Gabe’s Haunted Double-Features: October 22nd

Child’s Play (1988)

Imagine the sass and charisma of a character like Freddy Krueger but in a doll. That’s the essence of Chucky. Before the spin-offs and brides and spawn, the original Child’s Play was a pretty good piece of nightmare fuel. Starring Catherine Hicks (who would later go on to play the matriarch of the family in the WB quasi-religious drama ‘7th Heaven’) and featuring Brad Dourif (who was brilliant as Grima Wormtongue in ‘Lord of The Rings’), this movie pretty much made me never want to go near a doll ever again.

In brief, Chucky is really a doll that is possessed by the soul of a killer who got a second lease on his killing ways after using a voodoo spell to transfer his soul into the plastic tiny body. There are moments where Chucky is written as kind of a smart-ass character but the humor isn’t always intended. The practical effects and animatronics were nicely done although sometimes they can be a little laughable. It’s a lighter scare but still gory and tense at moments.

 

Candyman (1992)

One of the consensus all-time greats, Candyman is brutal and at times, a heartbreaker. Starring horror legend Tony Todd (who appeared on this list back in the 1990 Night of the Living Dead remake) as the titular Candyman, this movie brings a hefty amount of body horror to the screen. Melting the concepts of voodoo, urban legends and after-life revenge, Candyman will make sure you never look into a mirror in a dark bathroom again, I know I certainly don’t!