What scares
Andrew Goodridge?
He’s giving us a month to find out.
Follow along with Andrew as he plans to get into the spirit of his favorite holiday by watching a different horror movie every day in the month of October.
October 16
“Child’s Play” Offers Grown-Up Scares
“Child’s Play” (1988)
Directed by: Tom Holland
Screenplay by: Don Mancini
I’m glad I didn’t turn out completely maladjusted.
It seems like my age group came from parents who were surprisingly permissive in what they let us watch on TV. I remember at a very early age watching “Night of the Living Dead” over and over and over. Of course, it terrified me (and, though I have no idea why, it made me grossed out by lettuce for the longest time). I also went to see the ultra-violent “Terminator 2” in theaters for my 8th birthday. I was one of an entire generation of kids traumatized by Pennywise the Clown in “It,” which was a two-part miniseries that gave me nightmares after the first night, but I was somehow allowed to watch the second night, too. I was horrified, probably around 7 years old, as my whole family watched David Cronenberg’s “The Fly.” But I have the most vivid memory of sitting through “Child’s Play” (1988). Note that I didn’t say I have a memory of “watching” it, because, as I remember, the majority of the time I had my head buried in the couch.
“Child’s Play,” the story of a serial killer who inhabits a creepy-as-hell doll and seeks revenge against his human enemies, was widely criticized by parents’ groups at the time. And though I’m usually not one to side with reactionary parents’ groups, I have to say I kind of understand. Of course 7-year-olds were going to want to see “Child’s Play.” It was about a toy! And scary movies were cool, so our cool older siblings were going to see it, so we were of course going to want to see it, too. And, inevitably, we would, and it would scare us to death.
“Child’s Play,” like most other horror franchises (“A Nightmare On Elm Street,” “Friday the 13th,” “Hellraiser,” “Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” “Halloween”) started off the series on a mostly straight-faced, serious note before the sequels devolved into silly, horror-comedies with more and more emphasis on the comedy, and less and less emphasis on the horror. Perhaps this trend is by necessity. If an audience becomes too familiar with something scary, it immediately stops being scary. And directors are smart to throw us a healthy dose of comedy. Give the audience something to laugh at before they start laughing at you.
But I was surprised at how effective the scares were in the original. For a movie about a killer doll, the movie manages to be somewhat believable and completely avoid a campy, farcical tone that less experienced or confident filmmakers may rely on.
Which is why it’s even more surprising and impressive that “Child’s Play” screenwriter, Don Mancini, was in his early 20s when he wrote the story. I was also happy to see that Mancini has stayed active with the Chucky series, and he has a writing, co-writing, or directing credit on each of the subsequent installments. He’s also been hired to write and direct the remake, which is in the works for next year.
I mentioned earlier in this column that I admire the make-up and visual effects work of 80s artists like Stan Winston and Greg Nicotero and Tom Savini. But the effects work in “Child’s Play” was far better than I would have guessed. I hope Mancini sticks with what made the series great and insists on practical rather than computer-generated effects for the remake. I can’t imagine a CGI Chucky doll being anything but stupid.
I’ve written several times now about inspiration, mimicry, and homage. There are plenty of places where Mancini may have found a few ideas, but I imagine he was a fan of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975), the best made-for-TV horror movie I’ve ever seen. Similar to “Creepshow,” “Trilogy of Terror” is an anthology of three, short stories packed in one movie. The best of the three is about a demonic toy that turns on its owner. Like Chucky, the “Zuni voodoo doll” runs rampant with a knife and meets a similar end (no spoilers). I believe “Trilogy of Terror” is available on DVD, and the last segment would make a great double-feature with “Child’s Play.”
So might “Toy Story,” which capitalizes on the same childhood dream that our toys are just as alive as we want them to be, though in a slightly different way. Maybe “Toy Story” is best for the kids. Let them grow up a little before “Child’s Play.”
Then again, I turned out okay.
Right?
Up Next: “Frozen” (2010)
Andrew Goodridge likes movies so much that he married one. He teaches Audio/Video production, Filmmaking, and Film & Television History in Fort Worth, Texas. He would one day like to have a Pug, or maybe a Bulldog.
Andrew Goodridge can be reached at goodridge@everythingnac.com
