Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (1991)

Director:

Martin Kitrosser

Writers:

Martin Kitrosser (writer)
Brian Yuzna (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

He's Home... But He's Not Alone.

Plot:

An old toy maker and his son make killer toys designed to kill their owners, kids.

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | Christmas | Disembodied Hand | Cult Favorite | Festive

Cast

William Thorne	...	Derek
Jane Higginson	...	Sarah Quinn
Van Quattro	...	Tom Quinn
Tracy Fraim	...	Noah Adams
Neith Hunter	...	Kim
Conan Yuzna	...	Lonnie
Mickey Rooney	...	Joe Petto
Brian Bremer	...	Pino
Gerry Black	...	Harold
Clint Howard	...	Ricky
Thornton Simmons	...	Other Santa
Catherine Schreiber	...	Mother
Zoe Yuzna	...	Brandy
Jennifer Pusheck	...	Elf
Billy Oscar	...	Dad

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:R

Company:

Still Silent Films Inc.

Trivia:

Mickey Rooney wrote a letter of protest against the first Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) stating that the "scum" who made it should be "run out of town" for having sullied the sacredness of Christmas. And yet he co-starred in this fifth installment in the gory horror series.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Stroller #1: Look at that.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Svengoolie: Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker" (1996)

An OK ending to the holiday horror saga

So here we are at part 5 in the "Silent Night, Deadly Night" series, a series that was starting to overstay it's welcome by this point. Some would say it did that long ago, but personally I like parts 2-4 to varying degrees and was glad the makers of 4 gave it one more go around. Like 4, 5 has nothing to do with the storyline in 1-3, but instead goes for a more "Puppet Master" kind of story.

Pros: Overall an entertaining experience. Genuinely good performances. Good special, visual, and mechanical effects work. Some good twisted humor. A twist that I won't give away. Creative kills.

Cons: There have been so many killer toy movies that came before this one, so we've seen most of this before. Pace drags at times. Though it's nice to see Neith Hunter and Conan Yuzna reprise their roles from 4, they really aren't needed here. Aside from some good shots and camera tricks, the direction is pretty bland and the film looks like a TV movie.

Final thoughts: OK so maybe the world didn't need another sequel to the controversial 1984 slasher film, but so what? They made 10 sequels to "Friday the 13th" and 7 to "Halloween," so why not 4 to "Silent Night, Deadly Night"? If you liked the previous 4 then go ahead and give this one a try.

My rating: 2.5/5