
1984 - Mickey Rooney goes on the attack against
Silent Night, Deadly Night for its 'desecration of Christmas', famously saying that "The scum who made that movie should be run out of town."
1991 - Mickey Rooney stars in
Silent Night, Deadly Night 5.
The
Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise is one of the strangest horror franchises out there and there's perhaps no better example of that than the fifth and final installment, an underappreciated slice of 90's gold from the makers of films such as
Return of the Living Dead 3,
Bride of Re-Animator,
The Dentist &
Friday The 13th Part 3. Just one year after the franchise shed its Christmas theme altogether with the Clint Howard starring Part 4 (an awesome film in its own right),
The Toy Maker brought back the holiday cheer, franchise hater Mickey Rooney in tow, with a delightfully oddball little tale about a toymaker who handcrafts evil toys with the intention of them killing their young recipients on Christmas morning. The film is essentially Christmas' answer to
Halloween 3, both in terms of storyline and the unfortunate fate it suffered for being attached to a franchise it didn't have much to do with.
The Toy Maker is a pretty kickass little horror flick on its own, much like
Season of the Witch, though it generally doesn't earn much respect due to the
Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 5 title that comes before that subtitle. As far as i'm concerned, it's a holiday horror classic that's just dying to be unwrapped and rediscovered by the many fans who likely wrote it off sight unseen simply for being part 5 in a not so respected horror franchise, one that oftentimes had sequels that didn't have much to do with one another.
As for me personally, i'm a big fan of the franchises' finale and I find little to not love about it. Rather than simply review it, i've decided to instead show my love for the film by making a little list (and checking it twice!) of just some of those things about it that I cherish and adore. Consider it my love letter to a film that could quite frankly use a bit more love every so often. What better place and time to give it some of that lovin' than here and now, on Shit Movie Fest's epic 25 Days of Shitmas!?!