Ranking Chucky Films From Worst To Best

3. Child's Play

There might be some who feel this should be number one simply because it was the first. However, if we're being honest, I have to put Chucky's initial outing at number three. It started the whole shebang and Dourif does a great job as always, but once you've seen the twist, it's not a movie that is very re-watchable. In the first film in the series, serial killer Charles Lee Ray is shot by Detective Mike Norris, nearing death, when he comes across a "Good Guy" doll in a toy store. As a somewhat novice student in voodoo, Ray transfers his soul to the doll and soon begins a new killing spree while attempting to possess the body of young Andy Barclay. There's a story structure mistake that happens right at the film's start that really undercuts the entire first half. The first half of the movie attempts to give the audience some doubt as to whether little Andy is telling the truth about Chucky. There is at least some effort put in to make us feel like it could be just as likely that Andy himself is the killer and making the whole story up. The point-of-view shots of the first kill especially are shot from a low vantage point, suggesting it could be a killer doll... or a small child. Andy even wears the "Good Guy" overalls, further confusing matters when a little "Good Guy" hand comes into the frame to make the kill. This suspense would be pretty cool... except the very first scene of the film shows us exactly what happened. We know that Chucky performed the spell and put himself into the doll. Either that, or Ray's dead body attracts lightning for some reason. Had the scene been inserted later as Detective Norris described the night's events after we had already discovered that the doll was alive, the first half of the movie may have had more suspense. Since it doesn't, you spend what seems like an eternity just waiting for the doll to come to life because you already know that's what's going to happen. It really dampens the experience and makes the movie feel slow and boring as you wait for the shoe to drop. Yet, once that shoe drops, it drops hard. I can't imagine the sheer anxiety experienced by the first crowds who saw this film during Chucky's coming-out scene. The scene, like the rest of the film up to that point, takes its time. Catherine Hicks is as close as she's been so far in believing her son's story, but her rational mind can't let her get there completely. She wrestles with her doubts. She tries to talk herself out of it. But, eventually, she checks the doll for batteries... and finds none! How could the doll work without batteries? Even at this point, Chucky doesn't tip his hand. Maybe she'll think it's a malfunction of the doll? There's no way she thinks he's alive, even without the batteries. Human nature will give in and she'll come up with an excuse on her own...or she'll throw it in the fireplace and watch it burn. Okay. That's it. No more play time. Chucky's face, which had been innocent and pure the entire film, suddenly comes to life with anger and panic. He screams, he bites, he yells obscenities. I'm sure audiences thought the animatronics would be good; I don't think they knew how good. Chucky is alive in that moment. Alive and p*ssed. Hicks' performance is what sells it, though. If she hadn't taken so long to come around, the shock of the moment wouldn't have had nearly as much weight. Again, the mistake the film makes is not that it takes so long to reveal Chucky, it's that it kills the suspense of that reveal by telling us from the start what the truth is. Hicks' acting is what makes it work despite the poor structure decision. From that point on, however, the film really kicks into high gear. The original Chucky puppetry work was phenomenal. As we watch the doll stand in a doorway and threaten his ex-partner, we see every muscle in his face move. We feel all of his personality through Dourif's voice. We see the various advantages to his doll form. With every kill and every swear, Chucky resuscitates the movie back to life and, in turn, provides the seed (pun only partially intended) for which the entire franchise would grow. Had Chucky not worked, either because of the effects or Dourif's performance, this would just be another silly horror movie to poke fun at. Yet, through the magic of cinema, Chucky is brought to horrible life. The efforts of all those involved turn a potentially ridiculous idea into a legitimate scare fest.