• Review by Kaya Savas - July 2, 2019

Bear McCreary continues his stellar year with the reboot of Child’s Play. The 2019 film reimagines the demonic doll in modern times, and infuses a darkly comic tone into it. Child’s Play follows right in line with movies like Krampus and Gremlins as a movie that embraces its campiness yet still can deliver some disturbing thrills. Bear’s approach to use children’s toys to score the film might seem obvious, but you really need to know how to pull it off without it being silly. And boy does Bear pull it off.

Bear’s style is very much uniquely his, he’s one of the few composers out there who you can still call an auteur. His sound is instantly recognizable. But with that being said, I did fee like Bear was channeling his inner Danny Elfman here, and it’s fantastic. The score manages to utilize children’s toy instruments and creepy vocals very effectively. Jimmy Fallon and The Roots wish they could use classroom instruments this well. Now, inject Bear’s trademark bold themes and melodic writing, and you have yourself a creepy horror score with a fun campy side.

The score can be a bit “on the nose”, but I mean, that is how Child’s Play is designed. This isn’t a movie about nuance and subtlety, and the score knows that. So while the film and score are not scary per se, they do add just enough tension and uneasiness to let the audience know that danger is afoot.

Child’s Play is a fun take on an old horror character icon. Bear delivers the goods yet again for a score that is chock full of moments that stand out, and are worth revisiting. And that’s something to really note. It’s not too often you feel compelled to go back and listen to horror scores again and again, but McCreary’s Child’s Play is one you’ll want to revisit. Plus you get to hear Mark Hamill team up with Bear for an amazing song!

• 4/5