Movie review: Child's Play

Scene from Child's Play

Chucky the killer doll gets a 2019 software upgrade in this new reboot of the venerable horror franchise.

Aubrey Plaza, still best known as the deadpan April on Parks & Recreation, is fantastic, if a tad under-utilised in her first proper horror role, playing a single mum who gifts a Buddi doll to her mildly troubled 13-year-old son Andy (Gabriel Bateman). The latest in smart toy technology, Buddi dolls can walk and talk and control all your home appliances.

But this particular Buddi doll, which Andy names Chucky, has dangerously defective programming, and before long he's slicing and dicing his way through anyone he perceives as a threat to his best pal Andy.

In an odd circumstance for a reboot, the original Child's Play is still generating sequels, with an upcoming TV series continuing the seven-movie franchise that began in 1988.

This film is completely separate to that continuity, and by making Chucky an Apple-esque product (as opposed to a doll possessed by the soul of a human murderer), locating him in the context of commonplace smart-tech like Siri, it would appear to have a legitimate point of difference.

But the new Child's Play never fully exploits the potential of an Evil Alexa, mostly content to offer up a series of jarringly grisly horror sequences that wouldn't be out of place in a Saw sequel.

The novelty of the concept was nevertheless enough to carry me through the occasionally funny (but rarely witty) movie, even if the design of Chucky himself is a little too disturbing to be believable as an actual product.

Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Hamill
Director: Lars Klevberg
Running Time: 90 mins
Rating: R16 (Graphic violence and offensive language)
Verdict: Doesn't live up to the devious charm of the original, but manages to provide nasty, diversionary entertainment.