ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - November 9th
"CHILD'S PLAY" released in 1988
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Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif), a well-known serial killer and wanted fugitive, is seen running through the streets of Chicago's South Side. After he is fatally shot in a toy shop by Chicago homicide detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon), Charles transfers his soul into one of the 'Good Guy' dolls via a voodoo spell. This causes the shop to explode, and Mike later finds Ray's dead body.
Above: Serial killer, Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) manages to transfer his soul into a doll before dying
The next day, a widow named Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks) purchases the same doll (now known as Chucky) for her son Andy's (Alex Vincent) sixth birthday from a homeless man. That night, Karen's co-worker and friend Maggie Peterson (Dinah Manoff) babysits Andy for Karen at their Chicago apartment. She is killed by getting hit in the face with a hammer and falling backwards out the window. Maggie had stopped Chucky from getting live updates on his ex-henchman Eddie Caputo (Neil Giuntoli), who abandoned Charles when he transferred his soul; she mistakenly thought Andy was disobeying her by not going to bed. As a result, the police search the apartment. Andy is deemed a suspect by Mike much to the annoyance of Karen, who orders Mike and the police to leave once they complete their investigation.
The next morning, Chucky orders Andy to skip school and take the train downtown. While Andy is urinating, Chucky sneaks into Eddie Caputo's lair, turning off a stove's pilot light but turning up the gas. Chucky toys with Eddie, who accidentally kills himself by shooting the stove, resulting in an explosion. Andy, once again a suspect, is placed in a mental hospital by Dr. Ardmore until further notice. That night, Karen discovers that Chucky's batteries were never inserted, and that Andy was telling the truth about Chucky functioning on his own power. While she is inspecting the doll, Chucky comes to life, bites her, abuses her and escapes. She then finds Mike at the station and shows him the scar that Chucky made. He does not believe her and leaves. After almost being killed by Chucky in his car, Mike finally agrees to help Karen. Chucky then goes his old Haitian voodoo mentor John Bishop aka Dr Death (Raymond Oliver). When Chucky asks why he is able to bleed, John informs him that the longer his soul remains trapped within the doll, the more human the doll will become; in order to escape the doll's body, Chucky must possess the first person to be told of his possession with that being Andy. When John rejects Chucky's plea for help, Chucky fatally stabs John using John's own voodoo doll. Chucky escapes just before Karen and Mike arrive on the scene. Before dying, John tells them that although Chucky is a doll, his heart is fully human and vulnerable to fatal injury.
At the mental hospital, Chucky steals the key to Andy's cell, but discovers Andy is not there. Dr. Ardmore finds Andy and unsuccessfully tries to sedate him. Chucky kills Dr. Ardmore with a electroshock therapy machine and follows Andy home, knocking him unconscious with a baseball bat. As Chucky begins possessing Andy, Karen and Mike arrive and stop him. But Chucky isn't about to give up without a fight, and now Karen and Mike must face off against this demonic doll to save Andy's very soul!
The next morning, Chucky orders Andy to skip school and take the train downtown. While Andy is urinating, Chucky sneaks into Eddie Caputo's lair, turning off a stove's pilot light but turning up the gas. Chucky toys with Eddie, who accidentally kills himself by shooting the stove, resulting in an explosion. Andy, once again a suspect, is placed in a mental hospital by Dr. Ardmore until further notice. That night, Karen discovers that Chucky's batteries were never inserted, and that Andy was telling the truth about Chucky functioning on his own power. While she is inspecting the doll, Chucky comes to life, bites her, abuses her and escapes. She then finds Mike at the station and shows him the scar that Chucky made. He does not believe her and leaves. After almost being killed by Chucky in his car, Mike finally agrees to help Karen. Chucky then goes his old Haitian voodoo mentor John Bishop aka Dr Death (Raymond Oliver). When Chucky asks why he is able to bleed, John informs him that the longer his soul remains trapped within the doll, the more human the doll will become; in order to escape the doll's body, Chucky must possess the first person to be told of his possession with that being Andy. When John rejects Chucky's plea for help, Chucky fatally stabs John using John's own voodoo doll. Chucky escapes just before Karen and Mike arrive on the scene. Before dying, John tells them that although Chucky is a doll, his heart is fully human and vulnerable to fatal injury.
At the mental hospital, Chucky steals the key to Andy's cell, but discovers Andy is not there. Dr. Ardmore finds Andy and unsuccessfully tries to sedate him. Chucky kills Dr. Ardmore with a electroshock therapy machine and follows Andy home, knocking him unconscious with a baseball bat. As Chucky begins possessing Andy, Karen and Mike arrive and stop him. But Chucky isn't about to give up without a fight, and now Karen and Mike must face off against this demonic doll to save Andy's very soul!
TRIVIA: Chucky's full name, Charles Lee Ray, is derived from the names of notorious killers Charles Manson, Lee Harvey Oswald, and James Earl Ray.
Top: Lonely kid, Andy (Alex Vincent) is given "Chucky" as a surprise gift by (above) his mother Karen (Catherine Hicks)
Screenwriter Don Mancini stated in an interview that his original script for Child's Play toyed with the audience a bit longer, making them wonder if young Andy was the killer rather than his doll, Chucky (at that time written as Buddy). originally, the plot idea was to have life-like Good Guy dolls that had blood and latex skin and if the kids tore the latex skin, they could go out and buy Official Good Guy bandages. In a blood-brother pact, Andy cut his own hand and mixed his blood with Chucky's, thus causing him to come alive and become human. This allowed Chucky to kill those against Andy (baby-sitter, teacher) manifesting Andy's loneliness and isolation from an overworked mother and absent father. In addition to being a more psychologically driven horror film, 'Buddy' also only came alive at night when Andy was asleep. With the first draft of the script completed in the summer of 1985, the screenplay was optioned by MGM and United Artists, with director Tom Holland attached. Mancini has stated that around 50% of the finished film retains the concepts of his original script, while new elements introduced by other writers included the voodoo mythology angle and the character of Eddie Caputo. But ultimately, both Mancini and another screenwriter, John Lafia, were barred from the set after threatening to sue Tom Holland over a writing credit disput.
Child's Play was filmed in Chicago, Illinois for on-location scenes, with The Chicago landmark the Brewster Apartments, located at Diversey and Pine Grove, serving as the location of the apartment where Andy and Karen lived (and is pictured on the film's poster). The film used various ways to portray Chucky, including RC animatronics and little people or child actors. Various animatronics and cosmetics were used for every scene. Throughout the movie, Chucky's cosmetics transition from looking toy-like to a more human look. The film created multiple Chucky animatronics such as a flailing tantrum Chucky, a walking Chucky, and a stationary Chucky. The animatronic's face was controlled via remote control through a rig that goes on one's face and captures facial movement. All of Brad Dourif's voiceover work for Chucky was recorded in advance so they could match up Chucky's mouth with the words. Because of this, Dourif rarely ever appeared on set during the "doll" scenes and instead, recordings of his voice would be played back for Alex Vincent to go by. Also, Brad would act out the scenes with the actors before they filmed said scenes.
Child's Play was filmed in Chicago, Illinois for on-location scenes, with The Chicago landmark the Brewster Apartments, located at Diversey and Pine Grove, serving as the location of the apartment where Andy and Karen lived (and is pictured on the film's poster). The film used various ways to portray Chucky, including RC animatronics and little people or child actors. Various animatronics and cosmetics were used for every scene. Throughout the movie, Chucky's cosmetics transition from looking toy-like to a more human look. The film created multiple Chucky animatronics such as a flailing tantrum Chucky, a walking Chucky, and a stationary Chucky. The animatronic's face was controlled via remote control through a rig that goes on one's face and captures facial movement. All of Brad Dourif's voiceover work for Chucky was recorded in advance so they could match up Chucky's mouth with the words. Because of this, Dourif rarely ever appeared on set during the "doll" scenes and instead, recordings of his voice would be played back for Alex Vincent to go by. Also, Brad would act out the scenes with the actors before they filmed said scenes.
[lady notices Chucky silently sitting in the corner of the elevator]
Lady in Elevator: Ugly doll!
Chucky: [as the elevator rises up] Fuck you...
Top: Chucky is alive... and has attitude!;
Above: Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon) helps Karen to fight Chucky
During the initial release, a crowd of protesters formed around the entrance to MGM, calling for a ban on the film. They claimed it would incite violence in children. With local news reporters broadcasting live from the scene, producer David Kirschner was disturbed by what he saw. Jeffrey Hilton, who worked with Kirschner at MGM, said he could defuse the situation in ten minutes and went down and spoke to the ringleader, eventually getting the the group to disband - to the chagrin of the newscasters. Hilton never specified whether it was threats or diplomacy that saved the day, but nevertheless the damage was already done. MGM/United Artists would later disown the picture and later sold the sequel rights to rival studio Universal.
Above: Director Tom Holland on set with Alex Vincent
Child's Play was a huge commercial success, grossing $45 million at the box office against it's $9 million budget. Universal would then produce the sequel, Child's Play 2 (released on the same day as it's predecessor in 1990), picking up the story two-years after the events of the first film, where Andy (again played by Alex Vincent) is now in foster care and is adopted by Phil (Gerrit Graham) and Joanne Simpson (Jenny Agutter). "Good Guys" doll Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif) is rebuilt from scratch by the Play Pals doll company to prove there is no fault with the dolls, and Chucky once again goes after Andy. Child's Play 2 was another hit at the box office (grossing over $35 million), and Universal continued the franchise with films, Child's Play 3 (1991), Bride of Chucky (1998), Seed of Chucky (2004) and Curse of Chucky (2013).
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 69%
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