Child's Play | |
---|---|
Directed by | Tom Holland |
Screenplay by |
|
Story by | Don Mancini |
Produced by | David Kirschner |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Bill Butler |
Edited by |
|
Music by | Joe Renzetti |
Production company | |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
|
Running time | 87 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $9–13 million[1][2] |
Box office | $44.2 million[3] |
Child's Play is a 1988 American supernatural slasher film[4][5][6] directed by Tom Holland, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Don Mancini and John Lafia, and based on a story by Mancini.[7] It is the first film in the Child's Play series and the first installment to feature the character Chucky. It stars Catherine Hicks and Chris Sarandon with Brad Dourif as Chucky. Its plot follows a widowed mother who gives a doll to her son, unaware that the doll is possessed by the soul of a serial killer.
Child's Play was released in the United States on November 9, 1988, by MGM/UA Communications Co. It grossed more than $44 million against a production budget of $9 million.[8][9][2]
Along with the film gaining a cult following,[10] the box office success spawned a media franchise that includes a series of seven sequels (one of them being a television series), merchandise, comic books, and a reboot film of the same name released in June 2019. Child's Play was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,[11] although the rights to the series were sold to Universal Pictures in 1990,[12] beginning with the sequel Child's Play 2. MGM retained the rights to the first film and, as such, distributed the 2019 reboot.
Plot
Detective Mike Norris chases fugitive serial killer Charles Lee Ray through the streets of Chicago and into a toy store, after Ray is abandoned by his accomplice, Eddie Caputo. Shot by Norris and dying, Ray performs a voodoo chant to transfer his soul into a nearby Good Guy-brand talking doll. The store is struck by lightning and explodes, and Norris finds Ray's lifeless body next to the doll.
Widow Karen Barclay's six-year-old son Andy wants a Good Guy doll for his birthday, but she cannot afford one. She later buys a discounted Good Guy doll from a homeless peddler and Andy is delighted to receive it. The doll refers to itself as "Chucky". That night, Karen's best friend Maggie, who is babysitting Andy, is attacked by Chucky, causing her to fall out of a window to her death. Norris considers Andy a suspect but he claims that it was Chucky and that Chucky told him his real name was "Charles Lee Ray".
The next day, Andy skips school and takes the subway into a sketchy neighborhood in Chicago. He sneaks into Caputo's home and kills him by causing a gas explosion in revenge for Caputo abandoning him. Andy is again considered a suspect and admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Back home, Karen discovers that the doll has been moving and speaking without batteries. Chucky violently comes alive and attacks her before escaping. Karen goes to Norris but he does not believe her. She finds the peddler for more information but is almost assaulted; Norris saves her and forces the peddler to admit that he stole the doll from the destroyed toy store where Norris killed Ray.
Norris is still skeptical though Karen tries to warn him that he's next after Caputo. Sure enough, Norris is attacked by Chucky. He shoots the doll, whose wound inexplicably bleeds and causes pain. Chucky escapes to his former voodoo instructor John, demanding answers; John informs him that the longer his soul remains in the doll, the more "human" the doll will become. He refuses to help so Chucky tortures John with a voodoo doll, forcing him to reveal that in order to escape the doll's body, Chucky must transfer his soul to the first human he revealed his true identity to: Andy. Chucky leaves for Andy as Karen and Norris find a dying John. Before dying, John tells them that to kill Chucky, they must strike his heart.
Chucky arrives at the psychiatric hospital and kills Andy's doctor with an electroshock therapy device. Andy flees home, where Chucky knocks him out. As he prepares to possess him, Karen and Norris arrive. Chucky stabs Norris but Karen and Andy light him on fire. A horribly-burned Chucky attacks again, but Karen shoots him, blowing his limbs and head off. Norris' partner Jack arrives, refusing to believe the trio until Chucky's body bursts through a vent to strangle him. Norris shoots Chucky's body through the heart, finally killing him. The group leaves to get Norris to the hospital as a traumatized Andy looks back at Chucky's remains.
Cast
- Catherine Hicks as Karen Barclay
- Chris Sarandon as Detective Mike Norris
- Alex Vincent as Andy Barclay
- Dinah Manoff as Maggie Peterson
- Tommy Swerdlow as Jack Santos
- Jack Colvin as Dr. Ardmore
- Raymond Oliver as John "Dr. Death" Bishop
- Neil Giuntoli as Eddie Caputo
- Brad Dourif as Charles Lee Ray/Chucky
- Edan Gross as Friendly Chucky (voice)
- John Franklin as Walkabout Chucky
- Ed Gale as Chucky (in-suit performer)[13][14]
Additionally, Alan Wilder appears as Walter Criswell, Edan Gross as a young boy in a commercial promoting Good Guy dolls / Oscar Doll, Aaron Osborne as an orderly, Juan Ramirez as the homeless man who Karen received Chucky from, Tyler Hard as Mona, Ted Liss as George, Roslyn Alexander as Lucy
Chucky puppeteers
Production
Development
According to an interview with Mental Floss, screenwriter Don Mancini first conceived of the concept while studying as a film major at UCLA. Mancini was inspired by the consumerism of the 1980s and the effect of marketing on children based on his experiences with his father, an advertising executive.[17] Mancini's troubled relationship with his own father and his experiences of alienation as a gay man caused him to center the script around a child with a single mother and no father figure.[18] He was also influenced by the Cabbage Patch Kids, Trilogy of Terror, Magic, Poltergeist, the character of Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Twilight Zone episode "Living Doll". The film's executive producer David Kirschner, who would produce all seven films in the Chucky series, claimed in the same interview that he had wanted to make a film about a killer doll after reading The Dollhouse Murders.[17] The director Tom Holland has also affirmed that the My Buddy dolls played a role in Chucky's design.[19]
Mancini's original script was titled Batteries Not Included, with the title later changed to Blood Buddy after it was discovered that a different film with the same name was being made.[20] During production it was nearly retitled again in order to avoid confusion with Sidney Lumet's 1972 horror film of the same name.[1] It would have featured a doll filled with fake blood that would allow it to bleed if played with roughly, and it would have come alive after Andy mixed his own blood with the doll's. The doll would have represented Andy's suppressed rage, and would have targeted his enemies.[17] Mancini's original script would have been a whodunit story which dealt with the effect of advertising and television on children. Mancini's original script was also written to toy with the audience a bit longer, making it ambiguous whether Andy or Chucky was the killer.[2]
Charles Band expressed interest in filming the script, and later produced the Puppet Master franchise. The script was accepted by United Artists after studio president Tony Thomopoulous and MGM/UA Communications Chairman Lee Rich realized that it could begin a long-running series.[1] After UA purchased the script it was rewritten by John Lafia to make the character of Andy more sympathetic and after Kirschner expressed doubt that parents would buy their children a doll with fake blood. In Lafia's rewritten script Charles Lee Ray's soul would have been transferred to the doll after being executed by electric chair as the doll was being manufactured on an assembly line.[17] The script featured the doll factory where Chucky was produced, which would be recycled for the second film.[20]
Lafia wanted to direct the film after being hired for the rewrites but was turned down because he had never directed a feature-length motion picture, and the studio sought an experienced director for the production.[21] William Friedkin, Irvin Kershner, Robert Wise, Joseph Ruben, Howard Franklin, and Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel were approached to direct before Holland was hired on Steven Spielberg's recommendation from his work on Amazing Stories.[17][2] John Lithgow was considered to play Charles Lee Ray before Brad Dourif was hired after Holland worked with him in Fatal Beauty.[22][2] Initially the voice of Chucky's doll form was intended to be a simple electronic overlay similar to ordinary toys with sound chips. When this was deemed infeasible and when Dourif was initially unavailable to record Chucky's voice because of his involvement in Spontaneous Combustion, Holland cast Jessica Walter to voice Chucky on the basis that Mercedes McCambridge had voiced Pazuzu in The Exorcist.[17][23][24] Later, Walter's recordings were discarded and she was replaced with John Franklin, who completed his lines but was also replaced when Dourif returned to the film. Unlike Walter, part of Franklin's performance remains in the film through a scene in which he appears as a human television presenter dressed as a Good Guy, a scene which was shot after his replacement.[25][21]
Filming
Principal photography began on January 7, 1988, and wrapped on March 5, 1988, with a budget of $9-13 million.[1][2] Mancini never entered the set and was minimally involved in the production because of the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike.[17] Child's Play was filmed on location in Chicago. The Brewster Apartments, a Chicago landmark located at Diversey Parkway and Pine Grove Avenue, served as the location of the apartment where Andy and Karen lived and is pictured on the film's poster. In-studio filming took place at Culver Studios in Culver City, California.[2] The on-location filming was conducted in the winter with a wind chill reaching as low as −50 °F (−46 °C), forcing the production to rent entire rooms and park running station wagons near shooting locations as warming centers.[1]
Chucky's full name, Charles Lee Ray, is derived from the names of notorious killers Charles Manson, Lee Harvey Oswald, and James Earl Ray.[26][27]
Maggie's death was originally going to be by electrocution while taking a bath. The idea was abandoned, and was later used for Tiffany's death in Bride of Chucky.[27]
Chucky was controlled by a team of nine different puppeteers, led by Brock Winkless, who moved Chucky's mouth via radio control, wearing a rig that captured his mouth movement. The others were in charge of operating the doll's head, face, and limbs. By Curse of Chucky, Chucky's mouth, now performed by lead puppeteer Tony Gardner of Alterian, Inc., was now operated via a radio-control unit without the need for a rig, and the doll himself now required fewer people to bring him to life.[16][15] For scenes where Chucky had to move around in wide shots, a little-person actor in a life-sized costume, Ed Gale, would portray Chucky in scenes where the character is walking, the props on the set enlarged to fit the size of the actor.[28][29]
Visual effects
The film used various ways to portray Chucky, including radio-controlled animatronics operated by up to nine puppeteers, extras of short stature, and child actors. Kevin Yagher was in charge of the puppetry for the film.[17] Various animatronics and cosmetics were used for every scene. Throughout the film, Chucky transitions from appearing as a normal toy to appearing more human, with his hairline receding throughout the film.[17] The film created multiple Chucky animatronics such as a flailing tantrum Chucky, a walking Chucky, and a stationary Chucky. The animatronic doll's face was controlled via remote control through a rig capturing facial movement on puppeteer Brock Winkless. For some scenes Holland used short-statured actors and children such as Ed Gale and Alex Vincent's sister Ashley with forced perspective sets.[17][20]
Test screening
The film initially received negative reviews after a two-hour rough cut was shown to audiences at a test screening. Kirschner and Mancini subsequently cut 25 minutes of the film to reduce the amount of time Chucky was on screen, something Kirschner had advocated for during production to build suspense in a similar fashion to Jaws or Alien. Holland, who had repeatedly clashed with Kirschner over Chucky's amount of time on screen and the film's tone during shooting, objected to the cuts and left the production.[17][2]
The three have also suggested that the test screening flopped due to their use of Walter as the doll's voice.[2][17] They claimed that while Walter's voice was suitably menacing, she was unable to convey the humor intended for the character, and all of her lines were redubbed with Dourif's voice.[17] The cut footage, shown only in production stills and the film's script, would have featured Charles Lee Ray stalking a drunk woman as a human only to discover it to be Mike Norris on an undercover sting operation, Andy showing Chucky around his room and finding a photograph of his deceased father, John healing an infant through a voodoo ritual, and Chucky unsuccessfully trying to break into Andy's room at the mental hospital and tricking a mentally-ill girl named Mona into carrying him into the ward.
The script also featured an alternate ending in which Chucky is stabbed by Andy with a knife mounted on a radio-controlled car and has his face and legs melted with a squirt gun filled with Drano in addition to being lit on fire and shot repeatedly by Mike and Karen. Chucky would have been seemingly killed by being overpowered by Jack and several police officers. While storing Chucky's remains in an evidence room, another cop would have disbelieved Jack's assertion that the doll was alive, and after they left, Chucky's disembodied arm would have come to life to swat a fly.[30]
Music
The score was composed by Joseph Renzetti which featured a collection of electronic and orchestral elements. Portions of the soundtrack were released on vinyl in 1989 and was later followed up by another vinyl pressing by Waxwork Records that featured the complete score from the original master tapes.[31]
Release
Child's Play was produced on a budget of $9,000,000. MGM/UA made a controversial decision not to release the film during Halloween, moving the release date closer to Veterans Day weekend.[1] The film was heavily promoted for three weeks before release through television spots emphasizing audience reactions directed towards 12-to-20-year-olds and intended to “position Chucky as the new terror icon.”[1] The film was released on November 9, 1988, in 1,377 theaters, opening at #1, out of the other 12 films that were showing that week, with $6,583,963.[32] The film went on to gross $33,244,684 at the US box office and an additional $10,952,000 overseas for a worldwide total of $44,196,684.[33] It became United Artists' second highest-grossing film of 1988 following Rain Man.[17]
Home media
Child's Play was originally released on VHS in North America by MGM/UA Home Video on April 25, 1989.
The film was first released on DVD by MGM in 1999. The film was presented in an open-matte full screen presentation and included a theatrical trailer and a "Making Of" booklet. The Australian DVD release by MGM featured the film in non-anamorphic widescreen transfer. The DVD was re-released in 2007 with a lenticular cover.
A 20th Anniversary DVD was released by MGM and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on September 9, 2008.[34] The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 Widescreen format (for the first time in the U.S. in 20 years) enhanced for 16x9 monitors and includes an English 5.1 surround track and English, French, and Spanish 2.0 stereo tracks. Special features include two audio commentaries with Alex Vincent, Catherine Hicks, Kevin Yagher, producer David Kirschner and screenwriter Don Mancini, a "Selected Scene Chucky Commentary", "Evil Comes in Small Packages" featurettes, a vintage featurette from 1988 titled "Introducing Chucky: The Making of Child's Play", and "Chucky: Building a Nightmare" featurette, theatrical trailer and a photo gallery. The film received a Blu-ray Disc release on September 15, 2009. The DVD does not feature any contributions from director Tom Holland, who claims he was not asked to contribute to it. In response, the website Icons of Fright contacted Holland and asked if he would be willing to record a commentary track that would be free for download on their website. He agreed, and the track is downloadable from here.[35]
On October 8, 2013, the film was re-released again on DVD and Blu-ray in a boxset for the respective formats, containing all six Child's Play films.
On October 18, 2016, Scream Factory and MGM re-released the film in a brand new Collector's Edition Blu-ray.[36]
On October 3, 2017, Universal Home Entertainment re-released the film once again on DVD and Blu-ray in a boxset for the respective formats, containing all seven Child's Play films.
On August 16, 2022, the film was released in Ultra HD Blu-ray for the first time by Scream Factory, featuring newly-restored scans from the original camera negatives made for the first three Child's Play films in addition to Blu-rays containing new and legacy extras as well as the previously released remastered of the film from the 2016 Collector's Edition Blu-ray.[37]
Reception
Critics, who had previously been dismissive of the genre, lauded the film for its distinctive villain, unsettling puppetry work, and concise storytelling and death scenes.[38] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 74% of 53 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 6.5/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "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."[39] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[40] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[41]
Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, calling it a "cheerfully energetic horror film."[4] Caryn James of The New York Times praised it as "a clever, playful thriller," adding, "It's the deft wit and swift editing that keeps us off guard, no matter how predictable the plot."[42] Variety called the film a "near-miss", commending Tom Holland's "impressive technical skill" and the actors for keeping "straight faces during these outlandish proceedings," but finding that "the novelty is not buttressed by an interesting story to go along with the gimmick."[43]
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Scary, yet darkly funny, this thriller of the supernatural from the director of the terrific 'Fright Night' moves with the speed of a bullet train and with style to burn."[44] Dave Kehr of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 1 out of 4 stars and wrote that it "would probably be sickening if it weren't so relentlessly stupid."[45] Richard Harrington of The Washington Post wrote that Holland "keeps things moving without rushing them. Unfortunately, 'Child's Play' gets a little ugly at the end, not only because the finale seems a rehash of virtually every shock movie of the last 10 years, but because it involves the very realistic terrorizing of a 6-year-old."[46]
Philip Strick of The Monthly Film Bulletin found the plot contrived with "ludicrous supernatural gobbledygook" but thought that Holland handled the action sequences well.[47] Author and film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film three out of a possible four stars, calling it "[a] scary and clever horror thriller", also praising the film's special effects.[48]
Awards
Award | Category | Winner/Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Saturn Awards | Best Actress | Catherine Hicks | Won |
Best Horror Film | Child's Play | Nominated | |
Best Performance by a Younger Actor | Alex Vincent | Nominated | |
Best Writing | Tom Holland, John Lafia, Don Mancini | Nominated |
Controversies
During the initial release, a large crowd of protesters formed at the main entrance of MGM calling for a ban on the film because, they claimed, it would incite violence in children. Local news reporters from two TV stations were broadcasting live from the scene. The producer, David Kirschner, was watching the demonstration on TV and was disturbed. Jeffrey Hilton, who had been working in Kirschner's office at MGM, indicated that he could quell the disturbance in ten minutes. While Kirschner was watching from the safety of his office, Hilton spoke to the group's leader and shook his hand. The group instantly dispersed, much to the chagrin of the newscasters. Hilton did not reveal to Kirschner whether it had been a threat or simple diplomacy that saved the day. Tom Holland further recalled in 2023:
"I got boxes of letters from schoolchildren in Great Britain. There was an outcry against the movie where I was criticized for making children afraid of their playthings, especially the dolls, and how horrible I was."[49]
Another controversy took place in March 1989, when the film was due to be released on VHS for the first time and a 30-second television advertisement was made to promote it. In the commercial, Chucky "comes to life and begins killing, pursuing an off-screen victim, commiting aggressive acts and speaking in a threatening manner". ABC and CBS pulled the commercial from prime time because viewers (specially parents) began complaining about it being too frightening, thus it only aired at late hours. The ad also continued airing on NBC and MTM, according to Herb Fischer, the then senior vice president of domestic sales and marketing for MGM/UA.[50][51]
Hilton's diplomacy notwithstanding, the film series was plagued with accusations of inciting violence in children. Child's Play 3 was cited as the "inspiration" for two murders, which took place in the United Kingdom in December 1992 and February 1993 respectively: the murder of Suzanne Capper and the murder of James Bulger. In the Suzanne Capper case, the 16-year-old was forced to listen to recordings of the gangleader repeating the catchphrase "I'm Chucky, wanna play?"[52][53][54] Holland, in response to both murders, defended the film, stating that viewers of horror movies could only be influenced by their content if they were "unbalanced to begin with."[55]
Sequels
The film was followed by several sequels including Child's Play 2 (1990), Child's Play 3 (1991), Bride of Chucky (1998), Seed of Chucky (2004), Curse of Chucky (2013), Cult of Chucky (2017), and a television series titled Chucky (2021).
Reboot
A reboot of the franchise was announced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to be in development beginning in July 2018. Lars Klevberg served as director, from a script by Tyler Burton Smith. The film was co-produced by Seth Grahame-Smith, David Katzenberg and Aaron Schmidt. The adaptation featured a group of kids who come into contact with a modern-day hi-tech version of the Good Guys doll. The film starred Gabriel Bateman as Andy Barclay and Aubrey Plaza as his mother Karen. The film was released on June 21, 2019.
See also
- List of American films of 1988
- "Living Doll", a 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone about a murderous talking doll
- Dolls, a 1987 horror film about killer dolls
- Trilogy of Terror, a 1975 anthology film featuring a story about a living Zuni fetish doll
- Zapatlela, a 1993 Marathi language unofficial remake of Child's Play directed and written by Mahesh Kothare.[56]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Child's Play (1988)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "How Child's Play Survived Bad Test Screenings to Become a Horror Classic". The Hollywood Reporter. November 5, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
- ↑ "Child's Play". Box Office Mojo.
- 1 2 Child's Play review Ebert, Roger
- ↑ "The new Child's Play is a better sci-fi parable than a B-movie slasher". Polygon. June 21, 2019.
- ↑ The Washington Post (subscription required)
- ↑ James, Caryn (November 9, 1988). "A Killer Companion in 'Child's Play'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
- ↑ "'Child's Play': THR's 1988 Review". The Hollywood Reporter. November 2, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
- ↑ "Child's Play (1988) - Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
- ↑ "Chucky set to return in new sequel to Child's Play movies". Metro. June 25, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
- ↑ Child's Play [1988] - IGN, retrieved June 27, 2019
- ↑ "Chucky Movie Rights Explained: Why There's Two Franchise at Two Different Studios". ScreenRant. June 19, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
- ↑ "Chucky Was Played by a Real Person Exclusive Interview with Ed Gale". iHorror | Horror News and Movie Reviews. January 29, 2015.
- ↑ Navarro, Meagan (April 15, 2019). "[It Came From the '80s] How Actors and Effects Made a Killer Doll a Horror Icon in 'Child's Play'".
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Tom Holland (Director) (1988). Child's Play (DVD). United States: United Artists.
- 1 2 Cheng, Cheryl (July 30, 2015). "N. Brock Winkless IV, the Puppeteer of Chucky in 'Child's Play,' Dies at 56". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Your Friend 'Til the End: An Oral History of Child's Play". mentalfloss.com. October 28, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
- ↑ "Child's Play: How Don Mancini's Personal Life Inspired The Movie Franchise". ScreenRant. July 26, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ↑ Media, Comcast Interactive (June 21, 2013). "Director Tom Holland Reveals 'Child's Play' & 'Fright Night' Secrets - Movies". Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
- 1 2 3 Comtois, James (May 21, 2020). "Child's Play watch party reveals film's original titles and why Alex Vincent 'deserved an Oscar'". SYFY WIRE. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- 1 2 "** Reign of Chucky **". chuckybook.com. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
- ↑ "Devilish dolls scare up box office dollars". Boston Herald. June 22, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- ↑ "We cordially request the Jessica Walter cut of Child's Play". The A.V. Club. June 20, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ↑ Heigl, Alex (March 26, 2021). "Jessica Walter almost had role as Chucky in 'Child's Play,' says Tom Holland". New York Post. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ↑ "Interview: John Franklin (Children of the Corn, The Addams Family)". Tumblr. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
- ↑ Hamblin, Cory (2009). Serket's Movies: Commentary and Trivia on 444 Movies. Dorrance Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4349-9605-3.
- 1 2 Case, Lindsay (October 25, 2014). "Six Things You Didn't Know About the Child's Play Franchise". AMC. Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
- ↑ "Chucky Was Played by a Real Person Exclusive Interview with Ed Gale". iHorror | Horror News and Movie Reviews. January 29, 2015.
- ↑ Navarro, Meagan (April 15, 2019). "[It Came From the '80s] How Actors and Effects Made a Killer Doll a Horror Icon in 'Child's Play'".
- ↑ "Full text of "Child's Play (1988) Script"". archive.org. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
- ↑ Slingerland, Calum (October 15, 2019). "The Original 'Child's Play' Soundtrack Is Coming to Vinyl". Exclaim. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
- ↑ "November 11–13, 1988". boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ↑ "Child's Play". boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
- ↑ Child's Play (Anniversary Edition) on DVD Archived May 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine DVDtown.com
- ↑ "Holland Does Child's Play Commentary!". Dread Central. September 16, 2008.
- ↑ "Child's Play [Collector's Edition] - Blu-ray - Shout! Factory". www.shoutfactory.com.
- ↑ "'Child's Play': Scream Factory Fully Details 4K Ultra HD Releases of First Three Movies". June 28, 2022.
- ↑ "All Chucky Movies and Show Ranked: See Child's Play Series by Tomatometer". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
- ↑ "Child's Play". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
- ↑ "Child's Play Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Metacritic. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
- ↑ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
- ↑ James, Caryn (November 9, 1988). "A Killer Companion in 'Child's Play'". The New York Times: C19.
- ↑ "Child's Play". Variety: 18. November 9, 1988.
- ↑ Thomas, Kevin (November 9, 1988). "'Child's Play' Packed With Chills and Thrills". Los Angeles Times. Section VI, p. 3.
- ↑ Kehr, Dave (November 10, 1988). "There's enough trauma in 'Child's Play' to give any kid nightmares." Chicago Tribune. Section 5, p. 12.
- ↑ Harrington, Richard (November 10, 1988). "'Child's Play': The Doll Did It". The Washington Post. p. B17.
- ↑ Strick, Philip (June 1989). "Child's Play". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 56 (665): 174.
- ↑ Maltin, Leonard; Carson, Darwyn; Sader, Luke (2013). Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide. Penguin Press. p. 244. ISBN 978-0-451-41810-4.
- ↑ Topel, Fred (November 6, 2023). "Steven Spielberg wanted Chucky at Universal, 'Child's Play' producer says". United Press International. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
- ↑ "TV & Video". Los Angeles Times. March 24, 1989. p. 74. Retrieved November 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Price, Michael H. (April 9, 1989). "Hunter cools to acting but has a role in chiller". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 122. Retrieved November 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ January 28, 1996 Sex with 'Chucky' killer Sunday Mirror
- ↑ December 18, 1993 Horror fiction became reality The Independent
- ↑ Computers, curriculum, and cultural change: an introduction for teachers By Eugène F. Provenzo, Arlene Brett, Gary N. McCloskey. Published 1999
- ↑ December 19, 1993 Chucky films defended The Independent
- ↑ "Marathi films inspired by Hollywood". The Times of India. Retrieved December 1, 2021.