CHILD'S PLAY - DVD

1980s slasher horror directed by Tom Holland. A young boy, Alex (Andy Barclay) is given a doll called Chucky for his birthday. Unfortunately, Chucky is possessed by the spirit of serial-killing psychopath Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif), aka 'the Lakeshore Strangler', who was killed by the boy's cop father. The doll soon picks up where his creator left off, embarking on a gruesome killing spree - for which all the evidence points to Alex. The film went on to spawn two sequels.

Horror maestro Tom Holland (Fright Night) brought wit and devilish energy to this 1988 scarefest about a murderer (Brad Dourif) who wills his soul into an innocuous doll named Chucky, and reveals himself only to the toy's owner, a frightened little boy. Catherine Hicks plays the child's mother, and Chris Sarandon a detective; neither of them knows what to make of the kid's story. Monster-doll stories are always wonderfully surreal, and Child's Play is no exception. Holland oversees some finely tuned special effects that allow Chucky to express himself and do some damage--it is truly unnerving but somehow good, subversive fun. --Tom Keogh