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Reviews
The Toybox (2005)
It's a madhouse!
I didn't want to see this at first - my friend described it as a British low budget horror, which was a right turn-off.
But I was pleasantly surprised - whereas most horror/slasher movies don't care about subtleties and characterisation, this was at the heart of what the Toybox set out to do. This film isn't your bog standard slasher, you need to pay attention and concentrate.
There was a fair amount of laughter in the theatre at the start of the film. But before anyone got too cosy, things starting turning nasty and weird and the audience weren't sure whether they should be laughing. This is was when the film got really interesting.
The acting was exceptional - but special mention should go to Suzanne Bertish and Heather Chisen who turned in marvellous performances. Also the photography was impressive, it certainly was a lavish production and didn't look low budget.
There have been a lot of British horror movies coming on the scene lately. Do we have a movement in British horror going on? I hope so. And certainly The Toybox is among the best of the present bunch.
This film played at the Rex in Berhampstead a marvellous recently renovated art deco cinema and it turned out to be a fab Sunday night out. Although I think the Q&A session afterwards was a bit of an own goal. These things are always rubbish, just a load of half-jokes and sycophantic laughter.