Film Review: SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 5: THE TOY MAKER (1991)

The Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise returns to its Christmas roots with the last entry in the franchise Part 5: The Toy Maker which was co-written and co-produced by the previous entry’s director Brian Yuzna. This latest film is directed by Martin Kitrosser (who also co-wrote) and explores toys that seem to have a mind of their own that go on a killing spree.

Derek is a disturbed young boy after watching his father get killed by a toy that comes to life and strangles him. Since then he hasn’t been the same and his mother Sarah (Jane Higginson) is trying to do everything she can to bring her son back to normal. When Sarah takes her son to the local toy shop owned by Joe Petto (Mickey Rooney), her son is taken back by the possibility that the toy that killed his father probably came this very toy shop. This is also the theory Noah (Tracy Fraim) who is staking out the store and has an even deeper connection to Sarah & her son than he even knows.

There is an interesting (and obvious) parallel between this story and that of Pinocchio that makes this an interesting sequel in the franchise. Although the film has its flaws, mostly the lackluster characters, its an interesting little film. Unlike the previous film, this film pays homage to the franchise in several ways. Noah works as a Santa Claus for a mall (like in the original film) and at one point several characters are seen watching one of the films in the franchise. This is fitting as this is the last film in the franchise.

I’m not particularly a fan of this film but the acting is stronger in this film than in some of the previous films (the biggest flaw of the previous film) but it lacks the style and ambiance of the last first but improves upon Part 3. Rooney is also an interesting choice for the cast and gets the chance to play a broken drunk father to a problem child soon. His treatment of his son could even border on child abuse.

The visual fx in terms of the toys brought to life is lacking and are the only real drawback of the film as the deaths probably come off as more comical than they should (which is not helped by the abysmal score). The film is good for a once over during the holidays but that’s about it.

Film Review: SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 3: BETTER WATCH OUT (1989)

The ‘80s were filled with straight to video sequels of horror films of which the Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise produced its fair share. This second sequel Part 3 Better Watch Out! Was the final story featuring the original “Santa Claus Killer” Ricky Caldwell (this time played by Bill Moseley) who has been kept alive through scientific experimentation. This Dr. Newbury (Richard Beymer) is using Caldwell and experimenting with ESP but doesn’t realize that Caldwell has created a psychic link with a blind woman Laura Anderson (Samantha Scully) who is celebrating the holidays with her brother and girlfriend. Caldwell escapes from Dr. Newbury and people get killed and that’s pretty much it for this film.

The ‘80s were notorious for slasher films that simply presented a killer that killed people for very little reason and that sums up the plot for this film. Written by Carlos Laszlo and directed by Monte Hellman, who directed the drive-in cult classic Two-Lane Backdrop, this film is a by the numbers slasher film on a very limited budget as neither the look of the film nor the kills are as elaborate or intricate as the previous two films. This film is only really for fans of the franchise. I can’t even recommend it to fans of Moseley as he has very little to do other than walk around like a mindless zombie the whole film. It is interesting to note that the film has an early appearance from actress Laura Harring (from Mulholland Dr. and the remake of Willard, to name a few films on her horror resume).

I remember seeing this film when it was originally released and I actually remember liking it (this film along with its brethren made for great holiday viewing every year) but the film has aged horribly (and was probably not all that good when originally released).