Demonic Toys: Personal Demons

Having seen movies like the "Puppet Master" series and "Doll Graveyard", I had little expectations to this movie, but I must say that I was disappointed.

"Demonic Toys 2" does not really manage to get up to the level of the previous work that Charles Band have made. There is just something about this movie that makes it impossible to really get into the groove of the movie.

Perhaps it is the thin storyline or the effects. Or it could be the lack of new thinking to this movie.

Now, the good parts of "Demonic Toys 2" were the characters in the movie. There was a variety of interesting characters, that sadly were not given enough time (or chance) to fully shine through on the screen. The actors and actresses portraying them did a fairly good job.

The dolls were cool to look at, if you can overcome the fake way of their movements and the way they kill people. There is something very grimy and gritty to the dolls, and it works well. It gives them a dark and sinister appearance. Well, I have always liked the dolls in Band's movies.

The effects were below average, and most often hilarious to look at.

If Band went for the early 90's feel to this movie intentionally, then hats off to him, then he really managed to pull it off. This whole movie reeks of early 90's horror movies. From the way it was shot, to the storyline (or lack thereof), to the dialogue and to the location in which it was shot (you just got to love the purple sky).

The movie just didn't really appeal that much to me. There was something important lacking from it, and I think this movie might actually have been scary (or somewhat scary) had it been released in the late 80's or early 90's.

If you are a fan of the "Puppet Master" series and such similar movies, you should sit down to watch this one, but do not go into this experience with high expectations

Demonic Toys 2 (2010) is available for free on Tubi. The storyline focuses on some world explorers investigating an Italian castle that unleashed a spirit who brings the demonic toys back to life. This movie is directed by William Butler (Gingerbread Man 3, Furnace and Power Rangers) and stars Alli Kinzel (Criminal Minds), Lane Compton (NCIS) and Selene Luna (My Bloody Valentine). The storyline was okay and kind of had a throwback feel to it (like Ghoulies) but the script wasn't as good as most Demonic Toys movie. Usually there's some solid comedic content but this falls short of the previous three pictures. The kill scenes are just okay and the entertainment value is ehh. This is worth seeing if you're a fan of the series but a below average addition to the genre. I'd give it a 3.5/10.

Arriving at an ancient Italian castle, a professor and his staff attempting to document the findings with a group of antiquities experts finds they have released a series of dolls possessed by an evil, demonic energy and must race to find a way out alive.

This here was a decent enough if slightly flawed effort. One of the main elements going for this one is the fact that there's quite a large amount of Gothic atmosphere found here in the main location as this one really lets the castle location come through quite nicely. This features all the usual grand set-pieces and designs that come about here through the location taking place here, from the scenes of them wandering about the castle going for the various rooms and settings featured here while taking full advantage of material that can be attempted here with the elaborate, ornate decorations, candelabra- lit rooms, secret passageways and much more that makes this one quite a bit more fun than it really should be putting the Gothic set-pieces into the hunting grounds for the toys. With the discovery of the different rooms featured within here, especially the torture chamber and the exorcism vault that are found here, they make for a great place here which gives the dolls a spectacular place to hunt, generating the great stalking scenes in the basement where they take out the cheating couple or in the big bedroom against the one unaware loner who gets tormented beforehand with all the various sights and sounds of them appearing before the final kill which is quite impressive and enjoyable. Once they finally reveal themselves here which comes at the end of the big seance sequence which itself is a fantastic highlight offering with the flashing lights, demonic voices and the overall resolution of the main plot line being revealed to them, this one readily picks up the action and becomes a thrilling, suspenseful series of chasing through the bowels of the castle trying to fight them off in order to get away which makes for a fine finish here. These here make this one quite fun and enjoyable, though it does have a few quite detrimental issues. The main one here is the fact that the film's rather long periods of time here without the dolls being a part of the film, letting the exploration of the castle and their eccentricities take over the large portion of time here in the first half so they don't get really unleashed to knock people off until the later half. That it all for the better here, with the doll effects being quite substandard and really silly looking, barely featuring enough here to look like they're committing the crimes and just making it very obvious they're dolls. It's the biggest thing that holds this one back, alongside the bland pacing.

Rated R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.

I really do want to respect Charles Band. Back in the day he put his name on a number of decent B-movies and was one of the early innovators in the home video market, producing the type of movies I enjoyed watching during that period. It was certainly a long time ago and he has managed to put out a lot of real trash in the years that followed that I simply can't stand, the whole output using the "small stuff can be scary" genre being at the top of the list. I get nothing from these types of films except a sinking feeling in my stomach as I imagine what is going on n the heads of people who find this junk entertaining. The "toys" aren't scary and the gore and kill scenes are lame. No real nudity to pick things up and the plot, of course, is completely stupid. What really gets under my skin are the silly comments and attempts at humor the "toys" make that are not only inappropriate for a horror flick but inappropriate for a toy that was made in the 1400's or whatever. Why do filmmakers feel they need to do this? Do people like it? I guess, because they keep making "horror" movies with that sort of dumb dialogue in them, but I think it sucks. It was sort of funny when Freddy Kruger first did it and it quickly got old for me and that was decades ago. This is boring, lack-luster cinema at its worst, but it won't even put you to sleep--it just raises your blood pressure.

The evil toys totally make this movie, there is something about them I really really like. If you don't like horror movies, b-movies and all that, then why you watching this movie? Of course you wont like it. However, this was a decently made low-budget movie.

Other makers of low budget horror should really take note, this is how its done. A small cast, with actual characters, gore, one setting (the Italian castle).

The acting wasn't that great, but what do you expect? This was a fun movie, and the plot with Devotello or whatever it was called, was cool. That and I just loved that killer baby!