When I was younger, this movie hit major cities but never made the small burg where I live. Beau Bridges was able to play young innocent roles then. I loved it most because the Catholic Church was playing host to., really, this wonderful horror movie. It was shot like many horror shows I've seen. Quality was as good as the Haunting of Hill House, a very high quality horror film of the early 60s. I was happy to see it just starting on Fox Movies channel when I arrived home tonight. I was riveted. Loved the give and take all the way to the end. But the end was a turnabout like a hundred similar turnabouts, with the obvious turned upside down by a revealing, riveting end piece. Yes, I wanted a surprise ending. But beyond that, as a lapsed Catholic since first grade, I enjoyed seeing the Church get what amounted to what in the seventies would've been an unfair bashing. I went to Catholic school for five years. I'd endured the enormous fear the Church sold then. Recent statements by Pope Francis and errant priest scandals in dioceses everywhere have brought home the realization that all Catholic dioceses in the world have been subject to priests taking up with children, men, women, anyone walking, really. The Church in America is taking a steep dive in members as we speak because of the new understanding. The Church was founded in the First Century. Priests at first married. The Church divided into different branches, the new branches not part of the Roman Church. By the 4th century celibacy was becoming mandatory in the surviving Roman Church. But it didn't become uniform until the 11th century. Given the nature of human beings I think one can assume a great many priests began violating the celibacy rule immediately. Covering up scandals has likely been part of the duty of Catholic dioceses for centuries. The backdrop of a boys school run by the Church is not accidental in Child's Play. Schools run by men in the priesthood have inherently had great potential for scandal, whether driven by sexual scandal or something else.
Review of Child's Play
