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.
Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker
(1991 Video)
Just keep repeating: it's only a toy. Only a toy...only a toy...
10 December 2011