Child’s Play

A better-than-average horror remake, Child’s Play follows single mother Karen Barclay (Aubrey Plaza) as she procures a state-of-the-art toy doll for her 13-year-old son’s (Gabriel Bateman’s Andy) birthday – with terror ensuing after said doll (Mark Hamill’s Chucky) begins to go a little haywire. There’s little doubt that Child’s Play benefits substantially from a narrative that rarely feels like a straight retread of its 1988 predecessor, as scripter Tyler Burton Smith uses the basic concept of the original film as a springboard for an original and impressively relevant thriller – although, by that same token, it’s clear that the picture does come off as a little more run-of-the-mill and generic than one might’ve preferred (ie Hamill’s Chucky isn’t quite as menacing and memorable as Brad Dourif’s take on the iconic character). Filmmaker Lars Klevberg effectively alleviates the movie’s sporadically erratic atmosphere with solid visuals and a smattering of appreciatively gruesome kills, while the almost gleefully over-the-top climax (which could’ve gone even further, admittedly) ensures that the whole thing concludes on a decidedly positive note – with the end result a solid retelling of a classic ’80s horror tale that hopefully marks the beginning of a new series.

*** out of ****