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

 

Written by Martin Kitrosser And Brian Yuzna

Directed by Martin Kitrosser

Sarah: "You killed Joe."

Pino: "I had to... he broke me... and even though he always fixed me... I had to make sure that this time he wouldn't hurt me again."

And I'm back on this franchise. The fourth movie veered into the strangest territory with witchcraft and a new protagonist with Kim Levitt (Neith Hunter). She's back for this one but the story ain't about her. In fact, she didn't really need to be in this one at all.

Kim didn't add anything to the movie, other than to reassure the audience she was still alive. Her role in this one fell into supporting a mother and son named Sarah (Jane Higginson) and Derek Quinn (William Thorne). The movie also began with the death of Derek's father, Tom (Van Quattro) in a grisly enough manner.

Keeping with the title of the movie, there are two villains at play here. The first being the seemingly benevolent toymaker himself, Joe Petto (Mickey Rooney) and the other being his father unusual son, Pino (Brian Bremer). In case it wasn't obvious, this one's a twisted take on Pinocchio. A very twisted take.

First of all, Joe's toys have a killer effect as we all saw in the opening scene with Tom's death by toy. Derek also suspected that something was amiss with Joe and while Kim wasn't best used as a potential ally to Sarah and Derek, at least there was one in the form of Noah Adams (Tracy Fraim).

Noah felt like there was a backstory that was meant to be explored but it's not really touched upon that. Instead it's mostly Sarah/Derek dealing with their grief and trying to stay alive from the homicidal father and son duo of the piece.

Speaking of the villains, out of the two, I do think that Pino himself was a little bit more interesting, even if the actor seemed to be trying to replicate Billy from the first movie. Pino's desperation to belong however ended up being his undoing.

- I'm guessing Larry the Larvae toy was meant to be a nod to the previous movie.

- At different points in the movie we had Noah, Joe and Pino dressed as Santa Claus.

- Ricky (Clint Howard) died in the previous movie but was alive in this one.

- Chronology: Not long since the previous movie. Kim also adopted Lonnie as well.

I wouldn't be in a rush to recommend Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker to anyone but at the same time, it was mostly okay. A lot of the ideas have been better explored elsewhere but it's diverting enough I suppose.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of The Muppets Wizard Of Oz (2005)

 

Written by Debra Frank And Steve Hayes And Tom Martin And Adam F. Goldberg

Directed by Kirk R. Thatcher

Miss Piggy/Wicked Witch Of The West: "There's only room for one diva in Oz, and that is moi!"

Having seen Wicked: For Good this week, it's put me in the mood for more explorations into the land of Oz. I had heard of The Muppets Wizard Of Oz but it was time to actually see it for myself.

Back in the 2000s, Ashanti was a fairly popular R'n'B singer and if Diana Ross could play the role of Dorothy Gale back in 1978, there was no reason why Ashanti couldn't in 2005. Spoiler alert: she's also pretty good as Dorothy.

This version of Dorothy was in Kansas, working in a diner with her Aunt Em (Queen Latifah) and Uncle Henry (David Alan Grier). She also had aspirations of being a singer, putting her into conflict with her guardians. Oh and Toto was a prawn, a development I was less fond of but whatever.

Anyways, a tornado happened and Dorothy ended up in Oz. Toto also quickly turned into Pepe the King Prawn (Bill Barretta) and soon enough, every witch that appeared was played by Miss Piggy (Eric Jacobson), Kermit the Frog (Steve Whitmire), Gonzo the Great (Dave Goelz) was the Tin Thing and Fozzie Bear (Eric Jacobson) was the Cowardly Lion. Yes, they made for a chaotic team.

Their mission was to get to the Wizard (Jeffrey Tambor) himself but in order to do that, they had to go through a different type of Poppy, do battle with the biker version of the Wicked Witch of the West and of course, entertain the odd celebrity cameo. Also if you've hired someone like Ashanti, of course you've got to have her sing as well. It's only fair after all.

The rest of the movie played out the same as usual - the Wizard being exposed for being a fraud, Wicked Witch melting, Scarecrow/Tin Thing/Cowardly Lion realising they already had the things they were looking for all along and Dorothy using the silver shoes to get home. If it ain't broke, right?

- There's some amusing cameos from both Kelly Osbourne and Quentin Tarantino to name but a few. The latter in particular really made the most of his screen time.

- There's a nice reference to a certain Pink Floyd song during the movie as well.

- Standout music: Kansas, When I'm with You, The Witch is in the House, Nap Time and Good Life.

- Chronology: It was definitely the 2000s in Kansas. I did laugh at the Napster joke.

I liked The Muppets Wizard Of Oz. It's not my favourite adaptation but it's fairly inoffensive and pretty funny in parts too. It's worth at least one viewing if you've got the time for it.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Wicked: For Good (2025)

 

Written by Winnie Holzman And Dana Fox

Directed by Jon M. Chu

Elphaba: "You're the only friend I've ever had."

Glinda: "And I've had so many friends... but only one that mattered."

The most anticipated sequel of the year and of course, it would be at the tail end of 2025. Given the high bar that Wicked: Part I set up, could this second half stick the landing? I actually think it did. I really do.

Things certainly changed between movies. Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) became the most hated woman in all of Oz with the likes of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) and the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) doing their best to keep it that way. They've also elevated Glinda Upland (Ariana Grande) into their official mascot for goodness.

It was a role that Glinda was a bit too happy to uphold. Despite not being able to make magic of her own, Glinda was happy to use a bubble to float over Ozians while also springing a surprise wedding on the increasingly conflicted Fiyero Tigelaar (Jonathan Bailey). Glinda really was living in a bubble that was about to burst.

Going back to Elphaba, it was hard for her to be seen as a villain while secretely trying to be a revolutionary as well. None of the animals trusted her and the ones that were starting to ended up turning against her thanks to the Cowardly Lion (Colman Domingo). Elphaba really had very little allies. 

Then there was her relationship with Nessarose (Marissa Bode). It had soured as the movie progressed and the latter had shown her own cruelty with her treatment of Boq (Ethan Slater). The latter in particular had a transformation put upon him that would turn him against Elphaba and Nessarose as he unwillingly became the Tin Man.

Things in the first half did move slowly but fortunately everything from Elphaba and Glinda's reunion onwards sped things up. Elphaba almost came to a truce with the wizard until his mistreatment of animals reared it's head and Fiyero choosing Elphaba over Glinda put Nessarose in danger and added Dorothy Gale (Bethany Weaver) into the mix. That and some devious spellcasting from Morrible herself.

I think we all knew the second half would have to factor Dorothy in some capacity and we got a different-ish slant on The Wizard Of Oz in between the Elphaba/Fiyero love story and the latter's transformation into the Scarecrow. The movie committed to showing as little of Dorothy as possible while also making sure that the Wicked Witch of the West ended up getting melted.

Of course, this wasn't Dorothy's movie. It was Elphaba and Glinda's movie and their friendship/love story of sorts were always going to be the highlight. In the third act we had them literally scrapping with each other while also professing their love to one another. Both Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande sell it to perfection, including at least one moment that did make me cry a little.

By the end of the movie, both the Wizard and Morrible have got their just desserts, Glinda finally managed to live up to actually being good and two characters assumed dead were very much alive. More importantly and keeping with the title, everyone had been changed for good.

- Elphaba being the Wizard's daughter made it into this adaptation. The animals were forced to make the yellow brick road. The Flying Monkeys also defected to Elphaba.

- Nessarose now could fly thanks to the silver shoes. In the stage versions, they made her able to walk.

- I quite like that Tin Man and Scarecrow look like slightly upgraded versions to their 1939 counterparts.

- I was hoping this movie would recreate the Broadway and the last scene actually did. 

- Standout music: The obvious ones first - Every Day More Wicked, Thank Goodness/I Couldn't Be Happier, Wonderful, As Long As You're Mine, No Good Deed and For Good. New songs like No Place Like Home and The Girl In The Bubble have the desired effect.

- Chronology: Five years passed since the events of the first movie. Elphaba and Nessarose's father died between movies.

Wicked: For Good might be the best movie I've seen this year and while it's not as perfect as it's predecessor, it damn well hit the right spots either. All of the performances are superb but Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey really delivered with every single scene. I loved this.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

Freddy's Nightmares - Episodes 37-40 Reviews

In these batch of episodes, there's more sequel visiting to be had along with vampires, erotic phone numbers and psychological warfare.

Episode 36: Easy Come, Easy Go

Greta from earlier in the season got herself a sequel episode. Last time we left off, she had been blackmailed into a third marriage by a man who actually liked her as a person. By the time Greta grew to like him, he was dead. As was the twin brother of her second husband, whom she was also sleeping. As Greta sealed up the dead bodies, her sister came to see her. The sister married Greta's ex-boyfriend and Greta killed him when he tried to blackmail. Then Greta got herself killed by her sister. A lot really happened in that episode. 7/10

Episode 37: Prime Cut

While I'm all for the supernatural side of things to emerge in this world, I genuinely thought this was an absolutely awful way to introduce vampires. That's what we were getting with the female tracker who was terrorising the men in this episode. Or was it a cannibalism episode? All I know was that I found the episode absolutely excruciating to watch. 2/10

Episode 38: Interior Loft

One thing I've noticed about this second season was the switch in focusing on adults mostly being terrorised over teenagers by Freddy and other fucked up shit in Springwood. This episode had a former teacher live out her rage through an erotic but violent book she was writing after a recording on an 976 number went horribly wrong. If you were a man, you definitely weren't making it out of this one alive. 6/10

Episode 39: Interior Loft - Later

A sequel to the previous episode with a sleazy hunk named Art causing problems for two groups of characters at separate times in the loft apartment. The first was a sculpted and his girlfriend where faking a death went horribly wrong and the latter had Art playing two women off each other. With the latter story, it ended rather badly for Art. 6/10

Episode 40: Funhouse

Let's go back to much earlier in the season and bring back another doomed home in Springwood. Then let's throw in hunky moving man Turk into the mix and have him get caught up in the antics of two different couples. Then have the second part of the story reveal that the main players were screwing with him before killing him off for no reason, other than pure malice. It's actually a pretty good episode but Turk wasn't the brightest. 7/10

For my final blog for this show I will tackle A Family Affair, Dust To Dust, Prisoner Of Love and Life Sentence.

Space Races, Tornadoes And Serving The C Word

I did one of these about two months ago and I might slip in another before the year ends. Anyways, a lot of other things I've been watching the last few weeks.

9-1-1: I can't believe we're on to a ninth season of this show but I can also believe that ABC will bleed this show dry. Anyways the first four episodes had Athena and Hen up in space because at this point, it's not even the most ridiculous thing the show can do these days. There was Eddie losing his grandmother, May and Harry becoming regulars, Buck dealing with Bobby's absence more than Athena and Howie officially becoming captain. It's a bit of a weak start for the show.

9-1-1: Nashville: As one spin off ended, another rose in its place but I can't tell if this show will be a success story like 9-1-1: Lone Star or crash and burn like Doctor Odyssey. It's a very haphazard show so far with the opening three parter tornado story doing little to properly establish the character dynamics. Right now, it feels like a spin off for the sake of having one rather than a show that genuinely justifies it's existence.

All's Fair: Ryan Murphy might be having one of his most challenging years in a long time because not only have some of his shows gotten cancelled, his new line of shows seem to be leaving audiences rather cold. I guarantee if this show had been released a decade ago, it would've been lapped up. It's got a strong cast with Sarah Paulson, Glenn Close, Niecy Nash-Betts, Teyana Taylor and Naomi Watts and then there's Kim Kardashian. The first five episodes threw in some big guests, moments of sheer opulence and savage one liners from Paulson's venomous Carrington Lane but it's also a case of Murphy reheating past triumphs in an underwhelming way.

Big Brother UK: It's been twenty five years since the most influential reality show hit UK screens and this series was a very mixed bag. Fortunately we got a likable winner with Richard but we also had to endure unbearable people like Caroline, Sam, Nancy and George and the inconsistencies with rule breaking and often disastrous late night spin off often tested my patience with the show. It'll be back for a 2026 series but ITV2 need to make some changes if they're going to continue with the show.

Devil In Disguise: John Wayne Gacy: For those who find Netflix's Monster series on the exploitative side of things in it's depiction of real life serial killer, Peacock has an alternative. This first season might have been about John Wayne Gacy but the emphasis was more on the lives of his victims and the trauma their families had to endure more than Gacy himself. At eight episodes, it did lag a little but it's a good alternative to it's Netflix counterpart.

Marvel Zombies: I gotta admit, this really just came and went. Aside from Daredevil: Born Again, it feels like none of the MCU shows really made much impact this year. This didn't even need to be a four part series. It could've been a 70 minute animated movie and it would've worked better. If you're a fan of Ms Marvel, Kate Bishop and Ironheart, this one's for you.

Only Murders In The Building: Season 5 hasn't been the show at its strongest but it hasn't been horrible. I do feel there's a lot of life left with the show but the Lester mystery was by far the weakest in terms of execution and eventually resolution as well. I mean the killer was someone we barely knew and therefore it was harder to care about them being caught. Saying that, I am looking forward to seeing what things will be like next season when Charles, Oliver and Mabel head to London.

• The fourth season of Bridgerton will be released from January 29th and February 26th respectively on Netflix.
• Stranger Things Season 5 will be released on Netflix from November 27th, December 25th and January 1st.
• Peacock have cancelled Poker Face after two seasons but have renewed Twisted Metal for a third season.
• Fallout Season 2 will premiere on Amazon Prime from December 17th.
• The BBC have renewed both Line Of Duty and Doctor Foster for seventh and third seasons respectively.
• The Sophie Turner starring series, Steal will premiere on Amazon Prime from January 21st.
• FX have cancelled English Teacher after two seasons.
• Jason Momoa has signed on for another Apple TV series called Nomad.
• Grotesquerie has been rumoured to be cancelled after one season by FX.
• Season 2 of The Night Manager will be released on Amazon Prime from January 11th.
• The eighth and final season of Outlander will air on Starz from March 6th.
• Amazon Prime have ordered Escorted to series, which will be written, produced and star Brett Goldstein.
• FX have renewed Alien: Earth for a second season.

My Review of It - Welcome To Derry: "The Great Swirling Apparatus Of Our Planet's Function"

 

Written by Helen Shang

Directed by Andrew Bernstein 

Hallorann (to Taniel): "What they want me to do to you. It's not going to be pleasant."

Now we're at the halfway point of this show, it's definitely time for Bill Skarsgard to show up and wreck proper havoc on the Derry residents. I'm hoping this will be the last episode not to feature him.

Following the events of the previous episode, Lilly along with Ronnie, Will and Rich tried to show their photographs to Bowers in order to free Hank. Sadly the photos weren't enough to get Bowers on side. That guy really does want to see Hank sent to Shawshank, doesn't he?

Anyways, the photos did get discovered by Charlotte with Will having to fill her in on everything. Charlotte took it upon herself to strongarm Bowers into letting her visit Hank and the latter confessed to an affair with a married white woman. Needless to say that was something that Hank didn't want to confess to Bowers to for sadly good reasons.

As for the kids, Will's fishing trip with own father led to another creepy encounter in the water and then there was Marge. I actually had to look away during that eye scene, it was genuinely that horrifying to watch. On a frustrating note, I also didn't like that everyone assumed that Lilly attacked her when we know what really happened to her.

Getting to the root of the episode, I'm not loving the military subplot and I really hate that General Shaw's stupid enough to think that having Hallorann as an ace up his sleeve will result in being able to control Pennywise. He's going to end up getting a lot of people killed in the second half of the season.

Saying that, I actually do think Chris Chalk better be up for some award love in the next twelve months. He's doing amazing stuff as Hallorann and the scene with him invading the mind of poor Taniel (Joshua Odjick) at least provided a nice origin story for what's been terrorising Derry all these years.

- Will definitely has it bad for Ronnie as both his parents now seem to be aware of. 

- Marge really was going to go ahead and let those mean girls humiliate Lilly. This episode also revealed that Madeleine Stowe's character is called Ingrid. Ingrid talked about missing kids in the 1930s.

- Standout music: Ray Charles What I'd Say and Bo Diddley's You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

The Great Swirling Apparatus Of Our Planet's Function, I'll admit that's a rather cool title for the show itself. The episode was good, largely for the goriness of Marge's eye scene and everything involving Hallorann.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The History Of Sound (2025)

 

Written by Ben Shattuck

Directed by Oliver Hermanus

Lionel (to David): "Write. Send chocolate. Don't die."

I really do hate staggered releases for movies. This was released in US theatres back in September, popped up on Mubi this month but UK/Irish audiences have to wait until January 23rd to see it. I decided that I wasn't waiting that long.

Based on a short story by the writer of this movie, we had a lovely story between two men and because it's not a contemporary one, it fell into the realms of tragedy. One died, one survived, both tried to live heterosexual lives and so on. You get the gist.

Our main character would be Lionel Worthing (Paul Mescal). He had an unique relationship with music and sound and his love for both put him in the cross hairs of fellow music student, David White (Josh O'Connor). It didn't take the pair long to bond over their love of music and their physical attraction to one another either.

In fact we got a nice period of time where the two enjoyed collaborating both musically and sexually before David got called to war and Lionel returned to help his parents (Molly Price and Raphael Sbarge) before his father died. Lionel's relationship with his mother seemed more testing than the ones he had with his father and grandfather respectively.

Of course the best part of the two of the movie was Lionel and David reuniting. The latter needed the former to go to places to meet people and record songs. This plot introduced characters like Thankful Mary Swain (Briana Middleton) but it also highlighted the gap between Lionel and David as well.

The second half of the movie separated the pair with Lionel having furthered his music career in both Rome and Oxford and even being engaged to Clarissa Roux (Emma Canning). Fortunately it was an engagement that didn't last as Lionel did the right thing and ended it with her.

As for David, he married a woman named Belle Sinclair (Hadley Robinson) but killed himself due to shell shock from the war. Belle knew about Lionel and David and she made sure that the former knew as well before he took a visit to the Lake District.

The end of the movie then focused on an older Lionel (Chris Cooper) promoting his latest book on radio and being reunited with the cylinder's of his time with David. David's last recording in particular did end this movie on a rather poignant note.

- This movie marked Paul Mescal taking on an executive producer role. It's very much his film to be fair.

- I found the spitting scene with Lionel and David funny more than anything else. At least we got a few sex and kissing scenes between the two of them.

- Standout music: For it's sheer significance, the use of Silver Dagger as sung by Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor at different points in the film.

- Chronology: 1910 to 1980, taking in places such as Kentucky, Boston, Maine, Rome, Oxford and the Lake District.

I can see why The History Of Sound might feel like a disappointment but for the most part, I did like it. There's a few tropes that I do think gay cinema, especially historical ones do need to move away from. Saying that, both Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor did help to elevate the material and gave their all here.

Rating: 7 out of 10