Salubfoto
It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.
Cunninghamolga
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
Nayan Gough
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Jason Maxwell
This is my first review. I felt it necessary to warn people of just how f***ing god awful this piece of trash is! I watched it cuz of the positive reviews, guess we were watching different flicks... I love horror movies and enjoy British entertainment but this was sooo far from the realm of achieving any entertainment value whatsoever!!! This felt like a horrible film student flick with no sense of keeping a story together at all. The camera work was good as others have mentioned, but i don't care how clean it looks if the story makes less than no sense. Save yourself 80 mins and keep looking...TRUST ME
guykward
From the very beginning the film has you in its morbid and twisted grip. A story of myth and legends set against the solitude of the Norfolk countryside, it has all the hallmarks of a very modern British horror. This film snaps along at a cracking pace never giving you a moment to gather yourself together. Elliot Jordan, who plays Brian Usher, has real screen presence that you simply cannot take your eyes away from him, and you'd be advise not too as his character descends into what proves to be a fatal spiral of madness and carnage for all concerned. Brian's sister Berenice and is played by Claudine Spiteri, she brings a real sense of glamour to the rather stark and bleak surroundings. More importantly for me Claudine has something 'other worldly about her', she positively resonates on the screen. But for me the show is stolen just ever so slightly by the vampish Madeline Usher, their mother and played by Suzanne Bertish with consummate skill and with such reality I would find it hard to say where the smouldering, drinking mother ends and Suzanne begins – she simply inhabits the role and makes it her own.The Direction is assured and the editing never once allows the pace to wander. Considering this was shot digitally it has nothing other than a film feel. THe colours are lush and vibrant. The snow tinged exteriors are wonderful.Watch out for the dinner party scene, it's brilliant. Here we have Berenice's timid boyfriend Conrad played perfectly by Craig Henderson. it is a typical family meal of bickering but it feels like a car crash happening with poor Conrad becoming the object of Madeline's desire. As the drink flows and Madeline's blouse plunges you feel nothing but pity for the shy Conrad, to the extent that you will want to cover your eyes with discomfort, the tension here is palpable. Family gatherings, we've all been there!I would certainly recommend this film you certainly won't be disappointed.
thither
I really wanted to like this movie, because it is refreshingly different from the hordes of everyday horror movie clones, and I appreciate that the filmmakers are trying for something original. Unfortunately, the plot just didn't hold together and none of the characters were likable enough for me to really care about them or their fates.Visually, The Toybox was pretty interesting. The director took a lot of somewhat risky moves, like adding in little bits of (Flash-looking) animation in parts and really cheesing up some of the special effects (such as the light from a certain amulet). Sometimes this worked and sometimes it didn't, but he deserves kudos for the attempt, and the cinematography was generally of high quality.Unfortunately, when this same approach of throwing lots of things at the wall to see what sticks was applied to the plot, the results were not very good. The film never really finds a tone that it likes, moving schizophrenically from black comedy to family soap opera to 80's witchcraft flick to childhood nostalgia to embattled-family slasher. Taken on their own, bits and pieces of each of these elements work fairly well, but nothing ever coheres into a satisfying whole. Besides that, large bits of the plot are never really explained. I'm not one who likes to have everything spoon-fed to me, and I like movies that leave things up to the audience to decide, but the parts that are left out from The Toybox just seem like they either ran out of money before they could explain them or they didn't really think things through to begin with.I look forward to the director's next project, since I think there is a lot of talent lurking under the surface here, but I can't really recommend The Toybox on its own merits.
theterribleone87
The film opens and at first not knowing what to expect I was a little dubious, the opening seems like a made for TV film which was putting me off but in the end it worked so well as it contrasted with the descent to chaos which occurs at this films climax. The camera work becomes more and more erratic and panicked, going to hand held it really gives a sense of claustrophobia to the film, a feeling I guess is quite integral considering the fact that I'm pretty sure the reason Brian goes mad is hes locked in a box for hours as a child.The scenes towards the end in Brians shed were some of the most atmospheric I've ever seen and even compared against larger budget films they hold their own, they reminded me in particular of the climax of "Apocalypse now". Maybe that was deliberate, I don't know but the film is full of literary references that adds to the strong story telling theme running through out the film and creates a great depth to it.The writing is similarly brilliant. Not knowing what to expect allowed me to be taken down every twist of Sedazzari's tale. I was left unable to tell where the truth began entirely and at what point the brother and sisters imagination left. Fairytale and psychological horror are entwined every step of the way to create a definitely original film that holds many surprises.The dialogue is blunt and honest, in all to many films characters speak as though they've been rehearsing their lines, Sedazzari's characters speak like people speak, with no flair, they speak directly as if they're thinking what to say as it happens and the outcome is all the more believable for it. The characters are also complete and even though many appear as somewhat stereotypical you are given reason as to why each is the way they are and by the end you sympathise with all of them and forgive them all for their laws, they are all victims of each other. All their faults belong to the hothouse effect of living together and no one is left predictable or one sided, none of them are to blame for being the people they are.I suppose if I should eventually round this up and come to some form of conclusion or judgement I'll leave you with this. At a point in time when their seems to be a new horror film released every week each as placid and unoriginal as the next not to mention predictable and shallow "The Toybox" is a breath of fresh air that I think "Brand New" films should carry on and if they go the way they are carve a name out for themselves.Definitely worth the journey!
