To be fair to this film, when I was a child, seeing this movie at an age I definitely should not have seen it at, the idea of Chucky absolutely terrified me. So regardless of the critiques I have of this film, it's clear it did something right.
The main problem with this movie is that it tries to be two different kinds of films at once. With a movie like this, the best way to go is to have it unclear if the doll is really alive or if it's all in the kid's head. And, honestly the first half of the movie plays that incredibly well. You never actually see Chucky move or talk until about half way thru the film's. The suspense and tension behind it would be incredibly effective if it weren't for one little thing: the opening scene of the movie shows Charles Lee Ray transferring his soul into the Good Guy doll. This removes any sense of suspense the movie had going for it, so I really don't understand why it spends so long playing off that idea that maybe the kid is just making it up. It really just comes off as tedious because we all know the doll is actually alive.
Another huge flaw in this movie is that, once Chucky learns that to get out of the doll he has to transfer his soul into the first person he revealed himself to (which in and of itself is just a convenient way to get the little kid back into the movie), he has literally so many chances to go thru with the spell or voodoo ritual or whatever you want to call it; multiple times he is halfway thru the chant to transfer his soul into Andy's body, but someone else comes in the room so he stops and pretends like he's just a doll again. Why on earth would he do that? Why wouldn't he just finish the chant, get out of the doll, and get rid of the witness later? Like what?
Another huge flaw in this movie and most of its sequels is that, apparently, the longer he stays in the doll the more human he becomes. That's a fine plot thread, sure, but the thing is even though he's apparently becoming more human it seems like in actuality the longer he stays in the doll the less human he becomes, because as the movie goes on he begins to survive things no human would. He gets shot multiple times, survives a car crash, and gets set on fire and still manages to stay alive. This again falls into the biggest problem in this movie: it says or uses one thing as a plot device, but when it's executed it totally ignores said plot device.
Once again, I have to say, this movie and it's villain are absolutely iconic. There's a reason Chucky is up there with other horror villains like Jason Vorhees, Michael Meyers, And Freddie Kruger: Because the idea of a killer doll is inherently terrifying. It clearly has some timeless quality to it which scares children to this day. So for all the complaints I have about this movie, it needs to be said, it clearly struck a chord with people and has been an important staple of the horror genre for decades. Maybe it's not high art, maybe it's not objectively a good film, but if you watch it only expecting a fun little horror movie and don't take it too seriously, it's rather enjoyable.
The main problem with this movie is that it tries to be two different kinds of films at once. With a movie like this, the best way to go is to have it unclear if the doll is really alive or if it's all in the kid's head. And, honestly the first half of the movie plays that incredibly well. You never actually see Chucky move or talk until about half way thru the film's. The suspense and tension behind it would be incredibly effective if it weren't for one little thing: the opening scene of the movie shows Charles Lee Ray transferring his soul into the Good Guy doll. This removes any sense of suspense the movie had going for it, so I really don't understand why it spends so long playing off that idea that maybe the kid is just making it up. It really just comes off as tedious because we all know the doll is actually alive.
Another huge flaw in this movie is that, once Chucky learns that to get out of the doll he has to transfer his soul into the first person he revealed himself to (which in and of itself is just a convenient way to get the little kid back into the movie), he has literally so many chances to go thru with the spell or voodoo ritual or whatever you want to call it; multiple times he is halfway thru the chant to transfer his soul into Andy's body, but someone else comes in the room so he stops and pretends like he's just a doll again. Why on earth would he do that? Why wouldn't he just finish the chant, get out of the doll, and get rid of the witness later? Like what?
Another huge flaw in this movie and most of its sequels is that, apparently, the longer he stays in the doll the more human he becomes. That's a fine plot thread, sure, but the thing is even though he's apparently becoming more human it seems like in actuality the longer he stays in the doll the less human he becomes, because as the movie goes on he begins to survive things no human would. He gets shot multiple times, survives a car crash, and gets set on fire and still manages to stay alive. This again falls into the biggest problem in this movie: it says or uses one thing as a plot device, but when it's executed it totally ignores said plot device.
Once again, I have to say, this movie and it's villain are absolutely iconic. There's a reason Chucky is up there with other horror villains like Jason Vorhees, Michael Meyers, And Freddie Kruger: Because the idea of a killer doll is inherently terrifying. It clearly has some timeless quality to it which scares children to this day. So for all the complaints I have about this movie, it needs to be said, it clearly struck a chord with people and has been an important staple of the horror genre for decades. Maybe it's not high art, maybe it's not objectively a good film, but if you watch it only expecting a fun little horror movie and don't take it too seriously, it's rather enjoyable.