Review: Demonic Toys (1992)

Directed by: Peter Manoogian
Starring: Tracy Scoggins, Bentley Mitchum, Michael Russo
Written by: David S. Goyer
Music by: Richard Band
Country: United States
Available on: Blu-ray & DVD (Full Moon Pictures)
IMDb

In the wake of successes like Puppet Master (1989), Dollman (1991), and Subspecies (1991), Charles Band released Demonic Toys upon the world as part of the effort to fulfill his manifest destiny to corner the tiny monsters market. Since I’m feeling kind of heretical, I’m going to go ahead and say that I actually enjoy the original Demonic Toys more than any of those except Dollman. Though Puppet Master II and III are way better than this flick — and probably the two best movies Full Moon has released in its existence — Demonic Toys manages to harness the menace and bloodshed that David Schmoeller’s first puppet flick never quite achieved. Here we’ve got a pregnant cop whose partner-slash-baby daddy is killed in an undercover sting gone awry, and she chases his murderers into a toy warehouse. Thanks to some demonic shenanigans involving the blood from a wounded criminal, a handful of toys are animated with evil life force, commanded by a demon that takes the shape of a little boy (played with nefarious gusto by Daniel Cerny). His goal: to get up in knocked up Tracy Scoggins so he can be born again on earth. The designs of the wicked playthings are really pretty creepy, highlighted by a toothy jack in the box and a bloodthirsty teddy bear that obviously inspired Mike Dougherty when he was making Krampus (2015), as well as a foul-mouthed babydoll. The pool of potential victims is pretty small, though a security guard, a teenager that hangs out at the warehouse a lot for some reason, and a runaway round things out a little. Despite a limited cast, director Peter Manoogian and writer David S. Goyer (yes, the same guy who wrote the Blade and Christopher Nolan Batman trilogies) keep things interesting with some nasty kills, convincing special effects, and a lot of amusingly snarky banter from the demon boy and asshole baby. Daniel Cerny is easily the standout in this movie, and he perfectly channels the smarmy and threatening yet charming personality of the evil ringleader. Richard Band provides one of his best scores, as well; his style of composing is just tailor-made for movies about children’s toys turning villainous. Demonic Toys could have easily been a shoddy, lazy recreation of Puppet Master, but it instead ends up as one of Full Moon’s more colorful films that never overstays its welcome at a brisk 86 minutes.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10