Child’s Play 2019 caught me off guard. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. I was not expecting the gory deranged piece of reimagination that is this film. The film smartly takes just the concept of a “killer possessed doll” and reconfigures it as a “killer AI doll” well before Megan murdered/danced/killed her way into the horror fandom’s collective hearts. Though this Chucky doesn’t dance but he does indeed murder/sing/kill (singing is effectively creepy).
Karen (Aubrey Plaza) and her son Andy (Gabriel Bateman) have moved to Chicago after the recent passing of Andy’s father. Andy is trying to adjust to life but isn’t doing so well. Karen, through a series of events, gets Andy a Buddi Doll. Buddi is the newest advancement in AI tech from the Kaslan Corporation which can like Alexa or Siri connect to other Kaslan tech like drones, phones, TVs, and Computers. What neither knows is that this Buddi has had its “safety features” removed at the plant in Vietnam. Andy naming this Buddi Chucky (voiced by Mark Hamill) begins to open the world to Andy to friendship and more. The more begins to become a problem as Chucky begins to take vengeance on those, he feels are interrupting his “play time” with Andy.
The presence and power of Stranger Things is felt with this reinteraction of the wildly popular Movie and TV series. The film’s Andy is no longer an 8-year-old but a preteen, who gets a group of friends. The group of kids on an adventure mentality is definitely at play throughout this film. Though the film is not Stranger Things or Goonies by a long shot. This is the type of film that has a scalped face the kids discover (a gift from Chucky) and must deal with. Not the kind of PG-13 antics from those kid-based adventure stories.
Though the gore… the glorious gore in this film is a horror fan’s dream. The film does not shy away from the kind of cringe-inducing gore FX set pieces that delight fans. When Chucky does indeed go dark the blood and chunks indeed fly and fly in spectacular fashion. Kudos to MastersFX for their practical Animatronics and Gore FX work which is effectively executed.
With any Child’s Play film, the biggest question is the little guy himself Chucky. As played by Mark Hamill this Chucky is … less operatic than Brad Douriff’s ironically arched portrayal. Hamill’s Chucky is not anywhere near the self-aware Chuck that Douriff plays but rather has been drawn from the creepy “Talking Tina” mold of killer dolls. Hamill’s low-key performance adds to the creepy factor of an already creepy and jaunty redesign of the doll itself. It’s effective but not what one would expect from a film called Child’s Play.
The oddest part of the film is the casting of Plaza as Andy’s mother. The actor does a great job at the type of sarcastic and dry delivery here in those moments that allow it. Her mother is less motherly and more confused about her role in her son’s life. It’s definitely a choice and Plaza does the best she can with it, but it feels like her heart just isn’t in it like the rest of the cast.
Child’s Play in its 2019 flavor is for the most part successful because it chooses not to be a beat-for-beat remake of the original (more than likely for legal reasons). Its grand guignol style kills along with some clever story beats make this one an unexpected delight that horror fans may find themselves enjoying more than they may think.
The Transfer
The all-new 4K Restoration from the Original Master in Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible) is near perfect. Much like their recent Willy’s Wonderland 4K UHD release, Child’s Play in its 4K iteration is dazzling. The transfer is sharp with no blemishes or issues. This digitally shot production (using mostly the Arri Alexa Mini) in UHD is a colorfully saturated image with amazing black and contrast levels that pop in UHD.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC ONE (4K UHD):
Audio Commentary With Director Lars Klevberg
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY):
Audio Commentary With Director Lars Klevberg
NEW “Beautiful Darkness” – Production Designer Dan Hermansen on Child’s Play
NEW “A New Start” – Actor Gabriel Bateman on Child’s Play
NEW “Head Of The Patch” – Actor David James Lewis on Child’s Play
The Making of Child’s Play
Bringing Child’s Play‘s Chucky To Life
Soundtrack Trailer
Lee Hardcastle Claymations
Gallery
Theatrical Trailer
The archival Audio Commentary with Director Lars Klevberg opens with a discussion of the commercial that opens the film. Some of the other details from the track include the production schedule and shooting in Toronto – including the prologue set in Vietnam; a discussion of why he decided to direct the film – including a discussion of the script itself; how both E.T. and Let the Right One In influenced this Child’s Play; casting Aubrey Plaza; casting Brian Tyree Henry; working with both Plaza and Henry and what they brought to the film; working with animatronics and how difficult it was; the score by Bear McCreary – the quick turnaround it took to produce; the work of cinematographer Brendan Uegama – how he was able to add color without compromising the darker look of the image; his storyboarding process; the original Christmas time setting and how they changed it; a larger discussion throughout about the various kills/set pieces and how they were accomplished; and much more. Klevberg delivers an informative track that has little to no silences throughout.
“A New Start” – Actor Gabriel Bateman on Child’s Play (10:55) – in this all-new interview with the actor who plays Andy opens with his approach to playing the role. Some of the other details include the differences in the 2019 vs the original; working with Plaza and Henry; working with the other younger actors; the pranks that he and the other actors pulled on them – including Plaza and Henry; working with director Klevsberg; and much more.
“Head Of The Patch” – Actor David James Lewis on Child’s Play (8:59) – in this all-new interview with the actor who plays Karen’s Boyfriend begins with how he was cast and the casting process. Some of the other details include his career where he’s played for a large part of his career playing bad guys; working with director Klevsberg; his time on set during the production – including his first day on set; working with Plaza; his work with the makeup FX and his kill; and much more.
“Beautiful Darkness” – Production Designer Dan Hermansen on Child’s Play (12:40) – in this all-new interview with the production designer begins with the tricky waters they needed to navigate to make sure that their production differed from the original for legal reasons. Some of the other details include the speed at which he needed to move on this lower budget production; the various sets they built within studio and the locations they found for the production; the reasons they decided to use sets; a breakdown of the various sets and locations they used in the production; and much more.
The Making of Child’s Play (5:05) – an EPK-style making-of that discusses the changes made for the modern era for a new Child’s Play. Featuring interviews with director Klevberg, producer Seth Gramme-Smith, actors Brian Tyree Henry, Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, and others.
Bringing Child’s Play’s Chucky To Life (4:28) – an all-too-brief look at the various techniques and work that went into making this new iteration of Chucky. With comments by director Klevberg, Stars Aubrey Plaza, Brian Tyree Henry, and others.
Soundtrack Trailer (3:15) – as much a trailer as it is a music video featuring composer Bear McCreary. Think of the music videos that horror master John Carpenter has been recently directing for his and his son Cody’s work.
Lee Hardcastle Claymations
Toy Massacre (0:48) – a truly funny (very violent) bit of animation where Chucky is unleashed onto the toys in Andy’s room.
A.I. Mayhem (0:46) – another bit of demented animation that has Chucky’s programming/A.I. taking over various household products to murderous effect.
Gallery (1:16) – a still gallery consisting of 14 production stills that run automatically. The gallery can be navigated using your next or back chapter stop buttons and paused using your pause button as well.
Theatrical Trailer (1:02)
The Final Thought
Scream has done it again by giving us an upgrade to an existing title in every sense of the word with both an upgraded 4K picture and new and archival special features. Recommended for any horror fan!
Child’s Play gets a new layer of plastic in this 2019 remake. Scream Factory has given us a 4K UHD upgrade with a new picture restoration and extras.
The Film
Child’s Play 2019 caught me off guard. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. I was not expecting the gory deranged piece of reimagination that is this film. The film smartly takes just the concept of a “killer possessed doll” and reconfigures it as a “killer AI doll” well before Megan murdered/danced/killed her way into the horror fandom’s collective hearts. Though this Chucky doesn’t dance but he does indeed murder/sing/kill (singing is effectively creepy).
Karen (Aubrey Plaza) and her son Andy (Gabriel Bateman) have moved to Chicago after the recent passing of Andy’s father. Andy is trying to adjust to life but isn’t doing so well. Karen, through a series of events, gets Andy a Buddi Doll. Buddi is the newest advancement in AI tech from the Kaslan Corporation which can like Alexa or Siri connect to other Kaslan tech like drones, phones, TVs, and Computers. What neither knows is that this Buddi has had its “safety features” removed at the plant in Vietnam. Andy naming this Buddi Chucky (voiced by Mark Hamill) begins to open the world to Andy to friendship and more. The more begins to become a problem as Chucky begins to take vengeance on those, he feels are interrupting his “play time” with Andy.
The presence and power of Stranger Things is felt with this reinteraction of the wildly popular Movie and TV series. The film’s Andy is no longer an 8-year-old but a preteen, who gets a group of friends. The group of kids on an adventure mentality is definitely at play throughout this film. Though the film is not Stranger Things or Goonies by a long shot. This is the type of film that has a scalped face the kids discover (a gift from Chucky) and must deal with. Not the kind of PG-13 antics from those kid-based adventure stories.
Though the gore… the glorious gore in this film is a horror fan’s dream. The film does not shy away from the kind of cringe-inducing gore FX set pieces that delight fans. When Chucky does indeed go dark the blood and chunks indeed fly and fly in spectacular fashion. Kudos to MastersFX for their practical Animatronics and Gore FX work which is effectively executed.
With any Child’s Play film, the biggest question is the little guy himself Chucky. As played by Mark Hamill this Chucky is … less operatic than Brad Douriff’s ironically arched portrayal. Hamill’s Chucky is not anywhere near the self-aware Chuck that Douriff plays but rather has been drawn from the creepy “Talking Tina” mold of killer dolls. Hamill’s low-key performance adds to the creepy factor of an already creepy and jaunty redesign of the doll itself. It’s effective but not what one would expect from a film called Child’s Play.
The oddest part of the film is the casting of Plaza as Andy’s mother. The actor does a great job at the type of sarcastic and dry delivery here in those moments that allow it. Her mother is less motherly and more confused about her role in her son’s life. It’s definitely a choice and Plaza does the best she can with it, but it feels like her heart just isn’t in it like the rest of the cast.
Child’s Play in its 2019 flavor is for the most part successful because it chooses not to be a beat-for-beat remake of the original (more than likely for legal reasons). Its grand guignol style kills along with some clever story beats make this one an unexpected delight that horror fans may find themselves enjoying more than they may think.
The Transfer
The all-new 4K Restoration from the Original Master in Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible) is near perfect. Much like their recent Willy’s Wonderland 4K UHD release, Child’s Play in its 4K iteration is dazzling. The transfer is sharp with no blemishes or issues. This digitally shot production (using mostly the Arri Alexa Mini) in UHD is a colorfully saturated image with amazing black and contrast levels that pop in UHD.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC ONE (4K UHD):
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY):
The archival Audio Commentary with Director Lars Klevberg opens with a discussion of the commercial that opens the film. Some of the other details from the track include the production schedule and shooting in Toronto – including the prologue set in Vietnam; a discussion of why he decided to direct the film – including a discussion of the script itself; how both E.T. and Let the Right One In influenced this Child’s Play; casting Aubrey Plaza; casting Brian Tyree Henry; working with both Plaza and Henry and what they brought to the film; working with animatronics and how difficult it was; the score by Bear McCreary – the quick turnaround it took to produce; the work of cinematographer Brendan Uegama – how he was able to add color without compromising the darker look of the image; his storyboarding process; the original Christmas time setting and how they changed it; a larger discussion throughout about the various kills/set pieces and how they were accomplished; and much more. Klevberg delivers an informative track that has little to no silences throughout.
“A New Start” – Actor Gabriel Bateman on Child’s Play (10:55) – in this all-new interview with the actor who plays Andy opens with his approach to playing the role. Some of the other details include the differences in the 2019 vs the original; working with Plaza and Henry; working with the other younger actors; the pranks that he and the other actors pulled on them – including Plaza and Henry; working with director Klevsberg; and much more.
“Head Of The Patch” – Actor David James Lewis on Child’s Play (8:59) – in this all-new interview with the actor who plays Karen’s Boyfriend begins with how he was cast and the casting process. Some of the other details include his career where he’s played for a large part of his career playing bad guys; working with director Klevsberg; his time on set during the production – including his first day on set; working with Plaza; his work with the makeup FX and his kill; and much more.
“Beautiful Darkness” – Production Designer Dan Hermansen on Child’s Play (12:40) – in this all-new interview with the production designer begins with the tricky waters they needed to navigate to make sure that their production differed from the original for legal reasons. Some of the other details include the speed at which he needed to move on this lower budget production; the various sets they built within studio and the locations they found for the production; the reasons they decided to use sets; a breakdown of the various sets and locations they used in the production; and much more.
The Making of Child’s Play (5:05) – an EPK-style making-of that discusses the changes made for the modern era for a new Child’s Play. Featuring interviews with director Klevberg, producer Seth Gramme-Smith, actors Brian Tyree Henry, Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, and others.
Bringing Child’s Play’s Chucky To Life (4:28) – an all-too-brief look at the various techniques and work that went into making this new iteration of Chucky. With comments by director Klevberg, Stars Aubrey Plaza, Brian Tyree Henry, and others.
Soundtrack Trailer (3:15) – as much a trailer as it is a music video featuring composer Bear McCreary. Think of the music videos that horror master John Carpenter has been recently directing for his and his son Cody’s work.
Lee Hardcastle Claymations
Gallery (1:16) – a still gallery consisting of 14 production stills that run automatically. The gallery can be navigated using your next or back chapter stop buttons and paused using your pause button as well.
Theatrical Trailer (1:02)
The Final Thought
Scream has done it again by giving us an upgrade to an existing title in every sense of the word with both an upgraded 4K picture and new and archival special features. Recommended for any horror fan!
Scream Factory’s 4K UHD Edition of Child’s Play is out March 19th
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