It’s a crazy night at the Toyland Warehouse. After a failed sting operation leaves her partner (and lover) dead, officer Judith Gray pursues the arms dealers responsible for his death into the warehouse. But they’re far from alone there. There’s the security guard and his food-delivering friend, a teen runaway…and the demon awakened by one of the fleeing criminals bleeding over his resting place (along with his murderous toy servants). But to be truly free, the demon needs to be reborn in a human body, which means he has very special plans for the pregnant officer of the law…
Although some might be tempted to write off this 1992 film as a Puppet Master wannabe, I think it owes more to the movie Dolls. Not only because several props from that film show up in Demonic Toys, but there’s also a scene involving Grizzly Teddy that’s clearly based off a dream sequence from Dolls. While lesser movies using the same theme would only make use of the main toys (Baby Oopsie Daisy, Jack Attack, Grizzly Teddy and Mr. Static), Demonic Toys throws in a whole army of living toys, some creepy gas mask wearing children on tricycles and a demon master with multiple forms.
Although not quite as popular as Puppet Master, the film spawned a comic book limited series and several sequels: Dollman vs. Demonic Toys, Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys and Demonic Toys II. It’s also worth noting that Jack Attack made a brief cameo in Evil Bong.
While far from perfect, it’s still lots of fun and definitely worth a rental. Once only available as part of a boxset, there is now a DVD of the film available in its original aspect ratio, along with some trailers and the film’s original VideoZone segment. Alternately, you can try watching on Full Moon’s official YouTube channel for free, which is actually how I wound up seeing it. Considering how the only recent movie of theirs that captures some of the old school “Full Moon feel” has been The Haunted Casino, it’s a relief to know there’s an online source for stuff from the good old days.
Special thanks to Full Moon Features for use of the image!
