Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3584 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-12-27
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 83 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Horror maestro Tom Holland (Fright Night) brought wit and devilish energy to this 1988 scarefest about a murderer (Brad Dourif) who wills his soul into an innocuous doll named Chucky, and reveals himself only to the toy's owner, a frightened little boy. Catherine Hicks plays the child's mother, and Chris Sarandon a detective; neither of them knows what to make of the kid's story. Monster-doll stories are always wonderfully surreal, and Child's Play is no exception. Holland oversees some finely tuned special effects that allow Chucky to express himself and do some damage--it is truly unnerving but somehow good, subversive fun. --Tom Keogh

Synopsis
A new birthday doll begins to operate without batteries after becoming possessed by the spirit of a vicious murderer and starting a nasty reign of terror.

Customer Reviews

The original and best
The original chucky film and still the best. I first watched it when I was 9 and it was an instant hit. I recently bought it on DVD and I still think it's an old classic. It would have been great as a stand alone horror film, but childs play 2 and 3 and the bride and seed of chucky films were taking the whole chucky saga too far.

The original and still the best
All the films in the Child'splay series are great but the first one is the only one that actually scared me. Brad Dourif who does the voice of Chucky is fantastic, his one-liners are partly the reason the film is in my top 10 favourite films. Buy this now!

CHUCKY'S DEBUT AND ONE OF THE BETTER KILLER DOLL FILMS OUT THERE


Police Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon) is called to a toy store where serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Douriff) is hiding. After a lengthy cat-and-mouse game with each other, Charles is apparently killed by a freak lightning bolt that almost destroys the entire store. The owner of the toy store (Alan Wilder) is concerned that the incident will ruin the reputation of the new toys that are slated to go on sale the next day. Norris assures him it will be fine, and leaves, unaware that one of the toys contains Charles' spirit inside. Young Andy Barclay, (Alex Vincent) who takes better care of his mother Karen (Catherine Hicks) than she does towards him, accidentally buys the same toy doll for Andy at his insistence. As she goes out one night, she leaves Andy with a babysitter (Dinah Manoff) and the doll, Chucky, kills her in front of Andy. When Karen returns, she finds the babysitter dead and Andy begins telling her that Chucky was the one who did it. No one believes him, but there is no evidence to pin on Andy, so the whole incident is forgotten. More murders occur around the people Andy's friends with, eventually leading everyone else to believe that Chucky really did commit the murders. Enlisting Mike's help, Karen and Andy try to stop Chucky from transferring his spirit into Andy to make him human again.

The Good News: This is perhaps the one singular film that helped to kill off the popular doll phase in America, and for good reason. Chucky was absolutely terrifying. The best example of this simply has to be Douriff's voice for Chucky. That voice is absolutely scary. What gets me, though, just has to be that high-pitched laugh of Chucky's. That gave me the creeps the first time I heard it. There are also several key scenes in the film that have led to this conclusion. Towards the end, when Karen is with Chucky and she looks in the back and notices that his batteries are gone, she starts a fire and threatens to throw him in if he doesn't respond to her, and he comes alive and starts to viciously attack her. This is my overall favorite scene in the film, and is quite scary when first seen. Chucky doesn't have his whole creative killing scenario yet, so here he simply resorts to the classic kills. There are a few stabbings, one electrocution, a strangling, and a pretty violent blow to the back of the head, which are pretty common in films if you look for them. The beginning, where Mike is inside the toy store with the human Chucky, along all the corridors featuring Chucky dolls, being unsure of where Charles is hiding, is quite unsettling. The first kill, of the babysitter, is a personal favorite simply because of the setup. Andy is in getting ready for bed and presumably has Chucky with him, but for three or four times, the babysitter finds Chucky in the living room with the TV on. Getting mad at him, she threatens Andy to go to bed, and then she is pushed over the railing to her death. We know its Chucky, but the setup of Chucky keeping reappearing is totally payoff. I also want to talk about the opening, as it is really a spectacular one. Despite the creepiness, the scene also features some great special effects. Charles putts his soul into the Chucky doll, symbolized by the lightning bolt, and then there is a tremendous release of energy and a catastrophic explosion. For a film featuring simply awesome special effects, this is the perfect way to get us ready for them. Of the special effects, the stand-out is Chucky. The realistic ness of his movements, the creepy manner of his walk, and Douriff's vocalizations combine into the perfect combination to bring Chucky to life. Speaking of which, the ending simply has to be the all-time wet dream for those who love the 'Can't kill the killer' slasher rule. I won't spoil it, but it simply has to be seen.

The Bad News: Not too many things are bad here. Fans of the bust-a-gut-laughing of later Chucky will be disappointed because he doesn't have as many lines as later incarnations, and is no where near 'Bride' as the funniest entry, so be forewarned if that's what turned you onto Chucky films. Also, this isn't as gory as the later films, and looking at its European ratings, those are accurate rating reasons. The second and third sequels are far bloodier than this one, those this is the classic of the series.

The Final Verdict: Unless you're a fan of the smart-alec only Chucky, any horror fan will love this movie. Tons of great scenes, an all-time classic killer, and the beginning of one of its better entries all combine in one scary package. See this at any cost, cut-up, censored, illegally, whatever.