UNHOLY WAR

MOVIE

Child's Play
Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman
Director Danny Boyle
Annabelle Comes Home
Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman
Director Gary Dauberman
Review Ray Chan

The doll wars are on. In one corner, we have the well-intentioned Chucky, who just wants to be loved and protect his keepers, while in the other, we have his female counterpart, Annabelle, incapable of animation but comprised of evil incarnate.
    And it is this referee’s judgment that good has triumphed over bad, even if a lot more blood was certainly shed by the plastic hands of the star of Child’s Play, a movie nicely updated to the present day.
    The 1988 cult classic has been reimagined, rather than remade, with a sharp sense of humour.
    This version uses artificial intelligence and inter-connected devices to create a different kind of horror, because, unlike the original, there's no supernatural zombie stuff going on this time.
    The action is staged with a combination of wit and gore, with the cast members all sharing enough backstories to make their roles interesting.
    Ensconced in a dead-end job at ZedMart, Karen (Plaza) repurposes a returned Buddi doll (voiced by the incomparable Mark Hamill) as a birthday present for her son Andy (Bateman).
    Designed as a digital assistant, this particular doll has a sinister history, built by a disenchanted factory worker who removed the failsafe limits on its behaviour.
    This enables Buddi to think for himself. Illogical as the premise sounds, accept it for what it is, if you want to enjoy the rest of the film.
    The little playmate renames himself Chucky, and quickly learns that Andy is annoyed by both the family cat and Karen's boyfriend Shane. To appease his master, the marauding mite exacts some grisly retribution.
    Along the way, fellow apartment dwellers detective Mike and his mother, along with friends Pugg, Falyn and Omar, get pulled in to the chaos. Woe betide anyone whom Andy has a grudge with, even momentarily, because Chucky doesn't have an off switch.
    The fact that Chucky is only trying to help brings a light-hearted irony to the red herrings and extreme nastiness that ensue, and helps pull the audience into the nightmare, because the characters are so easy to empathise with.
    But what really makes this movie work is the way it pokes fun at its own cliches, merrily turning the tables on characters and audience alike, while never forgetting the value of some proper on-screen gruesomeness.
    Using communicative technology as a gimmick, director Klevberg has plenty of scope to joke about everything from radios to robots, helping turn the film into an enjoyable mix of comedy and consternation.
    But now Annabelle, on the hand … is a different kettle of creepiness entirely.
    Annabelle Comes Home is the third film titled after a spooky-looking antique doll that was based on a possessed Raggedy Ann figure kept by real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (who passed away mere weeks before this movie’s release).
    Part of the Conjuring franchise, Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise their roles as the Warrens, who “contain the evil” of the doll by locking it in a glass casing within their room of haunted artefacts.
    As an aside, people might question why the doll was never destroyed, instead of being imprisoned in a cabinet with a sign proclaiming in no uncertain terms that the door should never be opened. In The Conjuring, Ed had explained that it was better to keep the “genie in the bottle” rather than obliterating the vessel altogether.
    But back to the movie, and the Warrens go out on a case, leaving their mopey daughter Judy (Grace) under the protection of perky babysitter Mary Ellen (Iseman).
    Mary Ellen’s bosom companion Daniela hears about the Warrens’ psychic exploits, and, keen to find some way of contacting her dead father, sneaks into the forbidden room and, of course, lets Annabelle loose.
    What follows is nothing we haven’t already seen in previous Conjuring, Annabelle or Nun offerings: standard trapped-in-the-house horror fare, filled with jump scares and ominous musical crescendos that make you think a shock is coming even when it isn’t. Gradually, various apparitions from the objects in the room terrorise the girls, with the eventual goal of murder and possession. Yawn.
    Annabelle’s limitation is its (her) static form, unlike Chucky, who menaces with his mobility.
    She can only move by teleportation and only when nobody’s looking. The scariness factor is constrained to her appearance in unexpected places, a contrivance that gets tiresome quickly.
    Ultimately, the movie is just a succession of supposedly frightening stuff happening, haunted-ride-style, and just as harmless, until someone manages to lock Annabelle up again.
    But praise is due for Judy, who carries the story with her bravery, intelligence and awareness of the paranormal, inherited from her mother.
    Indeed, she radiates an aura of resigned gloom that would do Wednesday Addams proud, and it’s not difficult to see her eventually take over the family’s ghostbusting business, a paranormal-military warrior armed with crucifixes and holy water as ammunition.
    Her personality is a direct contrast to the milksop persona of Andy in Child’s Play, as much as the Chucky rejuvenation is so much more satisfying than the Annabelle offering.

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