Child's Play Review: 6 Ups & 3 Downs
1. The Surprisingly Sharp Cinematography
Though this new Child's Play was made on a relatively slender budget - estimated to be around $10 million, scarcely more than the original cost in 1988 - it's a surprisingly handsome and well-mounted movie for the most part.
While Klevberg is undeniably constricted by the script's limitations, he nevertheless deploys some imaginative shot selections to make the most of Chucky's creepiness, ensuring the film is constructed with a greater sense of style than just about anyone likely expected.
Cinematographer Brendan Uegama does a fine job lighting the film to take full advantage of Chucky's blue/red eyes piercing through the darkness, which proves creative and chilling enough that you might be left wishing the script were a little less reliant on genre tropes overall.
Given that nobody's going to a Child's Play movie for the sharp lensing, that the film doesn't look like your average cut-and-paste horror remake is certainly refreshing.