Director: Peter Manoogian
Written by: Charles Band/David S. Goyer
Runtime: 86 mins
Release: Straight to video
Taglines: "Dangerous. Deadly…" & "It's Playtime..."
Production Company: Full Moon Productions
The Review:
First off, if you couldn't swallow Chucky being a threat in Child's Play, then this entire subgenera could never be acceptable to you. Don't even try to enjoy it even as a creep-out, but feel free to as a laugh. The very concept that something that's essentially limbless could fly through the air, grab you, and render you powerless is a staple of many horror films (including the hugely popular Slither). This film is no different. Demonic Toys is littered with successful attack after successful attack wherein a 6 ft human stands by, motionless, while a 3oz toy stabs them in the crotch/eyes/etc… Quite silly. But, especially for this breviewer's tastes, it's also quite hilarious.
There are lots of characters involved in the epic and adorable battle against evil including; a security guard, delivery boy, stow-away, and even a captive murderer who's mostly meant to keep things agitated and consistently on edge. The ragtag crew is thrown together and needs to find a way out of their prison of plastic and plush before morning or all hell is going to break loose on Earth.
The plot of Demonic Toys essentially breaks down as one of the most reliable themes in demonic stories: Demon wishes to become flesh and bone (idiot) and needs woman to do so. In this case it is a pregnant woman, and the Demon wishes to be born through her womb. Nothing surprising here. Where it does becomes interesting, and where the writers have found an angle, giving them an excuse to have lots of unique fun, is that the Demon is restricted to a warehouse full of plastic dolls, robots, and stuffed animals. The Demon's army is therefore not one of decayed mummies or decomposing corpses, but of frilly dresses and fuzzy bellies.
It would seem to be one of the more interesting topics to discuss about the film, so I definitely have to bring up the fact that it is co-penned by DAVID S. FRICKIN GOYER. I mean, I know everyone has to start somewhere in their respective field… but the man who helped give us Dark Knight, the Blade Trilogy, and Dark City was also responsible for Demonic Toys?! You've really gotta love this industry. I'm going to just play it safe and say that anything and everything that's good about this film is as a result of Mr. Goyer (not a wild assumption on my part because I've seen Dollman vs Demonic Toys and it is utter shit)
Let's just take into account that the acting is bland and over the top, an achievement invariably occurring when b horror content is spouted off by b actors. Second, the pacing is slow and meandering and the geometry of scenes and the motivations of characters are mostly the stuff of amateurs on-the-cheap. These things come with the territory, but aside from those staples this movie has some really great b horror content. I'll point out a few of my favorites without spoiling much.
First of all, it pulls no punches when it comes to dealing death to it's characters. I really enjoy a movie that sets up a familiar, expected, and/or overtly derivative film character and then kills them off quickly and unexpectedly (UNLESS IT'S DONE IN A SELF-DEFEATING, OBVIOUS WAY). The stakes go through the roof at that point. Well, by the middle of this flick, you don't know who will die next or how it will happen.
Another fun touch are the scouts employed by the Demonic force. They come in the form of 3 little blond girls with creepy gas masks riding tricycles. They do nothing more than ride around the toy warehouse, weaving in and out of isles of boxes a la Tyler Durden. They put on the breaks and point when they see you, alerting the head honcho to your whereabouts. There are several slow push-ins on their masked faces while they breath slowly and point. It's ballsy, effective, and memorable.
A few of the toys themselves are designed and puppeted well. The experience of working on at least 3 previous films involving devilish little dolls is on clear display here. Don't get me wrong, they're conception is that of utter nonsense, and the majority of them are just wiggling dolls on sticks, but the main trio are wonderful little works by true visual effects artists at the top of their game (of super cheap and silly creature construction that can be controlled with a single hand or single cable pull).
Demonic Toys isn't great, but it would definitely be enjoyable with some mates on a b movie night simply because of how corny it is and the fact that it moves at a decent pace. Very much worth checking into, especially if you like the subgenera of creepy doll horror.
(Oh, and P.S. there is a little bit of booby in this picture.)
SCOUTS: The Demon's sentries are the stuff of nightmares.
HALLUCINATIONS: Characters definitely get fucked with inside their stupid brains.
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