Demonic Toys (1992)

**(out of four stars)

When I was a kid I was obsessed with evil toy films. I loved watching Puppet Master, Child's Play and a slew of others. Another favorite of mine was the film of todays topic of discussion. Demonic Toys!

Full Moon entertainment has always entertained me. Charles Band's crazy world of animated, possessed toys are some of my favorites as a child. Remember I wasn't watching Superman, Batman or comic book heroes. My heroes were Jason, Freddy, Michael Myers and the demonically possessed dolls. These films hold nostalgia for me and I love them to this day. Aside from maybe Chucky, he's become quite annoying.

The films starts out with Judith (Tracy Scoggins) and her boyfriend/partner Matt (Jeff Celentano). Judith is telling Matt of a reoccurring dream that has been plaguing her lately. In the dream two young boys are playing a game of WAR with some playing cards. The metaphor here - is good versus evil - if you haven't already guessed it. They sit in a desolate parking, talking about their future together and with a child on the way, they seem happy. Then, a car pulls in next to them. Apparently they're also undercover cops and the two thugs that they encounter are selling guns from foreign countries. When the situation goes awry, Lincoln (Michael Russo) one of the thugs, shoots and kills Matt. There goes that happy relationship. Judith then shoots and wounds Hesse, (thug #2) but both men manage to elude capture and escape into a warehouse that's inhabited by a bunch of toys. Judith is besides herself as she mourns the loss of her beloved Matt. With Vengeance on her mind, and a gun in her hand, she chases after Lincoln and Hesse.

Soon we're introduced to some of the Demonic Toys. Among the toys is the foul mouthed, Baby Oopsy Daisy. A clown in a jack in the box named, Jack Attack. The not so cuddly teddy bear named, Grizzly and Mr. Static, a robot that shoots blue lasers from his two arms.

Hesse is wounded badly and eventually gets ravaged by Grizzly and Jack Attack. Mr. Static finishes him off with some fatal shots about the body. Meanwhile, Judith catches up with Lincoln in a storage room. After a struggle, Lincoln is handcuffed. Both he and Judith are locked in the storage room by an unseen force.

Charnetski,(Peter Schrum) the overweight, whiskey drinking security guard is oblivious as to what is going on. Instead, he sits watching Puppet Master on the little monitor by his desk. After a bit, he gets hungry for some chicken. He calls in an order at Chunky Chicken and his friend, Mark (Bentley Mitchum, Grandson of Robert Mitchum) arrives shortly after with the food.

They hear a commotion somewhere in the vast warehouse and investigate. They find Judith and Charnetski is told to go get some help. He ventures off in the warehouse and is brutally killed by the toys. And by brutal I mean, throat maiming and a knife to the nuts. Yeah, brutal.

We're eventually introduced to a social outcast named, Annie, who kind of knows what's going on. She tells the others that the warehouse is haunted. She's killed shortly after by one of the killer toys. Without spoiling the rest of the film, I'll say that the evil little demon kid (the one in Judith's dreams, don't worry you'll point him out) does have his own devilish plans for Judith's unborn child. You'll just have to watch the movie to find out for yourself.

I'm not saying that Demonic Toys has anything new to offer the world of horror. But with its charm and good sense of humor (Baby Oopsie Daisy's constant insults) it's a fun film. Much like other toy horror films this one is really no different. I just personally hold it higher on the pedestal. I remember seeing it as a kid and always found quite a bit of enjoyment out of it.

The effects for the time are actually pretty good and do maintain that level of believability to this day. The screenplay came from the pen of David S. Goyer who also wrote other such films as: Dark City, The Blade Trilogy, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

Put the kids to bed, dim the lights and make sure the toys are locked in the closet. You never know... you just never know.