Demonic Toys 2 (2010, Review)
aka Demonic Toys: Personal Demons
Director: William Butler
Cast: Selene Luna, Lane Compton, Alli Kinzel, Elizabeth bell, Billy Marquart, Michael Citriniti, Leslie Jordan
Full Moon / Not Rated / NTSC Region 1 / 1:33.1 Full Screen / Mono Surround 2.0 / 80 Minutes / PURCHASE
Demonic Toys has to be one of my favorite films of the early nineties. The Charles Band production and the David Goyer (The Dark Knight director) written film played upon the creepiness of children’s toys. Of course Child’s Play started the trend with its voodoo possessed red-head “Good Guy” doll, but with Demonic Toys demons inhabit the empty shells of wise-cracking “Baby Whoopsie” and her cuddly yet frightening friends. Sounds pretty rad, right? So, when I saw previews for Demonic Toys 2, I nearly shat myself with glee! I’ve been somewhat of a William Butler fan for some time now as I’ve followed his short, yet dedicated, horror career. From his acting roots in Savini’s remake of Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, to the director’s chair of a sequel to Return of the Living Dead. But here Butler’s Demonic Toy entry creates a frozen hell that does little to even spark a single entertaining flame.
Dr. Lorca is a collector of many rare and priceless vintage toys. When he hears of an ancient demon doll being discovered in an Italian castle dungeon, he can’t pass up the opportunity of a life time. Caitlyn, a relatively young representative of the university who oversees the castle’s preservation, handles the deal for Dr. Lorca. When Dr. Lorca arrives, he brings his prized collectibles including “Baby Whoopsie” and “Jack Attack”. But there is more behind the demon doll than meets the eye as it comes alive and resurrects the dolls, putting everyone involved into a nightmare situation.
What this film lacks is a story. David Goyer’s script was simple – a confined location and interesting characters. Director William Butler’s script did not have the luxury of that simplicity because when you do a sequel, it has to be bigger and better. Sometimes I do not always agree with that cinema policy. In this sequel the characters are quite tedious. The actors themselves completely overdid the job of trying to make dull characters into fascinating, lively contributions. A complete failure in my book as I cringed every time the three L’s – Dr. Lorca, his wife Lauraline and Lillith – were on screen. Only Leslie Jordan could pull off such an over-the-top performance as a gay toy adjuster. But it wasn’t just only the characters that irked me, it was also the scattered story. I couldn’t connect the dots between the personal demons and the demon within the dolls. The thick mist didn’t seem to subside enough for a clear cut story and this makes the brain hurt…a lot.
Not everything is hopeless for Demonic Toys 2 as there was one redeeming quality. The return of the puppets in their true form without CGI says that Butler had enough sense to know that fans would want those characters back in the flesh…uh, I mean plastic. But I think the temptation to use CGI could not be withheld as the toys do become animated for brief scenes. As hilarious as the scenes might have been, seeing dolls run down corridors and “Baby Whoopsie” climb a wall, I couldn’t help but ask what were the film makers thinking? Did it just add to the already farcical tone? Like I said, these scenes were brief, but they reside longer in your mind for their laughable quality. The puppeteering was outstanding and should have been used 100 percent of the time. Animatronics is becoming a rarity in the movie industry. They are more life-like than the cartoony and not yet perfected computer imagery.
Demonic Toys 2 does reminisce about the past, but for the most part, it makes the future look bleak and dreadful. I’m deeply sadden by William Butler’s efforts though I am not surprised. His directing capabilities seem to be dwindling as the years go by. His psychological supernatural film Madhouse was very promising. I’m not sure what happened along the way, but once Demonic Toys 2 came around, it is almost seems that Butler threw up his arms and said, “fuck it.”
