Child's Play

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Child's Play

R

Released Nov 9, 1988

1h 27m

Horror

Fantasy

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

64%

Tomatometer

94 Reviews

65%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

Gunned down by Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon), dying murderer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) uses black magic to put his soul inside a doll named Chucky -- which Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks) then buys for her young son, Andy (Alex Vincent). When Chucky kills Andy's baby sitter, the boy realizes the doll is alive and tries to warn people, but he's institutionalized. Now Karen must convince the detective of the murderous doll's intentions, before Andy becomes Chucky's next victim.

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Critics Consensus

Child's Play occasionally stumbles across its tonal tightrope of comedy and horror, but its genuinely creepy monster and some deft direction by Tom Holland makes this chiller stand out on the shelf.

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Donna Britt

USA Today

Unfortunately, [Child's] Play isn't campy or fun, either. It's not much of anything at all.

Jun 6, 2025

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Harper Barnes

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Has the marks of a cult horror hit.

Jun 6, 2025

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Jay Carr

Boston Globe

Child's Play is junk fun.

Jun 5, 2025

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John Wooley

Tulsa World

Scripters Don Mancini, John Lafia and Holland himself do score points for showing that they can make at least a fairly scary movie by deft scene construction and the use of suspense rather than gore.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 6, 2025

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Stephen Hunter

Baltimore Sun

There's something debasing in this: You feel like the director isn't an artist or an entertainer so much as simply a bully.

Rated: 2/4

Jun 6, 2025

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Bob Ross

Tampa Tribune

Brad Dourif, a veteran at demented characterizations, is amusing and chilling as the dying Chucky and the creepy doll's voice.

Rated: 2.5/4

Jun 6, 2025

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Jhonathan

Amazing movie highly recommend it

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/06/23

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Neil

Classic mix of funny and sinister

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/06/23

Full Review

Jacob W

A horror classic that goes too disturbingly dark with the spiritual at times, but delivers an original and entertaining film. Particularly enjoyable are the special effects, whether Chucky is played by a costumed actor or animated by impressive animatronics. The original in the famed killer doll series is still the best. Brad Dourif brings life to the character and becomes Chucky from the get go. This was the good old days when the character was supposed to be dark and scary instead of being half comedy, and when the good guys were pure and prevailed over the evil villain in the end.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/14/22

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Daniel Pimienta

Massive fan of Chucky. Was awesome watching the original in a packed theatre.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/12/22

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Rich J

Interesting premise and generally well done. So much better than the sequels.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/12/25

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Shaun R

Without doubt one of the great horror films. Don’t get me wrong, Chucky is very funny, but he becomes more of a comedy act in the latter films. This is one pee’d off iconic horror character at his finest. The 80s puppetry effects are infinitely more effective than the stupid CGI nowadays.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

06/11/25

Full Review

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Tom Holland

Director

Catherine Hicks

Karen Barclay

Chris Sarandon

Mike Norris

Alex Vincent

Andy Barclay

Brad Dourif

Charles Lee Ray

Dinah Manoff

Maggie Peterson

Child's Play: Official Clip - Charred Chucky

2:10

Child's Play: Official Clip - Batter Up!

1:09

Child's Play: Official Clip - Chucky Doesn't Need Batteries

2:05

Child's Play: Official Clip - This Is the End, Friend

2:13

Child's Play: Official Clip - Chucky Attacks Mike

1:48

Child's Play: Official Clip - Dr. Death's Voodoo

2:13

Child's Play: Official Clip - Frying the Doctor

2:06

Child's Play: Official Clip - Chucky Dies

1:42

Child's Play: Official Clip - You Can't Hurt Me

1:17

Child's Play: Official Clip - Chucky Escapes

2:01

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Synopsis

Gunned down by Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon), dying murderer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) uses black magic to put his soul inside a doll named Chucky -- which Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks) then buys for her young son, Andy (Alex Vincent). When Chucky kills Andy's baby sitter, the boy realizes the doll is alive and tries to warn people, but he's institutionalized. Now Karen must convince the detective of the murderous doll's intentions, before Andy becomes Chucky's next victim.

Director: Tom Holland
Producer: David Kirschner
Screenwriter: Don Mancini, John Lafia, Tom Holland
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: United Artists
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 9, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $32.8M
Runtime: 1h 27m
Sound Mix: Surround

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