In the Child’s Play film franchise, the original Child’s Play film was released in 1988. The movie introduces Chucky, a serial killer whose soul is transferred into a Good Guys doll through a voodoo ritual.
Directed by Tom Holland and written by Don Mancini and John Lafia, the film combines slasher horror with the unsettling idea of a child’s toy becoming dangerous. Catherine Hicks plays Karen Barclay, and Alex Vincent plays her young son Andy, who receives the doll as a birthday present.
Brad Dourif provides Chucky’s voice and returned for the character’s later film appearances. The first movie initially allows doubt about whether Andy is telling the truth, building tension around the possibility that the doll is alive.
The 1988 release is sometimes confused with later entries that changed the tone or title. Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky lean more heavily into dark comedy, while Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky return closer to the series’ horror roots. The television series Chucky premiered decades later, in 2021.