Demonic Toys

Demonic Toys is an American low-budget independent horror film that employs elements of the "killer toy" motif. It was directed by Peter Manoogian with a script written by David S. Goyer based upon a story treatment by Charles Band. The movie was produced by Full Moon Entertainment and released direct-to-video on August 7th, 1992. The film stars Tracy Scoggins as an undercover police detective named Judith Gray, as well as Bentley Mitchum as delivery boy Mark Wayne, with Michael Russo as rude gun dealer Lincoln and Daniel Cerny as the evil green-eyed demon known as "The Kid". Awww, who we kiddin', right? The real stars of this film are the toys! We have Jack Attack - a twisted sharp-toothed Jack-in-the-Box, Mr. Static - a rolling robot that fires lasers, Grizzly Teddy - who is sort of self-explanatory, and Baby Oopsy Daisy - a foul-mouthed baby doll with distorted facial features and a bad attitude.

Characters

 * Judith Gray: A female undercover cop and partner and lover of Matt Cable. Pregnant with Cable's unborn son, she becomes the target of "The Kid", who wishes to use her child as the physical vessel for his demonic resurrection. Judith Gray arrests a criminal named Lincoln - the man responsible for murdering her partner, and must try to defend a delivery boy named Mark Wayne and a runaway named Anne from The Kid's demonic toys.


 * Mark Wayne: Mark Wayne is a twenty-something employee of Chunky Chicken, who comes to Arcadia Toys to deliver food to the security guard Charnetski. While there, he becomes trapped inside the warehouse and watches helplessly as Charnetski is brutally murdered by living toys infused with the power of a demonic essence. Teaming up with police detective Judith Gray, he tries to fight off the growing horde of murderous playthings.


 * The Kid: A demon without name or form, this monstrous entity is the power behind the demonic toys. His essence is revitalized when the blood of a criminal named Hesse drips through the cracks in the floor of the Arcadia Toys warehouse onto the spot where his previous physical form died. Even in his weakened revived state, he uses what is left of his power to animate the old toys in the warehouse, knowing that the deaths they cause will only serve to make him stronger. His plan is to be reborn in the body of Judith Gray's unborn child. However, the spirit of Judith's future son takes the form of a toy soldier to defend her.


 * Lincoln: Lincoln was a smarmy weapons dealer who worked with a man named Hesse. Together, they arranged to meet Judith Gray and Matt Cable outside the Arcadia Toys warehouse with the intent of selling them guns. They were unaware that Gray and Cable were both undercover cops. As the two attempted to arrest them, Lincoln delivered a fatal shot to Matt Cable's chest, before seeking sanctuary inside the warehouse. Judith eventually caught up with him and handcuffed him. After resting for a bit inside of a storage room, Lincoln escaped and tried to kill both Judith and a food delivery boy named Mark Wayne. Mark disarmed him, but the demonic spirit of "The Kid" took possession of Lincoln. Judith shot him in the forehead, but he was still alive. Mark shot him in the shoulder, but he kept coming back. Finally, Mark knocked his head off, and the demon spirit was forced to go elsewhere.


 * Hesse: Hesse was a gum-chewing, blonde-haired gun runner and the partner of Lincoln. He accompanied Lincoln in their Cadillac to meet with two potential buyers outside the Arcadia Toys warehouse. Their contacts, Judith Gray and Matt Cable, were both undercover police detectives, but the two men were unaware of this at the time. While Lincoln made leering comments in Judith's direction, Hesse laughed along and even stuck his gum-covered tongue out at Gray. Cable revealed himself as a cop and tried to arrest them. Hesse distracted Cable by throwing his own shotgun at him, but Matt was able to shoot him in the leg before being gunned down by Lincoln. Hesse hobbled into the warehouse and collapsed upon a five-pointed star etched upon the warehouse floor. The blood from his wound seeped into the cracks, resurrecting a malevolent demonic force that had laid dormant for sixty-six years. The demonic entity infused his power into the toys in the warehouse, which came to life and attacked Hesse. He was killed by Jack Attack and Grizzly Teddy.


 * Anne: Anne was a runaway who had been hiding out inside of the Arcadia Toys warehouse for a few days. When Judith Gray had sealed herself in a room with her prisoner, Lincoln, and Mark Wayne, Anne emerged from an air conditioner shaft. By this point, the old toys in the warehouse had come to life and were trying to kill anyone they came upon. Anne took Mark through the shaft, leaving Judith behind with her prisoner. They emerged near the security office, but were attacked by the toys. Mark managed to fight past them, but Anne was stabbed in the eye and the face by Baby Oopsy Daisy until she died.


 * Charnetski: Charnetski was an overweight security guard who worked the night shift at the Arcadia Toys warehouse. A Korean War veteran, he believed he had paid his dues to society, and was more than content to live the easy life, sitting on his butt all day, watching television, and enjoying some spirits while at work. He was friends with a food delivery guy named Mark Wayne, who worked at Chunky Chicken. He ordered some food, and went Mark brought it over, he showed him a pin-up from a dirty magazine of Miss July. Charnetski and Mark heard strange sounds coming from somewhere within the warehouse. When they went to investigate, they found a police detective named Judith Gray and her prisoner Lincoln locked inside of a storage room. Gray told them that they entered the warehouse following a shoot-out, and that there was another man, bleeding from a gunshot wound, somewhere in the building. Charnetski went out to investigate, but was shot in the leg by a demonically reanimated toy called Baby Oopsy Daisy. Other such toys, including Jack Attack and Grizzly Teddy leaped upon him and began chewing at his face, while Oopsy Daisy stabbed him repeatedly in the crotch a dagger. The toys then placed his body atop a pentagram etched upon the floor, using his blood to further empower the demon that had reanimated them.


 * Fair-haired boy: The fair-haired boy, whose named would later become Matthew Gray, was the spiritual essence of the unborn child of undercover police officers Judith Gray and Matt Cable. On the night of an important weapons bust, Judith told Matt that she was pregnant. Matt was killed in the line of duty soon after, and Judith was tasked with bringing his murderer to justice. The spirit of the fair-haired boy appeared in a dream sequence to Judith, in which he played the card game War against the child-like visage of a demon known as The Kid. This demon sought to expunge the boy's soul from Judith's womb and take its place, with the intent of being born inside of a human vessel. After capturing Judith, the manifestation of the demon prepared to "do the nasty" (as he put it) to bring his plan to fruition. The spirit of Judith's unborn son took possession of a toy soldier and freed her. He then manifested as an eight-year-old boy and fought against the child demon, ultimately causing him to fall backwards upon Matthew's soldier sword.


 * Peterson: Mister Peterson was the manager of the Chunky Chicken fast-food delivery service restaurant. He was the employer of a youth named Andy and a young man named Mark Wayne. Peterson was a soft-spoken and relatively spineless employer, who commanded almost no respect from his employees, especially Mark. When Peterson caught Mark smoking a cigarette over top of the chicken fryer, he meekly asked him to extinguish it, which Mark did, by throwing down onto the floor in front of him. When Peterson tried to stand up for himself, Mark scoffed and brushed him off. Peterson made a veiled threat to terminate his employee, but Mark dismissed him and headed out the front door to make a delivery.


 * Andy: Andy was a young man with eyeglasses and a ponytail who worked at the Chunky Chicken fast food eatery. He was an employee of Mister Peterson and a co-worker of Mark Wayne. Andy was often the subject of Mark's verbal barbs, and even customers such as Carnetski the security guard offered him little in the way of respect, calling him names like Hammerhead. When Peterson spoke to Mark about his bad behavior, Andy jumped in, tattling on Mark and telling Peterson that Mark was being abusive towards him.

Locations

 * Arcadia Toys: Arcadia Toys is a toy manufacturer and distribution center. An Arcadia Toys warehouse was built on a site that was originally developed by G.B. Diamond Builders in 1925. What the builders didn't know was that on October 31st, 1925 the stillborn remains of a demonic baby was left in a crevice in the foundation. The warehouse facility was eventually erected on top of the foundation, trapping the being's demonic essence for more than sixty-six years. By the early 1990s, cracks had formed in the foundation in the shape of a five-pointed star. The demon used what little power it had to lure several victims to the location, including two gun dealers and two undercover cops, one of whom was Judith Gray, who was pregnant with her partner's child. A shoot-out occurred between them, injuring a criminal named Hesse. The wounded gun runner fled inside the warehouse, his blood dripping through the cracks of the floor where the demon corpse was buried. His blood slightly revitalized the spirit, allowing him to imbue some of his power into the old toys that were stocked inside of the warehouse. They toys assumed a semblance of life and killed on behalf of the demon, beginning with Hesse, and continuing with the facility's security guard, a runaway named Annie and then Hesse's partner, Lincoln.


 * Chunky Chicken: Chunky Chicken is a fictional fast food restaurant featured in the Demonic Toys film series. It appeared in the first installment of the franchise, Demonic Toys in 1992. The Chunky Chicken specialized in the preparation and sale of chicken, which was available in either extra crispy recipe or in chunks. The restaurant even provided a delivery service, via the Chunky Chickenmobile, which was a regular white sedan with a large plastic chicken upon its roof. The nighttime manager of the Chunky Chicken was a man named Peterson, who employed a young short-fry cook named Andy, and a driver named Mark Wayne. One of the Chunky Chicken's repeat customers was a middle-aged man named Charnetski, who worked as a security guard at the Arcadia Toys warehouse. Charnetski telephoned in his order, which Mark took upon himself to deliver. Mark had little respect for either his job or his boss, and suffered from what Peterson called a "bad attitude". Mark's unsavory behavior included smoking cigarettes over top of the food and being verbally abusive to Andy. Mark took the Chunky Chickenmobile to the warehouse and dropped of Charnetski's food. During this incident, he became the target of a horde of murderous living toys brought to life by a demonic essence. While trying to escape from a life-size savage teddy bear named Grizzly Teddy, Mark drove the Chickenmobile into it, pinning the monster to a wall before destroying it by setting the car on fire. Needless to say, his employment with Chunky Chicken likely ceased following this event.


 * G.B. Diamond Builders: G.B. Diamond Builders was a construction firm that existed in the 1920s. In 1925 it began construction on a site that would later be occupied by the Arcadia Toys warehouse facility. On Halloween night of that year, a couple named Doctor Michaels and Mrs. Michaels attempted to midwife a demon baby, but the monstrous infant was stillborn. They placed the body into a black sack and gave it to three trick-or-treaters, with instructions to "plant" it like a seed to see what crop would ultimately spring forth. The children agreed and ran off before realizing what they were carrying. When they opened the bag, they found the demon baby corpse and discarded it. The body landed in the foundation of a site being developed by G.B. Diamond Builders. It remained buried, housing the spirit of a powerful demon for sixty-six years until finally awakened by the blood of an injured man, which had seeped through the cracks in the floor onto the spot where the demon vessel laid.

Notes & Trivia

 * Demonic Toys (1992) redirects to this page.


 * Actor Peter Schrum is credited as Pete Schrum in this film. He is given a special "And..." credit.


 * Actor Jeff Celentano is credited as Jeff Weston in this film.


 * Actor Richard Speight, Jr. is credited by his full name in the opening credits of the film, but credited as Richard Speight in the closing credits.


 * Actress Juney Ellis is credited as June C. Ellis in this film.


 * According to the full credits list on IMDB, Linda O. Cook provided the voice for Baby Oopsy Daisy, but is uncredited for her participation in this film.


 * The events of this film take place in the year 1991, one year prior to its release.


 * The black and white movie that is playing on the television set in Charnetski's office is Puppet Master II, which is both humorous and slightly meta as both the Puppet Master film series and the Demonic Toys film series take place in the same continuity.