The Magic Toyshop

I saw this film on the A&E Channel in 1991 and have bitterly regretted not taping it then. The late Angela Carter herself wrote the screenplay and included elements of magical realism not present in her novel, which made it even more intriguing and absorbing. The cast includes the great Tom Bell as Uncle Philip and the terrific Irish actors Kilian McKenna and Lorcan Cranitch (of "Cracker" fame) as Finn and Francie. It is a fantastic adaptation of a difficult, strange and wonderful book, and I wish SOMEONE at Granada or the BBC or wherever would release it on all regions DVD already!

The Magic Toyshop is a rich and by turns sensual and disturbing adaptation of the Angela Carter book, to which the film stays particularly true.

At the heart of the story is the young Melanie, who after her parents die tragically is sent to stay with her Uncle Philip, Aunt Margaret and her cousins Francie and Finn. Aunt Margaret is mute, and Uncle Philip is a control freak who stages plays with life size puppets and when not doing so treats his family as little more than an extension of his marrionette collection. Through a series of strange and often surreal events the perverse dynamics of this family begin to reveal themselves to Melanie.

SO WHY CAN'T WE WATCH THIS FILM?

Since it was screened on BBC1 back in 1988 it has never been repeated, or released on video or any other format, anywhere. I know this because I've been trying to hunt down a copy for over a decade, it is not only unavailable but seemingly unheard of to the point where I've sometimes wondered if the film was never really made and I dreamed the whole thing. I can understand some of its themes being considered contraversial, such as Uncle Philip's symbolic molestation of Melanie with the swan puppet, or his need to assert his dominance over Aunt Margaret by making her wear a silver collar, but suppressing films that bring these themes out into the open is only reinforcing the old taboos.

I guess we can only hope that it gets some kind of release, somewhere, sometime in the future...

A beautiful film about the wonderment and mysteries of childhood and the developing young girl in a mystical backdrop of the sinister toymakers house and family. Many contraversial topics are touched upon without any hint of moral lecturing or the political correctness of later years that we have grown to hate.Very worth seeing and worth the BBC reshowing if they have the courage for it.I would love to get hold of a PAL video copy.

In an odd coincidence, I also saw this film at what I am sure is the same out-of-the-way cinema in Berkeley, CA in 1987 or 1988 that was mentioned above. (It was in North Berkeley I believe on Euclid Avenue just off of Hearst St. and round the corner from LaVal's pizza.)

I have been looking for this film ever since and also had the thought that perhaps I had imagined seeing it and it never really existed. Well, not really. But it did appear to completely disappear from the face of the earth after that.

I just loved the puppet sequences and creepiness of Tom Bell and his toyshop. I remember when one of the children accidentally broke a pull toy the deliciously weird way he spoke directly to the toy, "We'll have to get you a new leg, will we?" I also like the oddly positive form of the tag question ("will we?") and wondered if that came from a particular English dialect.

It's funny how much good press her other film The Company of Wolves got compared with this one (I didn't like it that much.) But I'd be quite surprised if this turns out to be an act of censorship. I think it's more likely the lack of an interested distributor that is holding it back.

As someone mentioned above they actually got a copy of this in the U.S. I hope that means I can find one, too. Good luck to everyone else.

The best thing about this movie is the soundtrack.. It is just epic.

The movie itself has a great setting and great feeling as well. It is difficult to categorize and I would say it is a fantasy; yet it is not a very comfortable movie and has nudity and adult situations. At times the cruelty and sad situations almost make it a horror film. At the same time it doesn't necessarily feel like a horror film either.

The protagonist is a young girl around 16 who, because of the death of her parents, goes to her uncles home with her siblings. Her uncle is a toy-maker and a cruel man. The movie has some strange relationships and abuses going on. We notice all of this is happening while we are showered with fantastic, dreamy images and scenes including puppet shows, dances, animal costumes in gardens etc.

Caroline Milmoe who plays the main character is very lovely and does a great job. The different dresses she wears are kind of reminiscent of ballerina/ wedding dresses and add to the feel.

I very much recommend getting your hands on this movie if you are a fan of fantasy films or even horror movies like Argento's Suspiria or The Shining.