Demonic Toys

Year: 1992
Director: Peter Manoogian
Writer: David S. Goyer
Genre: Horror: Evil Toys

I wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into with Demonic Toys. I figured Full Moon already had an "evil doll/toy/puppet" film series with Puppet Master, but they must have felt they were needing more. In fact, this movie came out right between Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge and Puppet Master 4. I'm guessing they could tell that franchise was beginning to slip (although they would still go on to make many more versions) and wanted a fresh new start. I know they eventually had a mix of the two toy worlds with Puppet Master VS Demonic Toys but beyond that I don't know if this one really became a series.

Okay, so let's talk about the movie. It starts off with a man and woman in a car in a dark alleyway discussing their relationship. Shortly, we discover that the two are police officers and their reason to be in such a creepy place is because a sting operation is about to go down. As things proceed, many people are wounded - one crook in particular who slowly bleeds out after crawling into a toy factory. At this point I figured the movie was going to be a huge rip off of Chucky, but that doesn't happen.

Instead, the toys feed off his blood and are able to animate. There are a great handful of toys. A few of them are "characters" but many others are simply there for show which end up dying off in quick bursts. What's most interesting to me is why Full Moon seems to always need one supremely annoying toy which makes horrid and loud noises. In Puppet Master world it was the leech lady and here it's this damned jack in the box.

The movie isn't very deep but it is better than it has any right to be. Still, people seem to die off a little too easily and overall the story dips into shades of A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (which means it is a little silly). Anyway, it's okay if you're really in need of an evil toy flick.

Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys

Year: 2004
Director: Ted Nicolaou
Writer: C. Courtney Joyner
Genre: Horror: Evil Toys

By this point the series seems to have lost its "horror" tinge. It's all just a joke and this is readily made apparent in this crossover film. Apparently, Demonic Toys is a series all its own which ripped off Puppet Master. Because of that, it makes sense that this battle would have to take place at some point.

The two worlds mesh perfectly and it makes sense why the toys are there. The toy company was spying on this toy maker, who is Andre's great great nephew or something. They've got the blood in them though which means both he and his daughter are able to bring things to life. As a matter of fact, despite an other film taking the toys out of the original house and family, they are once again brought into family hands for this film. Whatever.

While this film really brings nothing great to the story, it does make for an entertaining watch. If nothing else, it's kind of hilarious to see the main character flirt awkwardly with a cop as he tries to convince her he's not crazy. It's also interesting to see the head of a huge toy company introduce virgin girls to her dungeonesque "playroom".

There's no real point to the story but it entertains for a good hour and a half. If you're interested in burning some brain cells I'd almost recommend it. It could be a good double feature alongside Jack Frost (not the family film) for the holidays.

PS: Corey Feldman plays the dad character. I was overjoyed.