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A small teal wind-up robot casts a long shadow on a red rug beside a toy trunk and Christmas presents, beneath a lit tree in a teal-panelled hall.
An open paper trunk holds old toys beneath a decorated Christmas tree in a shadowy mansion hall, with a staircase and tall window behind.

Essential Christmas · 2020

Toys of Terror

44/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 44 ↓
UK certificate 1589 min
Comedy · Horror

A box of 1980s-style playthings wakes up in an old children's clinic at Christmas and starts picking off the…

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Explore this film 5 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas in good measure.

Two paper elves inspect a miniature hall with an open toy trunk, a wind-up robot on a red rug and presents beneath a decorated tree.

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas drives it, but another occasion could stand in.20/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for most of it.15/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details4 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.6/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: not at all.0/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionNiche at Christmas (under 25,000).3/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

47/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Mixed in tone. Strong threat. A bittersweet ending.

How we score →
What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
Your next film night

Where to watch

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The story

About Toys of Terror

A blended family spends Christmas in a rambling old mansion that used to be a children's clinic, a renovation job dressed up as a holiday break. When the younger children open a forgotten trunk of retro toys, the toys start talking to them, then singing, then turning on the adults. By Christmas Eve the tree, the presents and the family are all under attack from a box of playthings with a long memory. Brought to life with stop-motion animation, it is a gory, knowing throwback to the killer-toy films of the 1980s.

The CineClaus verdict

A box of 1980s-style playthings wakes up in an old children's clinic at Christmas and starts picking off the help.

The stop-motion toys are the reason to watch: cheap, cheerful and properly nasty once the tree and its lights join in. Everything around them is thinner. The family squabbles by numbers, the kills are few, and the film never settles on whether it wants you laughing or flinching.

A decent Christmas Eve rental for horror fans who grew up on killer-doll videos.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

15

Our take: not one for children: the BBFC flags strong threat and bloody violence, including an impalement and toys urging children to jump from a window.

Content advice & accessibility
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official 15 certificate, and never looser than it.

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Elsewhere on CineClaus

More places to find Toys of Terror, and a few good reasons to keep exploring.

In this collection

Ho Ho Horror: the best Christmas horror films

Toys of Terror is in this collection

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Read a little further

Collection

The best Christmas films for adults

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Stay for another story.All collections · The Christmas Edit