Review of Demonic Toys (1992) by Bryan G — 29 Oct 2009

After sitting through the disappointing Skull Heads the other day, I pulled out Demonic Toys and gave that one a viewing to see if this film, featuring small menaces like Skull Heads, still was the enjoyable film that I remembered it to be from when I was younger. The evil toys featured in this film have been a favorite of mine, and re-watching this film I noticed that they still brought a level of enjoyment to me. I have, however, noticed more of the flaws of this film, which have slightly altered my original opinion on Demonic Toys.

While each of the toys in this film aren't as great as the puppets of Puppet Master, some of them are still an impressive design. The jack-in-the-box clown is still my favorite of the bunch. I like the look of this thing's face, with all of its menacing teeth always exposed. And then there is that crazy laughter of his, especially when he seems to be enjoying killing people. The other toys are decent, but not as great. The robot seems to be the weakest of the bunch, and I'm not too keen on Baby Oopsie Daisy and its foul mouth (though not because I find it offensive, but rather that what this thing says feels forced and not genuine). The killer teddy bear was fine, but it got a little strange when it grew to human size.

The characters of this film are a pretty good bunch of people for a Full Moon film. I like how the film starts off with some under cover cops pulling a sting operation on two gun peddlers, and then them stumbling into this warehouse possessed with an evil spirit. Tracy Scoggins is one of the better actresses I've seen in a Full Moon film, and I thought she had a pretty good screen presence. I also like that the screenplay has Scoggins' character Judith being pregnant, and how it ties that with the demonic forces in this warehouse.

The demon that is trapped in this warehouse is played by Daniel Cerny, whose voice is either warped or completely dubbed over. "The Kid," as he is referred to in the credits, needs to transfer himself into the body of Judith's unborn child, thus being able to be born in human form. Great concept, but the set up is a little far fetched. "The Kid" explains why he is trapped in this warehouse, but the backstory is kind of silly and hard to understand at certain points. But I did like the power struggle between this demon and the soul of Judith's unborn child.

Demonic Toys is still one of my favorite Full Moon movies. It has a lot of pluses; one I didn't mention before was the stop motion done on a little toy soldier (who is actually the soul of Judith's unborn child trying to protect her). But the film has some other aspects I didn't care for; like the addition of the runaway teen that took refuge in the warehouse and those little girls in gas-masks riding on tricycles (what was the deal with them?). I guess there is some truth to what some have said about this being a Puppet Master wanna-be, but it is still one of the better Full Moon features.