The 2019 movie Child’s Play is a reimagining of the classic 1980’s horror film that spawned a hit franchise. Kaslan Corp is massive company that offers a wide varied of consumer electronics products to help with all aspects of daily life, all connected via the cloud. One of their latest inventions is Buddi, an interactive doll that has an advanced AI learning chip, and is designed to become a child’s best friend. The doll has been designed with all sorts of safety precautions and restrictions to make sure it is safe and can’t do or say anything that harmful or offensive. However, a removing all of these restrictions from one of the toys before it shipped out. This doll ends up in the hands of 13-year-old Andy (Gabriel Bateman), whose mother Karen (Aubrey Plaza) gave him the toy as an early birthday present. Andy and his mother just moved to a new apartment, and Andy has been a bit of a loner, always keeping to himself and not socializing with the other kids. When Andy first turns on his Buddi doll, it announces that his name is Chucky, and the two quickly become the best of friends. Chucky is eager to please his new best friend, and studies Andy to learn his likes and dislikes. However, Chucky takes things a little too literally, and starts to resort to more violent means in a misguided attempt to bring Andy happiness. When Andy does start meeting and hanging out with the other kids in his build, Chucky also starts to grow jealous when Andy would rather hand out with his new friends. As the body count starts to rise, Andy’s not sure how to put a stop to his toy’s murderous actions. After all, Chucky is doing all of this for him.

This new version of Child’s Play takes a very different approach than the original film series—one that feels a lot more grounded, realistic and plausible. In the original films, Chucky was possessed by the spirit of a deceased serial killer, who was using his new lease on life to satisfy his bloodlust. This time around, Chucky is not a sadistic killer —at least he doesn’t start that way. He is just an advanced learning doll trying to do what he’s been programmed to do—be the best friend he can be to Andy. However, all of his language, violence and safety restrictions were removed, so he doesn’t really understand the difference between right and wrong. And when he does get up to no god, Chucky is also cloud-connected, which means he has access to all sorts of electronics inside and outside the house that he can manipulate for nefarious and deadly purposes. In his misguided attempts to help Andy and be his best friend, Chucky starts to commit acts of violence, removing anyone or anything that hurts Andy in any way, or who poses a threat to their friendship.

Gabriel Bateman is great as Andy, and holds his own against the film’s bigger star, Chucky. He really sells that he is being threated by this seemingly-sentient doll, and scared of what what Chucky might do. Star Wars legend Mark Hamill provides the voice of Chucky, and does an excellent job of giving this toy both a sinister and an innocent feel. You actually feel some sympathy for this doll as he sees that his best friend doesn’t want to hang out with him…and then you remember that he’s a remorseless killer. Aubrey Plaza feels a little underutilized as Andy’s mother Karen. Once Chucky arrives, she falls more into the background as the film becomes more about Andy and Chucky. The cast also includes Brian Tyree Henry as police officer Mike, whose mother Doreen (Carlease Burke) lives in the building, and David James Lewis as Shane, Karen’s boyfriend who isn’t really that fond of Andy and vice-versa.

I really enjoyed this reimagination of the franchise. The new doll looks a bit more modern than his 80’s counterpart, but is just as fun and loveable at the start, while also really creepy other times (especially as those eyes glow red and you know he’s up to no good). I enjoyed the more grounded aspect of Chucky’s origin story, and how he’s not inherently evil. There is this naivete and innocence to Chucky—his intentions are usually good, but he just doesn’t understand the morality and gravity of his actions. Whereas in the original films, Chucky is a straight up serial killer, who’s just pretending to be a sweet, innocent doll until he can commit his next murder. While this film does feel self-contained, I would certainly welcome additional Child’s Play films with this new AI-run-amok version of Chucky.

Scream Factory’s 4K release features a new 4K restoration from the original master, which is used for both of the included 4K and Blu-ray discs. The result looks fantastic. There is an excellent level of detail in faces and textures, and you really can’t tell the difference between practical and digital effects. When Chucky is up and about on a murderous rampage, you really believe this doll can think and move on its own. The release is Dolby Vision color graded, which really helps to set the creepy tone of the film. Whenever Chucky is up to no good, his glowing eyes turn from blue to a scarlet red. Darker scenes with Chucky hiding in the shadows, and the film’s big final showdown, also look fantastic, allowing the viewer to make out every detail, with blacks that don’t crush. The audio track provides clear dialogue throughout, and showcases Bear McCreary’s wonderful score. The character of Andy wears a hearing aid, and so occasionally the track provides the viewer with a glimpse into his world. The surround and stereo channels provide a nice immersive experience, especially as Chucky is skittering around in the darkness, and during the film’s big final showdown.

This 4K release includes both a 4K UHD disc as well as a Blu-ray disc, which are packed on either side of a standard 4K keepcase. As with all Shout! releases, there is no digital copy, but our review copy did include a cardboard slipcover. The release ports over all of the bonus material from the previous FOX/MGM Blu-ray release—a director commentary, behind-scenes-featurettes, trailers, a photo gallery and some claymation shorts—and adds over 30 minutes of brand new, entertaining, retrospective interviews with actors Gabriel Bateman and David James Lewis, and production designer Dan Hermansen. Only the commentary can be found on the 4K disc, the rest of the bonus material appears exclusively on the Blu-ray disc. As previously mentioned, the new 4K source has been used for both the 4K and the Blu-ray disc, so even the Blu-ray disc gets a bit of an upgrade from the previous release.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:30:25)

4K UHD:
• 2160p / Widescreen 2.39:1
• Dolby Vision / HDR10
• Audio: English 5.1 Surround DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English SDH

Blu-ray:

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: English 5.1 Surround DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:
Only the commentary can be found on the 4K disc, the rest of the bonus material appears exclusively on the Blu-ray.

• A New Start – Actor Gabriel Bateman on Child’s Play (10:55)
  In this brand new interview, actor Gabriel Bateman (“Andy”) talks about how he prepared to play Andy, doing pranks on set, working with director Lars Klevberg, his co-stars and the doll, shooting the big finale showdown, his favorite scenes, and more.
• Head Of The Patch – Actor David James Lewis on Child’s Play (8:59)
  In this brand new interview, actor David James Lewis (“Shane”) talks about his audition for the role, playing this type of role many times, working with the director, meeting his co-stars, shooting his death scene, and more.
• Beautiful Darkness – Production Designer Dan Hermansen on Child’s Play (12:40)
  In this brand new interview, production designer Dan Hermansen talks about reimagining the classic film on a modest budget, the sets and locations, and more.
• Commentary by Director Lars Klevberg (1:30:25)
  Director Lars Klevberg provides an entertaining and informative commentary throughout the film. He talks about reimagining the classic horror franchise, the cast, and shares lots of fun behind-the-scenes stories and trivia about the production.
• The Making of Child’s Play (5:05)
  The cast and crew discuss the film, its new take using AI as a theme, the look of the doll, some of the challenges, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, storyboards & concept artwork, and interviews with director Lars Klevberg, producers Seth Grahame-Smith & David Katzenberg, and stars Brian Tyree Henry (“Detective Mike Norris”), Aubrey Plaza (“Karen Barclay”) & Gabriel Bateman (“Andy Barclay”).
• Bringing Child’s Play‘s Chucky To Life (4:28)
  The cast and crew discuss Chucky as an iconic character, this new version as a smart doll, creating the animatronic puppet, the different versions of the doll, bringing the doll to life, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director Lars Klevberg, producers Seth Grahame-Smith & David Katzenberg, puppeteers Jason Ward & Keith Arbuthnot (MastersFX), and stars Aubrey Plaza, Brian Tyree Henry & Gabriel Bateman.
• Soundtrack Trailer (3:16)
  Music video of the unique and chilling score being performed by Bear McCreary.
• Lee Hardcastle Claymations
  Two claymation shorts by Lee Hardcastle. Select from:
  • Toy Massacre (0:49)
    Chucky massacres a bunch of other toys.
  • A.I. Mayhem (0:48)
    Chucky massacres a bunch of people by turning their connected devices against them.
• Still Gallery (1:16)
  Slideshow of 12 production photos that auto-advance every 5 seconds.
• Theatrical Trailer (1:02)

Final Thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed this 2019 version of Child’s Play‘s reimagination of Chucky. it has a similar feeling to the original movie, though maybe a little less scary. It changes the doll from the more paranormal idea of being possessed by a blood-lusting serial killer, to the more grounded idea that this is an AI-controlled doll gone wrong. An in his misguided attempts to please his new friend, Chucky takes things to deadly extremes. The film also has a wonderful (and creepy) score by Bear McCreary. Scream Factory’s 4K release looks and sounds great and includes all of the legacy bonus material as well as over 30 minutes of new interviews. The release comes highly recommended for fans of the franchise or of horror movies in general.

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Child’s Play (2019) – Collector’s Edition 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray [4K UHD]

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Child's Play (2019): Collector's Edition [4K UHD + Blu-ray]