Silent Night Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker
For the fifth (and last) in the venerable Xmas horror series, a few adjustments were made in order to actually make this one in some ways the most memorable, with an ending that reeks of perverse genius. Sure, there are some tried and true cornball b-movie elements (like when the hero is knocked out with a WATER PISTOL), but much of it does work. For starters, the filmmakers brought in all-time movie legend Mickey Rooney to star as an apparently evil toymaker responsible for building some toys that when triggered, proceed to kill and / or maim whoever is using it. This brings about some head-scratching, as the toys donât blow up or anything, but rather systematically attack their victim to get the job done, laughably implying that each toy has a mind of its own. Nonetheless, Rooney (who memorably wrote upon the release of the first film that the filmmakers were âscumâ and âshould be run out of townâ) gets some good nasty bits, as when he lays out some killer toys in the bedroom of a babysitter or gets drunk and bashes his mentally disturbed son over the head with a glass liquor bottle. As his son, Brian Bremer also does a good job here, although to say anymore about his character would be to spoil the major twist of the film; William Thorne as the little boy who has been targeted spends most of the film in a catatonic state after watching his father get slaughtered by a toy in the opening scene; Jane Higginson as his mom brings a sexy quality to her role even as she conveys real maternal concern for her offspring; and Tracy Fraim as a mysterious stranger who has a high interest in both Rooney and the boy is acceptable as well. We also get two holdovers from the ridiculous Part 4 in the series with Neith Hunterâs Kim returning, now the supportive best friend of the mom who at one time makes reference to the traumatic events she experienced previously; and Clint Howard makes a VERY brief appearance as a department store Santa whoâs more interested in the sexy girl elf than in dealing with any of the kidâs demands. At times the viewer wonders just how big a bunch of pussies several characters are in that they would get overwhelmed by some cheap-looking toys, but the FX by Screaming Mad George and the directing and pacing by Martin Kitrosser are both good, all leading up to that ending which gives the story a kind of sick fairy tale quality, brilliant and cheap all at the same time (even as weâre supposed to believe that a two bit toy maker may very well be the most brilliant scientific mind of the 20th century), right up to the haunting final shot that guarantees that this will stay with you for a long time. Overall, besides the insane classic that was the original, easily the best in the seriesâŚ
7/10