Entertainment

Also released: Child's Play and The Captor

Demonic doll Chucky is back in the re-boot of Child's Play
Demonic doll Chucky is back in the re-boot of Child's Play Demonic doll Chucky is back in the re-boot of Child's Play

CHILD'S PLAY (15, 90 mins), Horror/Thriller

Starring: Mark HammilAubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, Marlon Kazadi

Director: Lars Klevberg

RELEASED in 1988, director Tom Holland's slasher horror Child's Play brought to life a demented doll, which goes on a bloodthirsty rampage after a serial killer transfers his tormented soul into the benign plaything.

The popularity of murderous mannequin Chucky sparked various sequels and a vast line of merchandise.

A spin-off TV series is currently in production for broadcast next year.

To lay the groundwork for the small screen incarnation, Lars Klevberg directs a remake of the original film with a few significant plot alterations.

Widowed mother Karen Barclay (Aubrey Plaza) relocates to a new city with her deaf 13-year-old son Andy (Gabriel Bateman).

The move is especially hard on Andy, who makes a few friends at school including Omar (Marlon Kazadi), Falyn (Beatrice Kitsos), Chris (Anantjot S Aneja) and Pugg (Ty Consiglio).

Soon afterwards, Karen purchases Buddi (voiced by Mark Hamill), a cute doll which connects all the Kaslan Corp appliances in the family's home.

Andy christens the new arrival Chucky.

A technical defect transforms the plaything into a knife-wielding harbinger of doom, who leaves death and destruction in his wake.

Andy tries to warn his mother and other adults about the danger posed by Chucky but they dismiss his tearful pleadings.

So it is left to Andy and his schoolfriends to end Chucky's reign of terror before they become another grim statistic in the case load of police detective Mike Norris (Brian Tyree Henry).

:: THE CAPTOR (15, 90 mins), Drama/Comedy

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Noomi Rapace, Mark Strong, Christopher Heyerdahl

Director: Robert Budreau

ETHAN Hawke and Noomi Rapace headline a blackly humorous crime drama based on true events in 1973, which were broadcast live on television to mesmerised viewers of Swedish television.

Lars Nystrom (Hawke) walks into a bank in Stockholm and fires off warning shots before issuing demands for cash, the release of his buddy Gunnar Sorensson (Mark Strong) from prison and a getaway car.

Chief Mattsson (Christopher Heyerdahl) co-ordinates the police response to a tense hostage negotiation as cameras roll.

Married mother-of-two Bianca Lind (Rapace), who works at the bank, develops a strange bond with her captor and she begins to sympathise with Lars.

Giving birth to the term Stockholm syndrome, the normally rational mother aligns herself with the robber as cops attempt to rescue her and two work colleagues.