Silent Night, Deadly Night 5 : The Toymaker

Alternate titles : The Toy Maker, Diabolical Games, Playing with Horror.

Tagline : "He's Home, but he's not Alone..."

After 3 decidedly poor sequels, I wasn't holding out much hope for this 5th instalment, but was actually kind of surprised. For this story, a young boy, Derek Quinn (William Thorne) is left traumatised, after someone leaves a toy Santa on his doorstep one Xmas, which subsequently comes alive and kills his father.

Anyway, we soon discover there's something sinister about the old guy who runs the local Toy shop (played by veteran actor Mickey Rooney of all people), who's son appears to be, to put not too finer point on it, somewhat retarded, as his toys prove to be lethal for anyone that buys them.

Also, it seems Derek's mother, Sarah (Jane Higginson), has a stalker, that keeps following them round and it soon becomes clear that someone is trying to kill them. As a rather unfriendly Santa Claus deposits a bag full of toys at her house, which proceed to attack the babysitter and her boyfriend.

But, is it the creepy old guy who runs the toy shop that's behind this, or his oddball son, or even the stalker who's responsible?

Originally released in the UK plainly as "The Toy Maker" and marketed as a standalone movie, this one proves to be a marginal improvement over its predecessors, l,but is let down by the fact that its exceptionally small budget means pretty much everything takes place at either the young boys home or the toy shop.

Produced by Brian Yuzna, who directed the previous instalment, this isn't a "bad" movie as such, but isn't a brilliant one either. Worth a watch perhaps, but that's about it. Look out for Clint Howard and Neith Hunter from the previous film, who also appear in this briefly.

Overall Marks : 3/10.

Terrifying Trivia

• Veteran actor Mickey Rooney was actually one of the many people who publicly condemned the first film and even wrote a letter of protest to the producers criticising it. Yet 9 years later, he agreed to appear in this sequel.
• The film's budget was $250,000
• The name of Mickey Rooney's character Joe Peto and his son, Pino, where taken from the names Gepetto and Pinocchio, from the classic story of "Pinocchio".
• Clint Howard and Neith Hunter, who were both in the previous film, appear briefly in this as they wanted to put something in for fans of the series to pick up on. They are apparently playing the same characters, to show that they'd both moved on from the events of that film.
• The film was originally released in the UK plainly as "The Toy Maker" and not part of the "Silent Night Deadly Night" series as Parts 2 and 3 had not been released here yet and the fourth film had also been retitled as "Bugs", which would have created a gap in the series.
• The building where Sarah (Derek's mother) works was actually the offices of Live Entertainment, the studio who produced the film.
• Director Martin Kitrosser is probably better known for his script work, having worked on numerous Tarantino films and some of the earlier "Friday the 13th" movies.
• Special effects artist Screamin Mad George, who also worked on the previous film, returned to provide the special effects for this.
• The little girl who asks the Santa at the shopping mall for a copy of "Bride of Re-Animator" for Christmas was played by Producer Brian Yuzna's daughter, Zoe.

Other Recomendations

A-Z REVIEWS | REVIEWS INDEX | HOME