- Actors: Aubrey Plaza
- Format: NTSC
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region A/1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: RestrictedR
- Studio: Mgm (Video & DVD)
- Release Date: September 24, 2019
Hollywood had
long been obsessed with remaking popular films from the past, and the horror genre
has often been the favorite testing ground for these updated adaptations. More
often than not, the duplicate is just that, a pale imitation of the original, rarely
capable of capturing the original magic, much less creating some of its own.
With news of a Child’s Play remake, I expected this trend to continue,
particularly with news of Don Mancini disassociated himself with the film. But
considering the downward spiral of Mancini’s franchise (which continues
simultaneously with home-entertainment releases), this turned out to be a good
thing.
The wisest thing
the Child’s Play remake does is to avoid attempting to simply revisit the same
story. Instead, this new version is updated for relevance with modern times.
While the original was released as a revision of the slasher films popularized
in the 1980s, this new version’s monster is created from an abused workforce
and misguided attempts to raise children with heavy reliance on technological
assistance. This is achieved by having Chucky created by an abused and angry
factory worker, rather than the soul of a serial killer. Born not as a vengeful
supernatural doll, but instead simply a self-aware toy with safety programs
disabled.
Chucky is given to
a 13-year-old boy named Andy (Gabriel Bateman) whose over-worked mother (Aubrey
Plaza) takes the doll from the discount store she works for after it is returned
for being defective. Over-worked as she may be, Andy’s mother is unlikely to
win any ‘parent of the year’ awards, and Andy is given a lot of free time with
his new toy. When he discovers that the usual safety measures that stop Chucky
from misbehaving have been disabled, Andy makes friends with a couple of other
low-income neighbor kids and they use the toy for all kinds of troublemaking.
It isn’t until Chucky starts taking their suggestions as inspiration for his
own ideas that Andy realizes the real danger of having no safety measures to
stop his doll.
Child’s Play may
alter the character of Chucky drastically, making him more of an amoral killer
child than an immoral supernatural doll, but the wisest thing it does it retain
the humor from the original. On top of the subtle satire of an over-industrialized,
technology-reliant modern society, the film revels in the dark humor created by
the absurd set-up. This humor also helps allow director Lars Klevburg push the
violence to extreme levels without completely off-putting the audience. It is a
purposefully politically incorrect horror release, even in the seemingly insignificant
scenes, such as one involving a black customer with a racial bias against
red-heads, wanting to return the Buddi doll in anticipation of one that isn’t “ginger.”
I’m certain there are also more than a few who
will be interested in this film for the mere fact that Mark Hammill was cast to
voice Chucky. Hammill, while best known for the Star Wars franchise, has his
second-most memorable performance as the voice of Joker. Clearly having a blast
as the obliviously psychotic child-like doll, Hammill brings a whole new level
of twisted humor to the premise. All in all, the Child’s Play remake finds a
perfect balance between sick entertainment and biting social satire.
The Blu-ray release
of Child’s Play comes with a commentary track by Klevberg, while most of the
remaining extras are simply promotional material. There are two brief
featurettes; a making-of, and one about the film’s effects. There are also a couple
of shorts and other marketing promos.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7.5/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
Special Features: 6.5/10
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