Child’s Play review — the remake is gory, ridiculously inventive and funny

IF there’s one thing we should thank ‘Stranger Things’ for it’s opening the door for the tidal wave of 80s nostalgia that has followed.

With this remake of the 1988 slasher classic, we not only revisit the terrifying world of Chucky, but get a reminder of some good old fashioned gory horror, in the same vein as Gremlins and Critters.

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We’re in a version of modern day where Kaslan — a Tesla/Google hybrid, control our homes, phones and lives. They also produce Buddi, a wildly popular robot toy, who promises to be your child’s best friend. With the eagerly anticipated Buddi 2 just around the corner, widowed mum Karen Barclay manages to persuade her boss at Zed Mart to allow her to take home a returned original version for her son Andy.

All seems fine, although it is clearly defective (in the original the doll was possessed by the soul of a serial killer - here a disgruntled employee has tinkered with the settings) and slowly but surely, the doll’s murderous tendencies start to show themselves in the most hilariously gory ways imaginable.

Whilst it’s a pretty straightforward slasher flick with a modern twist, I honestly had such a good time. It is SO gory, so ridiculously inventive and very, very funny.

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It seems daft to call into question plausibility (although it clearly intends us to think about where we’re heading with autonomy), some bits don’t ring completely true - the doll itself wouldn’t sell in a million years — it looks a bit crap. It also flits from walking like a doll to being able to leap in the air holding a cleaver - but I get it, you don’t buy a ticket for this to stroke your beard at the facts - you want blood (and boy do you get it).

Mark Hammill voices Chucky very well indeed and is also the butt of a few Star Wars gags throughout (Chucky has some rather Jedi-esque skills) and Brian Tyree Henry delivers once more.

You’d think it insane to be pitting a film about a sentient child’s toy up against Toy Story 4, but for kids a little too old (or at least pretending to be), this is an absolute blast. Daft, scary and pretty gross.

Child's Play (15)

★★★★☆