Set for release later this month, Demonic Toys: Jack-Attack sees writer and director William Butler continuing to expand Full Moon’s “Demonic Toys” universe with a brand new standalone movie featuring everyone’s favourite homicidal jack-in-the-box.

The story here is based around orphaned mute Lily (Sofia Castellanos) who, after the brutal and traumatic murder of her previous foster mother, finds herself placed with the Yost family. However, she quickly discovers that the aforementioned demonic toy, which appears to have some sort of link to her, has followed her to her new home. Cue all manner of excessive, slightly campy B-Movie schlock as Jack-Attack and his lumbering clown “handler” cut a swathe through the Yost family, all of whom are almost instantly dislikeable in one way or another.

Butler, who has previously written and directed Demonic Toys tie-ins Baby Oopsie, Baby Oopsie 2: Murder Dolls, and Baby Oopsie 3: Burn Baby Burn, wastes little time getting the ball rolling here.  Indeed, Lily barely has a chance to sit down for dinner with her new family before the clown-themed carnage starts to unfold.

The performances here are a little hit-and-miss as you might expect, with Care Worker Audrey (played by Mabel Thomas) doing a solid enough job with what she’s given as Lily’s only real friend, and the bulk of the Yosts ranging from wooden (in the case of son Mike, played by Carson Polish) to downright irritating (daugher and would-be “influencer” Dewey, played by Taylor Abigail Rice.)

That said, if you’re watching a Demonic Toys movie expecting nuanced acting and an layered plot I’d probably have to question your cognitive abilities. If on the other hand you’ve decided to check this one out hoping for some over-the-top gore and faintly tongue-in-cheek horror, you’ll probably find at least something to enjoy here.  At the same time, there’s no escaping the fact that the source material is essentially a knock-off version of Full Moon’s Puppet Master series, and even for the genre there’s nothing particularly innovative or exciting here.

Overall though, with a variety of murders ranging from slashings to pulpings to eyes being bitten out, this an enjoyable and inoffensive B-Movie distraction, and while the creativity of some of the deaths is perhaps a little lacking, there are still enough “eew” moments and fairly effective jump scares to help the 59 minute running time pass fairly smoothly.

Demonic Toys: Jack-Attack will be available to stream on Full Moon Features from the 25th of August 2023.

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The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson-Adams (aka Ceej)
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