It has been long debated: Why do people enjoy horror films? Does reel violence cause actual violence? Numerous movies have been accused of real-life murders: In 1998, two teenage boys stabbed their mother 45 times, and the boys claimed that the murders were inspired by Scream, even committing the act while wearing the Ghostface mask. On Halloween 1988, an 18-year-old girl named Sharon Gregory was murdered by a Jason Voorhees impersonator. After the horrific Columbine High School massacre in 1999, the United States Senate Commerce Committee used the opening scene of Scream to highlight the influence cinematic violence has on society.
With all this being said, how could Child’s Play, a silly and fun horror franchise about a pint-sized killer doll, be a reason for real-life murders? Child’s Play 3 (1991), although notoriously known for being the poorest film in the franchise for multiple reasons, was also in a lot of heat for apparently being one of the inspirations for the murder of two-year-old James Bulger.
The heinous murder of two-year-old James Bulger in 1993 caused an outcry and a resurgence of the everlasting media violence debate. Two ten-year-old boys named Robert Thompson and Jon Venables kidnapped a toddler from a mall in Kirkby, Merseyside, England. For just the brief moment that the mother looked away, the two boys took him by the hand and walked him outside the mall. The murder they then committed has come to be known as one of the most notorious crimes in history.
The press perpetuated the idea that Child’s Play 3 was the cause for these young boys to murder. The infamous 90s killer doll franchise was now accused of being the main inspiration for this murder, explained in the 1994 Newson Report, a book written by Professor Elizabeth Newson. The report made eight rather large claims, including that horror films can cause children to act violent and make them identify with the killer. According to Newson, these films can directly be linked to the killings of James Bulger, Child’s Play 3 being the primary cause.
Child’s Play 3 is about the infamous Good Guy Doll Chucky, who is back for the third time. Chucky is off to military school this time to finally kill and put his soul into his owner Andy. While trying to hunt down Andy, Chucky gets close to a young boy named Tyler, who he now has his eyes on to possess. Andy tries everything to save Tyler from Chucky, which he successfully does. With this premise, it’s surprising that a murder of a two-year-old boy was tied to it.
In their book Ill Effects: The Media Violence Debate, scholars Martin Barker and Julian Petley challenge the science behind the Newson Report, arguing that the comparisons between real-life violence and cinematic violence were not scientifically proven to be connected. For example, why does the report only make accusations towards children? When a father killed his 17-month-year-old baby because he thought he was Joseph and his wife was Mary, “...Not one newspaper which recounted this sad story thought it was worth suggesting that King of Kings is a potential case of murder”. Barker and Petley also point out that Child’s Play 3, although a horror film often brutal and gory, is actually about saving a child. Because of this, why is Child’s Play 3 the main suspect of horror films? Is it because it’s an easy target due to being about a children’s toy?
The main reason claims were made about Child’s Play 3 is because the killers were said to have copied a specific scene in which one of Chucky's victims is splashed with blue paint. The boys splashed a similar blue color paint on Bulger after murdering him. Also, according to independent.co.uk, Jon Venables rented and watched the movie at his father’s house just weeks before the murder. This was eventually dismissed, as Venables was not living with his father at the time, and Venables was apparently not a huge fan of horror movies.
It is fascinating to note that although there is a regular examination of violent films cause violence, there are fewer studies on how violence in movies may affect one’s current mental health. An audience comprises thousands of people, all entering the theater with oral histories and emotional makeup. Viewers may be more vulnerable to the impact of the violence on the screen since they already may have underlying mental issues. Some people may have experienced similar violence; others may not feel anything to relate to. If another little boy watched Child’s Play 3 or any other horror movie for that fact, who says that would’ve affected them and influenced them to kill someone? If this were the case, there would be a lot more “copycat” murders.
So, in the end, do horror films heighten desensitization to actual life violence? The research and studies are comprehensive and exhaustive but still do not give a definitive answer. Who will be affected by what material they witness on film with age and the potential impact on an immature mind? One must be able to differentiate between fantasy and reality and justified or unjustified use of force. Child’s Play 3 is just one of the hundreds of movies that have been accused of inspiring wrongdoings. Unfortunately, no one can be blamed for what terror took place with the toddler other than Robert Thompson and Jon Venables themselves.