GAMES ON FILM #18 CHILD’S PLAY 3

The Child’s Play series is one of the most consistent and well-crafted long-running horror series. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that the creator of the series, Don Mancini, has been involved with each film as a writer and producer and even directed some of them. Another thing that I think helps with the series’ longevity is that the majority of the core cast has remained largely the same between films, such as Brad Dourif as Chucky and Jennifer Tilly as Tiffany.

Even Alex Vincent reprised his role as Andy Barclay in Curse of Chucky (2013) and Cult of Chucky (2017), and the Chucky TV series. (2021-2024) Along with Christine Elise, who returns as Kyle from Child’s Play 2 (1990) in Cult of Chucky , and the TV series.

After the success of Child’s Play 2 (1990), Child’s Play 3 was given a very quick turnaround release less than a year later. This rushed schedule undoubtedly hurt the film in the long run, which is a shame.

I’m a fan of the series and think Chucky is rightfully held as a horror icon and is actually one of the more interesting of the slasher villains, toeing the line between scary and funny. Child’s Play 3 is worth watching, but it is, for me, decidedly a low point for the series and a bit of a disappointment after the first two. Chucky has some good one-liners, memorable kills, and the end set piece is good, but it can’t match the ending of Part 2.

Child’s Play 3 starts with quite a time jump. Andy is now 16 and going to military school, and still no one believes him about Chucky. For me, the military setting is too much of a disconnect, going from the familiar and relatable suburban setting of the first film to the stunning toy factory at the end of Child’s Play 2, an army base seems really at odds with a killer doll, or perhaps that was the point. Though it’s an idea, none of the sequels go back to so….

Chucky is rebuilt (again) and is madder than ever. He soon finds out Andy is now at a military school, and mails himself there. Before he can get to Andy, a young cadet, Taylor (Jeremy Sylvers) discovers Chucky, who at first still wants Andy so he can transfer his soul to his. Until he realizes that, with his new rebuilt body, he can transfer his soul into someone else, he hatches a new plan to exact his revenge on Andy to transfer his soul over to Taylor.

Hijinks ensue (Chucky kills people), culminating in a mad chase through a carnival, and of course ending with Chucky’s demise. This time, getting sliced to pieces by a large industrial fan. (Don’t worry, he comes back.)

The character Taylor is seen playing an Atari Lynx at several points throughout the film. For a series of films about a killer doll, there isn’t much scope for video games; however, Child’s Play 3 includes a brief appearance by the Atari Lynx.

The Scenes

This scene actually shows another trope of games in film and TV in where if for example a controller is moved or just set down, it is treated as if it were paused or turned off. Taylor is playing then, Andy takes the Lynx and sets it aside; none of them turn it off or pause, so by all rights it should still be making a sound. Again, the screen is not shown in detail. The Atari logo is also covered up.

In a deleted scene, Taylor meets Andy on the bus to the military academy. Taylor is again playing an Atari Lynx. This time, we see that the game he is playing is Blue Lightning (1989 ), one of the Lynx launch titles.

Taylor offers Andy to play, saying he’ll give him a “10-point lead.” Andy declines, replying, “I’m not too good at those things.” How exactly they’d play two-player with one system or how Andy would get a 10-point lead, I’m not sure.

At first, you may think this was product placement from Atari; however, when it cuts to a close-up of the Lynx screen, the Atari and Lynx logos have been removed. I doubt the Lynxs’ inclusion was the reason the scene was cut, as it would have worked just as well without the close-up of the screen.

The game aside, this scene did go to lengths to give a better introduction to Taylor and convey how he was looking for a friend, so it makes more sense why he’s so eager to accept Chucky later. (The scene isn’t in the theatrical cut, but maybe in some TV edits of the film.)

It seems unlikely that Sylvers (Taylor) is actually playing in any of these scenes, and even if he was, the game sound effects were most likely added in post-production anyway.

The choice of the Atari Lynx was an interesting one. Although the Lynx was still somewhat new at this point, I don’t think it had the same recognition as the Game Boy, a system that also launched in 1989. Although at least the choice of game (Blue Lightning) has a tentative military connection, playing as a fighter pilot.

The Atari Lynx was released on September 1st, 1989.

Atari throws its hat into the handheld ring to compete with Nintendo’s Game Boy, and a bit later, SEGA Game Gear (90 JPN/91 NA/EU)

The Lynx was a full colour, back-lit screen. Something else that set the Lynx apart was that it had mirrored action buttons and the ability to “flip” the screen, effectively meaning it could now be played with the control pad on the right and the buttons on the left. A fairly novel idea, but one that feels entirely over-engineered and tries to fix something that was never much of a problem to begin with.

Another feature that was quite interesting was that certain games could be played in a Tate (Portrait) mode. The handheld could also be hooked up to 18 players (though not many games took full advantage of this)

Despite having a colour screen, it was quite a low resolution. The system was also a battery hog, chomping down 6 AA batteries for little over 3-4 hours of gameplay. That’s not all, despite being marketed as a portable system, the Lynx was significantly larger than the Game Boy.

The system got a redesign with a smaller, but still bulky design. The screen was slightly improved along with the battery life, but it was too little too late. in the eyes of gamers and the market place, Nintendo had already won, and Atari, in some what of a growing trend for them, failed again.

Although the Lynx’s library was nowhere near as good or expansive as the Game Boy or Game Gear, with a grand total of 71 official Lynx games. Some of the more memorable and popular titles included…

Blue Lighting

Chip’s Challenge

Gauntlet

S.T.U.N. Runner

Scrapyard Dog

To conclude

The Atari Lynx was officially discontinued in 1995. Despite being the butt of some jokes and often seen as a commercial failure from Atari’s dark days, the Lynx now has a passionate and dedicated fan base. The legacy of the Lynx lives on in part thanks to the excellent Atari 50 collection (2022), which, along with other Atari games and systems, collects the history of. The Lynx, along with a few select titles.

So closes the first Games on Film, Spook-tacular. It might not have been very scary, but I hope you learned something at least.