buddi line of high-tech dolls are powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, designed as lifelong companions to interact and learn from their surroundings. Buddi can also control other Kaslan products like speakers, televisions, light bulbs, smart thermostats, vacuums, and drones via Wi-Fi.

At Zed Mart, where Karen Barclay (Aubrey Plaza) works, a Buddi doll is returned because the customer believes it’s defective, claiming its eyes glow red. Karen takes the doll to her boss Wes (Amro Majzoub) asking what happens to a damaged returns like this. Wes explains they have to return it to Kaslan. With a new Buddi model launch just two weeks away, there’s little interest in fixing the old ones. Desperate to keep the doll for Andy, Karen resorts to a risky tactic, blackmailing Wes with his secret to procure the doll.

Karen brings it home as an upcoming birthday gift for her hearing-impaired son Andy (Gabriel Bateman), hoping the doll would cheer him up as they’ve just moved into a new apartment. However, Andy is less enthusiastic when he unwraps the present and sees it’s a Buddi doll. Confused, Karen thought this was the Buddi doll Andy had been obsessing over. Andy explains that he thinks this doll is for younger kids now, since it’s a year old model. Karen convinces Andy to give it a try, as it might still be fun for him.

Initially, Andy finds this doll creepily different from the Buddi dolls in the TV commercials. Instead of Buddi, the doll calls himself as Chucky. To Andy’s surprise, Chucky swears freely and obeys Andy’s every command. One night, however, Andy is shocked to witness Chucky trying to strangle Andy’s cat, Rooney, who scratched him earlier.

As you can guess what’s coming next. Chucky’s violence escalates in brutality over time. Just like in classic horror movie fashion, no adult will believe a child’s warnings, so Andy must team up with his friends to devise a plan to stop Chucky themselves.

For me, the original creepiness of Chucky stemmed from his possession by a vengeful spirit, the very element that instilled such terror. The filmmakers’ decision to swap the vengeful spirit for AI lessens the horror. After all, a robot’s capabilities are finite compared to a vengeful entity. The doll’s design also lacks the cuteness of the original Chucky, somehow reminding me more of Annabelle and Slappy the Dummy.

Beyond the title and the doll’s name, this film bears no resemblance to the original Chucky. Reusing the title feels unnecessary, it could have easily launched a new Buddi franchise on its own. The decision to market it as a remake of the commercially successful 1988 film feels like an attempt to capitalize on nostalgia, especially considering the iconic status of the original trilogy. This remake feels unneeded.

This AI doll leans more towards the Terminator than the original possessed Chucky. In fact, by the second half, it hacks into Kaslan’s network, seizing control of other Buddi dolls with newer firmware. How is that even possible?

CHILD’S PLAY was theatrically released in the United States on 21 June 2019.