Toys Of Terror is a thriller movie filled to the brim with jump scares and creepy toys — the perfect movie for Halloween — and Christmas!
I love a good horror movie. Heck, I love a bad horror movie. Horror is hands down one of my favorite movie genres, if not my favorite. There is nothing I like more than being freaked out to the point where I have nightmares. Toys Of Terror was not as scary as I had hoped, but that didn’t stop me from hiding under my blanket while watching.
This movie takes two things that creep me out to no end and mixes them together — spooky toys and creepy kids. So if you are like me, chances are this movie will have you freaking out. At least a little bit. I would classify this as more of a thriller than a horror, although those toys get seriously scary towards the end.
The plot of the movie is fairly straightforward. A family goes away on a working holiday vacation to an old, creepy house that used to be a home for children. When the youngest kids discover a chest full of toys well, of course they come to life for them and tell them to do messed up things.
The toys often use bad language and convince the kids to do things that no child should be doing. They destroy thing, including Christmas gifts. They have an older step-sister who is annoyed with the entire family, and often hangs out in her room with headphones on. Eventually she realizes that things are not right in the house as well.
No spoilers in this review so I won’t go any further into the plot but I will say what follows is a lot of creepy things — one of which includes spiders and I will never eat popcorn again. Ever. Whenever the toys come to life to talk to the children the scenes are shot in slow-motion capture and they are EVERYTHING. These scenes are hands down my favorites of the film.
They are cute and creepy all at once and yes, it messed with my head a little bit. I had some serious Rudolph vibes but was also plotting to throw away all of my daughters’ toys at the same time. As someone who already gets freaked out by dolls and certain toys, this did not help.
Overall Thoughts
I was hoping for a bit more gore and cool deaths but what we did get was pretty cool. I know that I am someone who prefers more of that stuff than the average person, so I think most people will find Toys Of Terror provides just the right amount.
The plot is not the best but the ride is a whole lot of fun. The toys did their jobs of completely terrifying me and honestly, I am a really big fan of how the movie ended. Could there even be a sequel? Well, time will tell. If there is, I will totally watch it.
About Toys Of Terror
David and Hannah Cashman have promised their family a fun Christmas getaway, but when they arrive at a grand, old house in the snowy woods of Washington and are greeted by familiar construction foreman, the kids realize their parent’s plan to make it a working vacation; renovating the place in the hopes of flipping it. Alicia, the eldest, is annoyed but the younger kids are soon distracted when, wandering through the creepy mansion, they find a stash of old toys in an abandoned playroom and take to them instantly.
Before long, they seem to be inseparable from their new playthings, much to the consternation of their nanny Rose who, along with Alicia, senses that something in the house is not quite right. As stranger and stranger things start to happen, Rose and Alicia have a hunch that there may be more to the history of the old house than the Cashman’s are letting on.
Can the family escape with their lives – or will they stay forever in the crumbling house, never to celebrate another Christmas again?
BLU-RAY & DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Toys of Terror Come to Life
- A Terrifying Weekend: Making of Toys of Terror
Toys Of Terror is available on Digital release October 27th, 2020
and Blu-ray & DVD on January 19, 2021.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. She is also a Freelance Writer. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for almost ten years and is a member of several Critics Associations including the Critics Choice Association, Hollywood Critics Association, and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association.