DEMONIC TOYS: JACK ATTACK

For my latest Philm Phreaks review I'm looking at a new Blu-Ray release of a movie called "Demonic Toys: Jack Attack." For those who don't know, "Demonic Toys" is a series of films from Full Moon that started in 1992. Released last year, this movie is the fifth installment in terms of films. That said, there is also a television series called "Baby Oopsie" that is part of the franchise. 

I've never hidden my love for Full Moon. Back in the 90s, I never missed one of their movies. They had a way of turning small budgets into compelling, often very crazy and seriously fun films. Well, this is from the new version of Full Moon, and it manages to do a great job of continuing that legacy. 

The basic premise of the whole "Demonic Toys" franchise is that there are people who put certain toys in the hands of people out of ill intent. Those toys are not ordinary toys, but actually demonic entities pretending to be toys, and the people giving them out are feeding the entities' souls. 

This particular entry in the series starts with two characters being attacked and tormented by several of those entities. One of the characters is killed, but the other survives. We next see that character again as she is being sent to live in a foster home. The trauma of what has happened to her has rendered her unable to speak. Instead she spends her time creating art work based on the things she saw. Once she gets to her new home, though, the toys return, specifically a Jack-in-the-Box, and the terror and killing begin again. 

The movie is decidedly scary with plenty of gory moments. There are few lulls in the action. Even those are intriguing. This definitely earns a right to stand along-side the rest of the series. 

One complaint I would make is that I wished I knew more about the opening scene. I felt like I was missing a great story there. Still, it didn't really detract from the story that was being told here. That feeling of being out of the loop was gone very quickly after the opening credits. I will also say that a lot of the characters who get killed are pretty creepy people in their own right. So, it almost seems like some kind of poetic justice to see them meet their ends. 

This Blu-Ray comes with quite a few bonus features. My favorites among those are the Videozones. Those are sort of behind the scenes featurettes that have pretty much always come with Full Moon releases, even back in the day when those releases were on video cassette. I always looked forward to seeing them, and we get three on this disc. 

Overall, I love how they managed to capture the magic that Full Moon always had. The movie is fast paced, dark and bizarre, but in a great way. I was also surprised by the ending. I highly recommend this one.