IMDb > Child's Play (1988)
Child's Play
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Child's Play (1988) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 3)
Child's Play (1988) -- Young Andy Barclay gets the doll he wanted. However, he did not know it was alive!
Child's Play (1988) -- MattTrailer.com - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
6.2/10   14,409 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 29% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Don Mancini (story)
Don Mancini (screenplay) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for Child's Play on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
9 November 1988 (USA) more
Tagline:
You'll wish it was only make-believe. more
Plot:
Young Andy Barclay gets the doll he wanted. However, he did not know it was alive! full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
1 win & 3 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(95 articles)
NCIS Preview: "Child's Play"
 (From TVfanatic. 22 November 2009, 8:43 AM, PST)

Thing To Do In Denver If You're Alive: Gaming Event For Charity Tonight
 (From MTV Multiplayer. 19 November 2009, 1:00 PM, PST)

User Comments:
"Give me the power, I beg of you!" more (231 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Batteries Not Included (USA) (working title)
Blood Brother (USA) (working title)
Blood Buddy (USA) (working title)
more
Runtime:
87 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Original writer Don Mancini stated in an interview that his original script toyed with the audience a bit longer, making them wonder if young Andy was the killer rather than Chucky. This idea was used by Kevin Tenney in Pinocchio's Revenge (1996). more
Goofs:
Factual errors: Towards the end of the movie while Andy's mother is looking for the man who sold the doll to her, she finds him and asks him if he remembered her. She says she had bought the doll the day before when in actuality she bought it days ago. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Mike Norris: I got the strangler! Wabash and Van Buren.
more
Movie Connections:
References "She-Ra: Princess of Power" (1985) more
Soundtrack:
SECOND SIGHT more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
13 out of 17 people found the following comment useful.
"Give me the power, I beg of you!", 26 January 2004
8/10
Author: Scott LeBrun from Winnipeg, Canada

Young Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) receives a Good Guy doll for his birthday; unfortunately, this particular doll is now housing the spirit of psychotic murderer and thief Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif), who was gunned down inside a toy store. Ray, or "Chucky" as he is also known, learns that he has to transfer his soul into Andy's body in order to get out of the doll, and spends the rest of the movie terrorizing the poor little kid.

"Chucky" is now a bona fide horror icon and one of the premiere characters of the slasher genre. Thanks to Dourif's vocal performance and the efforts of a talented effects team, "Chucky" is brought to vivid and scary life.

"Child's Play" is a surprisingly well-made movie in terms of acting, directing, scoring, and editing. I know there are people who believe it to be criminally inept, but I know it was a shock for me when I watched it for the first time, many years ago, and I saw the scene of Chucky coming alive in Karen's (Catherine Hicks) hands. I mean, one second, you've got this harmless, dopey looking, silent plastic toy and all of a sudden it's screaming profanity and threatening to kill someone. I actually happen to think that the film has scenes of genuine suspense, and prefer this sort of horror to the trendy variety of junk that comes out in the post "Scream" era that is always self-referential and obsessed with the pop culture of the times.

I think that it's fun. It's a straightforward little horror thriller made with a fair amount of style. It has a mostly decent script except for some implausibilities (How is it the doll is always able to reach doorknobs and elevator buttons, for one thing?).

It reunites director Tom Holland with Chris Sarandon, the vampire of "Fright Night", and Dourif, who played the trigger-happy psycho in the director's failed action-comedy "Fatal Beauty".

Star Catherine Hicks and "Chucky" designer Kevin Yagher married two years later.

8/10

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Child's Play (1988)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Best one-liners from all Chucky movies roguetrip99
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The score music roger-borjesson
Tom Holland excluded from the DVD eric-going
Was the mom an architect or an artist? StoicBlade
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