Dolls

 Wasn't doing well on Letterboxed.

This wasn't as much a VHS rental as it was a DVD Blockbuster rental in the 2000s for me. I don't remember watching it on cable. Sweet little girl, Judy, and a salesman named Ralph, who is basically a child at heart clearly are set up to be the likable survivers while two Madonna Material Girls who steal and pickpocket dudes and unsuspecting victims and crummy father and wicked stepmother of Judy's are obviously the heels meeting their doom at the well-crafted hands of killer dolls, many antiques made by a spooky manor's toymaker and wife during a dark and stormy night as a rainstorm causes cars stuck not far outside. Many feel this is actually better than Band's more celebrated Puppet Master.

Ralph tries to talk sense into the adults while Judy just wants to stay away from her parents. Gotta love Punch, the jester doll. And the wicked stepmother is played by Stuart's wife so you knew she was going to die horribly! I adore Guy Rolfe as the doll and toymaker; even as he and his wife are made up all so sinister with lightning strikes making them look all the more threatening, I think you always know the little girl and Ralph are less in danger as the others far more deserved of their ghoulish fates. The stop motion dolls with their hammers, saws, knives, and scissors, full of scowls and sharp teeth just crack me up. I love this shit. The giant bear fantasy Judy has of a monster ripping out of a Teddy and attacking her parents sets the tone beautifully. I really dig that score, too. Band might be cheap but he got a lot of bang for his buck.

Band even gets Nutcracker soldiers to fire bullets into a victim, complete with one playing a horn bringing down it's bayonet to order them to blast away! He has a lot of talent in this film, though. Buechler, too, as well as Yuzna.