The salient point of this episode revolves around our examination of the iconic film "Child's Play," released in 1988, which features a malevolent doll named Chucky that embodies the spirit of a serial killer. We delve into the complexities of fear, nostalgia, and the campy nature of horror films from the late 20th century. Throughout our discussion, we reflect on how our perceptions of horror have been shaped by age and experience, illustrating a stark contrast between childhood apprehension and adult indifference. Furthermore, we articulate our differing reactions to the film, highlighting its blend of humor and horror, which ultimately influences our ratings. Our analysis seeks to unravel the layers of this cult classic while contemplating its place within the broader context of cinematic horror.

Visit Our Sponsor: https://dubby.gg

10% Off Code: OURVERDICT

Support us:

https://www.patreon.com/whatsourverdict

Email us:

[email protected]

Follow us:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatsourverdict

Twitter: @whatsourverdict

Instagram: @whatsourverdict

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC-K_E-ofs3b85BnoU4R6liA

Visit us:

www.whatsourverdict.com

Yeah, same thing.

Something that terrified my entire life and I'm never going to watch it.

Never going to watch it.

And then I watched, I was like, this is stupid.

Like, what the hell?

Yep.

Yep.

So you're.

You're a bad influence is what I'm trying to really get at is you're welcome.

I'm trying to.

I'm trying to.

You're helping me get out of my comfort zone and your bad influence.

That's right.

Welcome to the what's everybody podcast.

We fashion ourselves cinematic judge and jury.

My name is J.J. crowder.

I'm here with my co host Alec Burgess.

Let's get it.

We appreciate you tuning in.

Go hit that follow subscribe like bell notification buttons.

Tell a friend about us.

Tell a family member about us.

Don't tell anybody related to any of these movies about us.

So just keep the family friends at this point.

Anyone else that you know that's human and not a doll.

So yeah, because we're in week three of our movies featuring creepy dolls and we're hitting the apex in my opinion of doll based movies.

I'm a little biased, but we'll get into that.

But before we get into those movies and what we're doing, go check out our sponsor, SL partner Dubby.

You can go to W. GG if you're watching on YouTube.

You can see my tub of Dubby in front of us.

They make energy powder.

They do it with the main ingredient being green coffee bean extract.

And it's money saving for sure.

If you're looking.

If you're a big energy drink person, cans of energy drinks will cost you a couple of bucks a piece.

Typically $50 at least.

If there got some sales you can get up to.

I think it's 30 servings with this.

So you're about a dollar or less depending on how much you spend in the, in the powders for, you know, a tub of powder.

But yeah, it's, it's per drink.

Right.

So if you buy a thing of a tub, you per drink, you're less, you're a dollar or less typically around there.

So it's, it's a great deal.

Saves you money, good energy.

I love it.

I use it pretty much daily at this point.

In fact, this one's like getting really low.

I mean I'm like, I might have to buy another tub.

So.

Yeah, go check them out.

Have you.

You've been, you got one your tub, didn't you?

You like it?

I do.

It's pretty good.

I love it.

Tastes good too.

Yeah.

So Anyway, go check them out.

You can get 10 off.

So not only do you save in general just their retail price, but if you go and you get 10 off using the code.

Our verdict all one word at checkout.

So get that additional 10 off and enjoy even more savings in your energy drink adventures.

So there it is.

We appreciate you listening.

Go check them out.

W GG our verdict at checkout for 10 off.

And yeah, let's jump into Alex, favorite month of the podcast ever.

It's up there for sure.

Yeah, I know, right?

So this week we are reviewing Child's Play.

It was written by Dom Mancini, John Lafayette and Tom Holland.

Not that Tom Holland.

It was directed by Tom Holland.

Again, not that Tom Holland.

He wasn't born yet.

Yeah, not even close.

It stars Katherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent, Brad Durif, Dina Minoff Mainoff, Tommy Swordlo, Jack Colvin, Neil Guli and Alan Wilder.

It's about a dying serial killer who transfers his consciousness into a popular kids doll using voodoo.

A struggling single mother gifts her 6 year old son the much sought after doll for his birthday.

And the doll slowly begins to show its true colors.

What a slow play of a synopsis there.

Show his true.

He starts murdering that.

Yeah, like right off the bat.

Yeah, right off the rip.

We get going.

Yeah.

So this is my movie.

Yeah, your pick.

Why J.J. why?

Because I had to listen.

This was the first movie that I remember as a kid, like where the dolls were murdering people.

And I, it was goofy.

And I remember thinking, I think I was only like seven when it came out.

I think I was probably like 10 or 11, maybe 12 when I saw it the first time.

And I remember thinking this isn't scary.

Like, like this is kind of goofy.

And then there were moments where there were some good jump scares.

And then like it was later on after I'd watched the movie and we're out and about and we go to a. I think it was like a Macy's or some big box store that we went to and there was like a bunch of dolls.

And I was like, maybe that movie stuck with me a little more than I thought.

And so it was like probably the beginning of my.

I don't enjoy dolls.

Not because I was scared by this movie, but it got my brain thinking about how creepy as that would be if a doll was alive.

And you know, whether it had a voodoo transferred spirit or it was just creepy doll out to get you or some sort of demonic spirit.

Like I don't Give a.

What it is.

That's a freaky concept.

And so it got me.

And so for me, I was like, anytime we do a movie, if we were to do.

Ever do a topic of dolls or this was gonna be my top choice.

So it had to go.

And ironically the only one I've ever seen of the five movies that we did this month, I saw zero.

Of the five movies we did this month.

Yeah.

I was gonna say this just seems to echo the first two weeks where I was like, okay, cool.

So I. I'm not actually opposed to doll movies.

Just fact that since I didn't watch any of them as a child, I don't have that childhood trauma.

Yeah.

Following me into adulthood.

Because I watched this and I was like, oh, hey, Brad Drift.

Right.

Okay.

I know him.

And then Chris Sarandon.

And I was like, okay, know him too.

And so cast was great.

Yeah.

The, the only thing that got me right where I was like oh.

Is when we first see Chucky kind of move on his own.

And it's the news.

Watching the news.

Yeah.

Just being left down from the TV type of thing.

I was like.

I was like, ooh, there it goes.

But then past that because the animation of him moving where he's like floating.

Yeah.

Like it's bad because this actually had me more.

Or I was more scared watching the it TV show.

Welcome to Dairy Whatever.

And you have.

It was the same thing like Pennywise floating across the ice in the last episode.

Yep.

Of season one.

And so I saw that and I was like, ah.

But then it was just like nothing really was super terrifying to the point of I don't know what it was.

I mean any.

Like people will swear up and down Chucky's the worst movie ever.

Or I've.

That I've heard.

Sure.

And people.

And I was like, okay, it's got to be bad.

And I stand and watch.

I was like, this is.

This isn't all that bad at all.

Yeah.

Like there's none of the suspense.

None of the real kind of like jump scares going on.

You get one or two that are like half hearted.

But mostly it's just like.

Mostly just like, hey, let's traumatize children.

Yeah.

100.

Because it's.

It's not that good of a movie, first of all.

And it doesn't have any of that real kind of abstract terror.

Like even the point where Chucky's going after the guy who taught him the voodoo.

And they're having.

They're having just a very normal conversation back and forth Was supposedly homicidal, you know, at that point.

A very homicidal doll.

Yeah.

And there's no kind of like tension or fear or thing that, you know, worry.

And so, I mean, it's just like, it's almost missing something.

Missing that key component, that key ingredient.

But I remember at least when I was a kid hearing up like in high school, middle school, you got people talking like, oh, Chucky's this, Chucky's that, Chucky's.

Terrifying.

So of course I avoided it for 32 years.

And then I sat down and watched it.

And I was like, this is.

It's because I'm 32.

Right.

If I'd watched this when I was five, it's completely different story.

Sure, I'm traumatized for life.

But because I watched now, I was like, this.

It's like same as the first two weeks where I was just kind of like, disappointed.

Yeah.

In the movie overall, I was like, this was supposed to be a lot more.

Or the expectations that I had for it were not there because I was dreading this movie.

This is where I was like, God damn, he put Chucky on.

That's so funny because I thought that this would be the only one that you, like, giggled at.

Like, you're gonna be like, fine with this.

Because to me, this is more of a comedy than it is o horror.

Like, I. Yeah, I mean, yes and no.

Because I was like, it's.

It was just.

It was just weird for me.

Yeah.

I didn't have the abstract terror.

There was a couple things I giggled at.

But I mean, I. I was perfectly fine eating my chocolate chip cookies and watching the movie and had no problem whatsoever.

And then I went up, I got up and I went right to bed.

Yeah.

Which is the ultimate test of if movie is scary or not.

100 Well, and I.

It's funny because I've always said that I think the Chucky dolls creepier before this spirit comes in.

Like when they sit down on the couch or whatever and it's like, oh, no, I'm Chucky.

Like, you, will you be my friend?

And his mouse just like, kind of barely.

You're like, ew.

Like, that's weird.

And then when the dude.

When.

When the spirit comes in and it's like, Durif is like the perfect voice actor for this.

And he's just going nuts.

And I'm like, this is hilarious.

Like the one liners and that he's got.

Like, just.

And the fact that he, like, is like cat calling girls when he's a doll Like, I'm just like, this is wild.

And it's just so.

For me, it's more entertainment than it was.

And I was so excited when I was a kid to see this movie because it's an R rated movie and they're cursing and swearing and there's, you know, the booty cheeks and all that.

I'm just like.

I was like, oh, this is exciting.

It's not that scary, but it's so.

For me, this has always just been funny.

More funny than scary.

And it was, you know, in the 80s, mid late 80s, it was pretty par for the course for horror.

Like the campy horror was the thing back then, right?

And I think it's funny because, like, people telling you that child's play and like Chucky's like.

I think the first Nightmare on Elm street was like, if you think about the campy 80s and 90s movies that like the slasher genre especially, like, most of them aren't very scary.

Even back then they were like, more tense.

Like, Friday the 13th had the cool twist at it, which I'm not gonna.

Well, you probably know it because you are you.

But you, you haven't seen it, I'm sure.

But yeah, it had the twist and it was weird because you didn't know what the hell was going on.

But Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy Krueger, that first one with.

That's intense.

Like, that has some moments.

You're like, I don't ever want to go to sleep again.

But like, move.

But then it goes campy after that.

Like from the first one on, we just get the super camp and it's about the gore and the.

And this movie just kind of fit right into that whole mold of let's make it goofy and campy and then have some weird violence, you know what I mean?

And throw some kids in there for that existential dread of, you can't hurt a kid.

That's no good.

Right?

But.

And then you can't let this evil dude into the kid that's up.

And so it's.

Yeah, it's just all that.

But there's nothing that I go, this is a good movie.

And this was scary.

Like, it was always like, it's weird and it's kind of funny.

So I was just like, this is awesome.

Like, and the only part that really did a little bit where I was like, oh, that's, you know, I had a little of that tension was when Chucky's going after what's his bucket in the hospital.

Oh, yeah, right.

Where peeks out the window.

And all you catch is Chucky's legs going through.

And you have all this kind of.

This tension, everything of Chucky just going and conveniently grabbing the keys.

Right.

But there's.

There's that added a little bit of tension where, you know, a big showdown is going to be coming.

Yeah.

Soon.

But they.

It's still just a lot of that campy stuff that you were talking about, where I was like, I'm not really upset by it or just nervous around it or scared of it because it's just too hokey, maybe.

And that just shows how much we become desensitized, I think, Because I had a similar thought when we did Halloween, the original Halloween, probably a year ago at this point.

Yeah.

The same thing.

Something that terrified my entire life.

I'm never gonna watch it.

Never gonna watch it.

And then I watched it.

I was like, this is stupid.

Like, I went to hell.

Yep.

Yep.

So you're.

You're a bad influence is what I'm trying to really get at is.

You're welcome.

I'm trying.

I'm trying to help me get out of my comfort zone and.

Your bad influence.

That's right.

I'm trying to make horror movies more accessible to you, my friend.

I. I kid you not.

I gotta do the math, but it's probably been up to now 40, like, horror movies.

Yeah.

I've watched since I joined the podcast, and that is 40 more than I ever watched in my life.

Yes, sir.

We got you.

We got you.

See, what I'm doing is what you don't realize.

I'm laying the groundwork here.

I'm setting you up.

I've given you all these movies that you're like, this isn't that scary.

This isn't that bad.

And then one of these days, I'm gonna drop one on you, and you're gonna be like you.

And then it's gonna be over.

But, yeah, I knew.

I knew this one wasn't gonna be.

I think you and Charles and I were talking in the Patreon at one point about.

And he's like, nah, dude, you're gonna be fine.

Because it's just not.

It's not that, like, this isn't it?

You know what I mean?

I think the next two movies have more like, oh, moments than this one does.

This one's just like.

And I think the funny.

The part, like, where you're first introducing him, interacting with the mom, like, when she's like, talk to me and she puts near the fire, and it's like, tirade.

You listen to me, you.

You stupid slut.

Like, I kill.

I'm like, Jes.

But 0 to 100 real quick.

Yeah, but it's.

And then I'm like, that's hilarious.

Like, just throw him in the fire.

Like, yeah, what's he gonna do?

And then I start laughing too, because I'm like, the best part of this movie to me is, like, if you sit down and think about this, like, thing from a realistic perspective, like, what are you gonna do?

This fucking doll's coming at me with a butcher knife.

What the fuck do I care?

Like, how much flexibility does this doll have?

Like, he can't be very fast.

His legs are made of stuffing and goddamn, you know, fabric, and they're like 2 inches long.

Yeah.

I'm gonna jog backwards and make fun of his ass the whole time he's coming after me.

How am I scared of this right now?

Right?

Kick him.

Or, I don't know, let me go get some scissors.

Yeah.

And it only gets campier from there.

Just so you know, like, it becomes a joke because everybody's like, it's not funny.

But we loved it.

And so then they make 12 more of them and they're all just hilarious.

So, yeah, it's.

It's great.

I don't have, like, a whole lot more because there really isn't a whole lot more to it.

Yeah, no.

And I've thought about ways where it's like, what.

What could they have done to make this more scary?

And.

But I didn't come up with anything because there.

There's not like, any single one moment.

It's just like.

I mean, the.

The beginning chase, that was the most intense part of the entire movie.

Until up until you figure out, like, what's going on.

Yeah.

And then, you know, once it's like, oh, he's in a doll.

Then you can kind of start.

Piece everything together.

But.

And then there's that weird kind of almost grapey scene that you get in where she's going to track down the, like, where the doll came from.

Like that.

That's low on your priority list of where it came from.

Don't try and trace the source.

You don't.

Yeah.

Who gives a.

Especially when you know it's the most sold doll in the planet at the time.

What does that matter?

So that was a whole weird sequence that got tossed in.

I was just kind of going through.

I was like, there's nothing I would have done to change this movie to make it better.

I don't think you Can.

Yeah, yeah.

I don't think you can either.

There, there's literally no point to this movie except for someone saying, I'm gonna make this movie about this creepy kids toy.

Yeah.

Traumatized children.

Yeah.

I mean, and, and at the time, especially because in the, in the 80s, late 70s, all through the 80s and early 90s, like plushies and.

And they're coming back.

But like plushies and dolls and he had Raggedy Ann and Andy.

You had Teddy Ruxpin.

You had like.

I mean there was so much coming out at that time frame that was like.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That you're like.

I mean, so yeah, they're just like, well, let's either make the parents laugh or if these kids get a hold of it when they're kids, like they'll never want to play with the Teddy Ruxpin again.

So.

Yeah, you know, did you know.

Okay, side note, since we're talking about kids, did you ever.

I'm.

You're.

I'm assuming you're way too young for Teddy Ruxpin to have been a thing in your life.

Okay, so I had one.

Well, what you did.

What I didn't figure out until I was a teenager was that you could take a tape record yourself, throw it in this Teddy Ruck spin and it would play the tape and his mouth would move to the audio.

Oh a right.

We.

So we used to with our friends of course with it and you'd record some boy, put it in there and then you like switch him on accidentally and oh my God, dude.

You'd be like, what the.

And then we all laugh and joke.

But yeah, you could do that with Teddy Ruxpin.

Like come here.

Teddy Rugsby was single handedly the greatest invention when I was a kid and the most terrifying thing on the planet.

It was genius.

Yeah.

This bear telling stories with his like caterpillar.

I had both the bear and the caterpillar.

His little buddy.

You put the tapes, the two door tapes and they would talk to each other and it was genius.

Creepy when you figured out the you could do with it.

Yeah.

The thing that I think was closest to that would be Furbies when I was around.

And so you get that creepy ass Furby, if it malfunctioned, those eyes would pop open.

You'd be like, son of a. Yeah,.

That's a whole hell lot of a note there for me.

They were big for like two years.

I remember I was way too old for that.

But you know, Teddy Rux been and then, you know, totally makes me laugh now that I wish would have been some way.

I'm glad it wasn't because for my own sake.

But like the little cactus that like mimics the noise you make.

Have you seen these things?

I haven't seen that.

Oh my God.

You gotta Google like either tick tock or YouTube, the dancing cactus or whatever.

So these little babies see it and they make noise.

They're like, ah.

And then it goes and makes the same noise and like dances while it does it.

Dude.

Babies losing their like again.

And parents are.

But you can hear the parents in the background laughing their asses off.

I'm like, all these poor kids.

This is serial killers in the making.

Like one of these days, one of these is going to transfer herself into a goddamn dancing cactus and murder everyone.

And it's gonna be funny.

So yeah, this movie's terrible.

Should we rate it?

Let's do it.

Okay.

I'm gonna give this movie a one and a half.

And it's only getting that because of the nostalgia factor for me and the fact that if you go into this movie looking at it as like a murder comedy, like a violent slasher comedy, then this movie is actually pretty entertaining.

It's not good by any stretch of the imagination.

But there are some parts that are pretty entertaining because they didn't have filters or the.

The.

The offensive that was.

That is offensive today was not even remotely offensive back then.

And so the.

The.

The that they say and do and get away with in these movies is hilarious.

So that's one and a half for me.

I don't.

It had probably been 20 years since I'd watched this movie, but it was fun to revisit it for me is because it was wild because it'd been a long time.

But yeah, it's not a good movie.

There are better things if you're in for scares and scary doll movies, so.

All right, your turn, buddy.

It's gonna be a one.

You'll never watch it again.

Not out of any fear.

Once again, it's been three for three where it's just like this stupid desire to re watch it again.

I don't see the point to it.

I.

Again, it's because I watched it as an adult, probably not as a child.

I would have been traumatized for life.

And I watched this.

That it probably in another point in my life.

But yeah, one.

It's all right.

I guess that's about it is what it is.

Right?

It's a movie.

Yeah, there it is.

Skip child's play.

Unless you're looking.

Unless you're like me.

And you're looking for that nostalgia factor because you watched it.

Other than that, if you haven't watched it, you're not missing out on anything.

So Alec, tell everybody where they can find us when we're not dodging voodoo infested dolls.

Happy too.

Best place to find us is on YouTube where you can see our smiling faces as we talk about terrible movies.

Outside of that, the best place to get involved with the podcast is on Patreon at what's our averted reviews?

We have votes going out there.

So all of our voting stuff for topics, movies, everything goes through Patreon and it is free.

So you can just sign up to vote absolutely free.

No payment required to get involved in the content creation of the podcast.

Aside from that, there is a teeny little bit of a paywall which behind we have about 700 bonus episodes, videos, contents, everything from bloopers all the way up to full length episodes of movies that nobody should watch.

But we did for you.

Special thanks to our current patrons, Rich and cb.

You guys are awesome.

And with that, I will kick it back to the Wazir of Wap because that's your favorite one.

The Mali Monarch.

A jj.

Hilarious.

I just noticed we don't have our little names anymore.

What happened there?

Nobody's gonna know who we are.

No, apparently we'll have to.

Hey, we're back.

There it is.

Apparently it was turned off at some point.

I don't know.

I wonder how long that's been off.

I've never even.

I've not even noticed.

I bet it's off.

Been off for a while, if I'm being honest.

So yeah, there's a fun fact for you.

Wasn't even paying attention.

So yeah, with that, we appreciate tuning in.

We'll catch you on the next.