• Trending
    • Certified Fresh & Verified Hot
    • TV Premier dates
    • New horror Movies
    • Best Movies of All Time
  • Movies
    • Movies In Theaters
    • Movies at Home
  • TV Shows
    • New TV
    • Most Popular TV
  • News
    • What to Watch
    • Guides
    • RT News
    • Awards
  • Games
    • Find Your Next Horror Watch
  • Video
  • Showtimes
  • Fanstore
  • About Rotten Tomatoes
  • Critics
  • Download the App Now
  • Logout
Rotten Tomatoes
Suggestions will appear as you start typing. Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App New News Showtimes

Child's Play

Play trailer Poster for Child's Play PG,  1972,  1h 40m,  Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Stream Now Watchlist - - 4 Reviews Tomatometer 52% Fewer than 50 Ratings Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 4 Reviews 52% Popcornmeter 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.
Watch on Fandango Stream Now

Where to Watch

Child's Play

Stream

Rent Child's Play on Fandango, or buy it on Fandango.

Critics Reviews

View More
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. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Theodore G 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... See more
Read all reviews
Child's Play

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Cast & Crew

View All

Sidney Lumet

Director

James Mason

Jerome Malley

Robert Preston

Joseph Dobbs

Beau Bridges

Paul Reis

Ron Weyand

Father Mozian

Charles White

Father Griffin

More Like This

View All
The Last Sign 24% The Last Sign Watchlist The McKenzie Break 47% The McKenzie Break Watchlist WUSA 36% WUSA Watchlist Convicts 32% Convicts Watchlist Les Misérables 43% Les Misérables Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Related Movie News

View All
View All

Child's Play

Child's Play (1972) Child's Play (1972) Child's Play (1972) View more photos

Movie Info

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
Join The Newsletter Join The Newsletter Cookie Settings