Child's Play

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Child's Play

PG

1972

1h 40m

Drama

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4 Reviews

52%

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

Paul Reis (Beau Bridges) arrives for his new job as gym teacher at the Roman Catholic all-boys boarding school he attended as a youth. It does not take long, however, for Reis to perceive that something strange is going on. An alarming feud is raging between Joe Dobbs (Robert Preston), the likable English teacher, and Jerome Malley (James Mason), the authoritarian Latin teacher. Reis, the outsider, resists getting involved, but it becomes inevitable once the student body erupts into violence.

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

Sep 29, 2023

The movie version of Child’s Play needed a polished surface and suave craftsmanship. Instead, it has been turned into a horror melodrama -- to cash in, One assumes, on the young movie audience’s new interest in diabolism.

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Brian Orndorf

Blu-ray.com

Mar 3, 2025

B-

"Child's Play" has its issues, including an absurdly overbearing score by Michael Small, but it never falters when it focuses on acting.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Dec 31, 2021

1/4

...a complete misfire that remains hopelessly unable to hide its stage origins from start to finish.

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Tony Mastroianni

Cleveland Press

Nov 16, 2018

Child's Play comes on strong with its feeling of something ominous, of a pervading sense of evil and for most of its 100-minute length it manages to maintain that notion of undefined menace.

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thiago S

@Thiagostone Jun 17, 2026

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom

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Richard W.

@rdwoolf Jan 13, 2026

It becomes obvious not too far into this film that it was originally a stage play. Sidney Lumet had a special skill for converting stage plays into interesting films. “Child’s Play” is a perfect example. The choice of camera angles and blocking of characters in each scene helps make them more interesting to watch. The acting is top notch, which makes sense, given the lead cast are all known for giving great performances. I enjoyed this film very much. It feels like it took parts of the British films “Scum” and “Unman, Wittering and Zigo” and put them into an America Catholic boarding school. Stories involving the Catholic Church or schools already come with an eerie or spookily vibe built in. Combining these elements creates a pretty good psychological thriller.

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Steve D

@RT35616104 Aug 2, 2023

Unsettling but never interesting.

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Aug 26, 2019

CLever BUT DUMBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

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Apr 29, 2017

A little too schlocky and melodramatic for my tastes. It also didn't help that it couldn't decide who was the protagonist here and who was the antagonist...

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Jul 24, 2014

(** 1/2): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon13.gif[/img]

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Sidney Lumet

Director

James Mason

Jerome Malley

Robert Preston

Joseph Dobbs

Beau Bridges

Paul Reis

Ron Weyand

Father Mozian

Charles White

Father Griffin

Chucky Vs. Leprechaun: Who Is the Ultimate Tiny Terror?

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Synopsis

Paul Reis (Beau Bridges) arrives for his new job as gym teacher at the Roman Catholic all-boys boarding school he attended as a youth. It does not take long, however, for Reis to perceive that something strange is going on. An alarming feud is raging between Joe Dobbs (Robert Preston), the likable English teacher, and Jerome Malley (James Mason), the authoritarian Latin teacher. Reis, the outsider, resists getting involved, but it becomes inevitable once the student body erupts into violence.

Director: Sidney Lumet
Producer: David Merrick
Screenwriter: Leon Prochnik
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 12, 1972, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 1, 2013
Runtime: 1h 40m

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