Child's Play Review (Film, 2019)

content warning: cruelty to animals, violence against children, child abuse, violence against women, gore

Robert here. I’ll spoil it right now. They kill the pet cat in this film. You also see the cat get attacked by Chucky in a separate scene. This film is just…it’s a lot of choices.

There’s room for more than one version of the same kind of story in the world. A remake is not going to be bad just because it’s a remake. Some of the most iconic horror films of all time are remakes, including John Carpenter’s The Thing and David Cronenberg’s The Fly. If there’s a way to make an old story new again, especially in a genre driven by so much social commentary.

Child’s Play is one of those slasher series I didn’t exactly grow up with. I was too young to see the original two in theatres, but not so young that I was unaware of the film series existence. Those early trailers are in heavy rotation in my memory with the Leprechaun series and Candyman. By the time I could get my hands on it, I had already been driven to the more traditional slasher by the Sci-Fi (now SyFy) channel airing Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street (the sequels, naturally—why would they have the originals?). I think the series found its voice with Bride of Chucky. Giving the murderous doll a partner with emotional stakes in the story created a more dynamic universe than serial killer trapped in doll kills for the joy of it.

The Child’s Play remake tries to be a little bit of everything. It’s social commentary on conglomerates and the necessity of interconnected technology in our lives. It’s a heartwarming (at times) story of a boy and his mom trying to get a fresh start in a new city. It’s an evil doll film with an ambulatory-by-design piece of technology set to have free will. It also riffs on some of the themes in the original series, including the reliability of child testimony in criminal cases and the power of imagination.

If this seems like a lot of ground to cover in a 90 minute horror film, you’re right. The biggest problem with the Child’s Play remake is the desire to hit on every possible angle on this story. Tyler Burton Smith’s screenplay has enough ideas for an entire series of films starting with this remake. None of them have enough time to breathe and thrive onscreen. The film lacks a sense of rhythm, playing more like a pastiche of horror clichés retold through the lens of a killer doll. The ideas are great, and the film has some really wonderful moments. They just don’t really add up to a coherent whole.

Lars Klevberg’s direction is quite good scene to scene. Each disparate scene has a clear tone and purpose to itself. They’re all just in conflict with each other. I’ve not had review notes with so many different ups and downs in a single horror film before. The film is, at times, “wholesome,” “weird,” “cute,” “uncomfortable,” “gory,” and “silly.” I will say Child’s Play confirms my suspicions about Klevberg’s other film Polaroid. When he’s not held back, he produces some truly terrifying scare and gore scenes.

Child’s Play really feels like it was making a big swing for as wide an audience as possible. There are times that it’s a goofy, child-friendly horror film like Gremlins. There are also times where it has gore scenes that would make the Saw franchise blush. There’s social commentary on contemporary issues of representation, disability access, modern policing in America, capitalism, adaptive AI technology, and the loss of privacy in the digital age. These can all be great areas to work in for horror. I just think it’s too much for this story. When it comes down to it, it’s an evil toy/doll film. If you put too much thought into it, the premise starts to fall apart.

I’m curious to see what direction Child’s Play goes in if the 2019 remake gets any sequels. There are unresolved issues to explore. There’s also a strong ensemble of survivors to play with in a future sequel. The bones are there for something great. This particularly remake just falls a bit short due to its own ambition.

Child’s Play (2019) is currently streaming on Hulu.

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