Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker

After subpar sequels 2 to 4, had lowered expectations for this final film in the franchise.

This film is different in comparison to the original but it works in a sense. The plot is creative and makes sense. There is a sense of intrigue as it starts out relatively mysterious and confusing where many things do unfold as the story progresses. Clever twists in the end.

The aspect regarding the toy owner and his creepy teenage son with these killer toys makes for an interesting story. How the intro began regarding the killer toy killing the character left us wanting more.

What ultimately makes this film watchable is not only is the acting passable, the characters are solid and the lead mother and her child son are easy to root for. There are some unique kill scenes, one highlight involving a young teenage man and girl in the bedroom where these killer toys go completely rogue.

A lot better than part 4, also noting that the lead female Kim and the boy Lonnie appear here with lesser roles. Perhaps not on the level of the original but it's certainly at least the second best of the franchise.

The Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise is a weird one, the first was about a man who went on a killing spree in a santa suit, the second was about the same mans brother doing the same, the third picked up where the second left off and then suddenly they dropped that whole storyline with part 4 and told a dodgy story about witches.

Well here in part 5 it's another Christmas themed movie with absolutely no connection to the original plot.

It tells the story of a boy traumatised after watching a Christmas toy kill his father. It turns out that someone is creating killer toys, parcelling them up in gift wrapping and sending them to people for Christmas.

Though the movies sfx both practical and cgi aren't great they are saved by some originality. Truth be told I quite liked it despite its glaring flaws.

Starring Mickey Rooney and with a cameo appearance by Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 (1990) star Clint Howard this is an interesting (If a little goofy) horror movie.

The funny thing is that Rooney infamously slammed the creators of the first movie back in 1984. He deemed it disgusting that they'd make a horror movie set during Christmas and publically kicked up a stink about it, then several years later here he is starring in one!

I think this is the best of the Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise but treat it entirely as a stand alone film as that's exactly what it is.

The Good:

Mickey Rooney

Quite original

Well constructed

Great twist

The Bad:

Eyebrow raising finale

Lot of 90's cliches

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Having the same actor play a different character by the same name in the same franchise is logical, right?

Another in-name-only sequel, this time with a "Pinocchio" theme about a toy maker (Mickey Rooney) and his son creating toys that kill people. Interesting premise marred by amateurish performances. Technically well-made, though. My evaluation: ** out of ****.

Although this movie is soon established as having a supernatural bent (as well as a Pinocchio complex), it follows the pattern of excellence that was set by the original "Silent Night, Deadly Night". Each movie is gorier than the last, yet still manages to come up with interesting and unique ways to kill the victims. (Warning though -- do NOT watch this movie while eating, as it has probably the most disgusting death scene I've ever viewed.) This movie is rich with a vibrant, talented cast, including Jane Higginson (as Sarah Quinn), Brian Bremer (as Pino), Tracy Fraim (as Noah), William Thorne (as the child Derek), and the incomparable Mickey Rooney (as Joe Petto ).

There's a host of strange and creepy characters in this movie, from the toy maker Joe Petto, who has the eerie ability to bring things back to life, to his "son" Pino(cchio) Petto, who is just plain weird and creepy in addition to the fact that he hasn't aged in over twenty years, to the mysterious Noah, who shows up in the town, doing his best to buy out Petto's toy shop, and having a strange obsession with your Derek Quinn. Just when you think you've figured out who the "bad guy" is, the movie throws you a curve ball, and you're left to wonder who really is the "evil toymaker".

Altogether, this was an excellent film, having all the aspects of a wild horror ride. You'd think the story of satanic Santas and Christmases best left forgotten, but this movie proves that follow-ups can be just as thrilling as the original movie, even following the same pattern -- no one really lives long enough for you to get attached to them, and as the movie goes on, you feel more and more pity for the character you're beginning to suspect. And make sure you watch closely -- this movie has some interesting cameos that are too good to miss.

But so as not to give the wrong impression, yes, there are parts of this movie that could be better left unseen. There's a long, drawn-out sex scene with absolutely no point, and another sex scene (which ends in a fascinating new way) which could have been drastically reduced. But for the child in all of us, that still believes our toys come alive at night, this movie is a horrifying adventure into a child's worst nightmare. If you like this movie, you'll love the horror flick "Dolls", where the toys are much more than living toys -- they're people trapped inside of toys.

The people behind these sequels certainly came up with some insane ideas once they moved away from the whole "killer Santa" routine. This last entry is co-written by director Martin Kitrosser and producer Brian Yuzna. If you recognize Kitrosser's name, that's because he'd co-written the third "Friday the 13th" movie several years previous, but has kept busy in the film business as a script supervisor, and is in fact Quentin Tarantino's script supervisor of choice. His movie is an amusing combination of the genuinely creepy and the genuinely kinky. Toys designed for a deadly purpose have been sent out for years, and killed the father of a traumatized and mute boy, Derek (William Thorne). His concerned mother Sarah (Jane Higginson) comes to suspect either drunken, seemingly kindly toy store proprietor Joe Petto (screen legend Mickey Rooney) or his weirdo son Pino (Brian Bremer, whom you may recognize from "Pumpkinhead", Yuzna's "Society", and / or "Spontaneous Combustion"). Meanwhile, a young man, Noah (Tracy Fraim) is awfully intent on making contact with Derek and Sarah, and what could be his reason? The best of these sequels since Part 2, in this reviewer's humble opinion, it benefits from being so utterly twisted. In fact, right towards the end it features what has to be one of the most disturbing attempted rape sequences committed to celluloid. The special effects are often of the cheesy and tacky variety, yet are reasonably entertaining for this reason. Kitrosser's focus on sex is pretty blatant: at one point he keeps cutting between two separate sex scenes. None too subtle references to a classic children's story are indicative of his whole approach to his movie. The acting is mostly competent enough, with the appropriately cast Bremer coming off the best. Rooney acts his little heart out, as could be expected; regarding his presence here when his was one of the voices demonizing the original movie, it just goes to show what an actor is willing to do when they're desperate enough for a gig. Neith Hunter and Conan Yuzna reprise their roles of Kim and Lonnie from the previous sequel; ubiquitous Clint Howard once again shows up, and plays a character named Ricky, but is only around for one scene. One thing this movie is not is boring, and if your tastes are anything like mine, you're sure to derive some entertainment out of this demented piece of work. Seven out of 10.