Castle Vanian Halloween Special: Demonic Dolls and Creepy Toys: Child's Play (1988)

I can’t believe I even have to ask this but… why Child’sPlay?

It’s a great movie! It’s well-acted and has a helluva cast. Brad Dourif has made a career out of playing a baddie. Probably his best role, though, is Chucky. I think that’s the one he’ll be remembered for.

It was kind of the first for me, the one that I’d seen like it. You’d had murderous dolls and things like that but nothing like Chucky. He was kind of a pioneer. The story… it’s not believable, maybe, but it’s very well done.

Pshaw. Don’t talk to me about believable. I had to lock all my dolls in the closet after watching Dolly Dearest as a kid and that wasn’t anywhere near as good as Child’s Play.

How old were you when you saw that one?

I don’t want to talk about it.

Any thoughts on the production quality of the film?

I don’t think it was a cheap movie to produce. I remember the first time I saw it and being so impressed with it. It all comes down to the doll, you know? If the doll doesn’t move well, you don’t have shit.

Do you have a favourite moment?

Oh, for me it’s the moment she’s going to put Chucky in the fire, and he loses the plot. You’re talking to this doll that you’ve been told that it’s alive but you believe that about as much as you believe Donald Trump’s a good politician… “Hi, my name’s Donald and I’ll be a Republican ‘til the end.” Hey, they
kinda look alike…

Shudder. That’s an image that’s not going away.

What did you like about the Chucky doll?

There’s nothing wasted on it but it’s of its time. The dolls of the time, the 80s, it’s kind of a mishmash of them all. As far back as I can remember, dolls have always talked, so that’s not that unusual. God, the stuff they can do now… you can interact with them. That was still a dream. Remember Small Soldiers? Do you remember being a kid and how amazing that would have been?

What was it happened a couple years ago where the computers were talking to themselves? There’s a warning there – and maybe there was a warning in Chucky.

Too bad no one has been listening…

Well, yeah. That’s the point, isn’t it? That’s why these movies keep working.

The Chucky films were so well done, especially the first one. It’s one of those movies that there’s just nothing you can fault it on.

What about the acting?

Alex Vincent as Andy is so believable because he's not pretentious, which would have been so easy to come across as and would have ruined it. You’ve also got Chris Sarandon, who’s good in everything he does.

And yummy.

Do you have any other thoughts on this one?

This is the best of the Child’s Play movies because you didn’t know what to expect. All of the Child’s Play movies have been good. The production qualities have been good. They’ve spent the money on them, and they’ve had good stories. They just didn’t have the element of surprise anymore.

I think Child’s Play will go on for a long time to come. It’s far from a dead franchise. There’ll be a lot more of these. I’ve heard there’s going to be a tv series… I know I’ll watch it (because I’m a sad fucker,) but I don’t know how I feel about it making that transition from film to TV.