L.A.! Go See CHILD’S PLAY At The New Beverly With BC This Weekend!

Director Tom Holland will be at the screening for a pre-movie Q&A, schedule permitting.

As I mentioned in my Minute by Minute article, Child's Play 3 was the first R rated horror film I ever saw in theaters. As an 11 year old, it was exciting to see one of those horror icons on the big screen for the first time, having had to settle for VHS for Chucky's previous adventures. Thus, I couldn't be more excited to make up for lost time and finally see the original (and best) Child's Play on 35mm, and at my favorite theater in the world no less.

Oh, and I'm hosting it! Bonus!

Indeed, March's selection for my (mostly) monthly midnight screening series at the Bev is Tom Holland's original film from 1988, back when Chucky was confined off-screen for his first two kills so we could wonder whether or not young Andy Barclay was actually the murderer. Spoiler: he isn't. But I took a look at the film again last week (prep for a possible Q&A before the movie; don't want to jinx it by saying with whom, but it'll be awesome!) and was amazed at how well it holds up even when you know Chucky's the killer - the reveal still works perfectly.

And it's not really that dated, surprisingly enough. Cheesy opening credits and a few hairstyles aside, everything plays just as well now as it did then - most importantly the FX, which still look terrific (and better than the later sequels ever did). Plus it's nice to see "scary" Chucky again; it's easy to forget that he wasn't always talking nonstop like he did in all of the sequels, and most of his lines aren't played for laughs (not that they're unfunny - profanity coming out of a doll can't NOT be funny).

So pour yourself an overflowing bowl of cereal, grab some burnt toast and head on down to the New Beverly this Saturday, March 24th. The screening starts at 11:59 pm, and if we do indeed have a Q&A it will be BEFORE the movie, so get there on time! The Bev is located at 7165 Beverly Blvd in Los Angeles, 90036 - two blocks west of La Brea. Street parking is easy to find, tickets for the show are 8 bucks CASH ONLY at the door, or you can reserve a ticket online via BrownPaperTickets. I'll have a few DVDs to give away as well, though the real prize is seeing a great horror film in 35mm.

Hi-dee-ho!