Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2018
Images from the Internet
The Toybox
Directed by Tom Nagel
Skyline Entertainment / Steel House Productions /
Millman Productions / ETA Films / Ron Lee Productions
Millman Productions / ETA Films / Ron Lee Productions
94 minutes, 2018
Wow, I haven’t seen Denise Richards
or Micha Barton – who are getting the largest share of promotion for this film,
and rightfully so – in quite a while. That’s not to say they haven’t been
working, it’s more that they haven’t crossed my indie-focused radar. Both Richards’ and Barton’s work has been
falling under the category of horror more over the years , and I’m happy to see
them there. Though I’ve never watched Baton’s launching breakthrough role on
“The O.C.,” Richards has been in quite a few releases I’ve seen, from “Seinfeld”
to Starship Troopers and Wild Things.
However, it was the poster that caught
my eye. It kind of comes across as Amityville
Horror meets The Hills Have Eyes with
a titch of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s
mysterious hitchers. Is it a human monster killer? Is it a deadly spirit? Is
the bus itself or the people haunted? Lotsa questions to be answered, so let’s
get on it!
The titular toybox in question is an
old (it has a cassette player!) Recreational Vehicle (RV), or motorhome, that’s
been purchased by family patriarch Charles (Greg Violand). He does not do his
homework to find out who is the previous owner. He bought it o take his family
out on a trip apparently to the middle of the desert to see some cave paintings,
but more specifically to bring them together
after the passing of the matriarch. There’s Steve (Jeff Denton, who also wrote
the screenplay) and his wife Jennifer (Richards) and young daughter Olivia
(Malika Michelle), and his other, acidic (i.e., black sheep) brother Jay (Brian
Nagel; the director’s brother, if you are wondering); you can tell he’s trouble
because he’s wears his baseball cap backwards, has a beard, and wears earbuds!).
Along the way, they find a dead car,
and pick up s brother and sister named Mark (Matt Mercer) and Samantha
(Barton). Early on, I’m not sure if they’re good, bad, or merely fodder for whatever
is going to occur. Twenty minutes in, and there are some cool hints of mysterious
things to come, such as the radio tuning itself to a version of the classic lamenting
folk song, “In the Pines,” and a window with a mind of its own. Clearly there
are elements here beyond the human and into supernatural otherness. I’m glad.
 |
| Denise Richards |
Before any of that, while this is a killing
spree flick, it seems most of the drama is within the main group: tension
between husband and wife, between brothers, between the family and those who
get picked up. I understand that stressful situations bring out the worst in
us, and it certainly plays out here. Sort of like Thanksgiving, but instead of
yams, it’s killer ghosts; instead of turkey or ham, it’s…killer ghosts. You get
my drift, I’m sure. Sometimes the group inner fighting is distracting. To note,
though, while the ne’er-do-well bro is a bit cliché, Nagel does well in not
making him over-the-top obnoxious, which is usually the more obvious route, so
again, gratitude.
One of the things about genre films,
especially ghost stories, that tend to be noteworthy is the disconnect with how
fast things are either dismissed or ignored right after a really creepy event. This
is true of the majors as well as the indies. For example, in Poltergeist, some guy rips his face off
in the mirror in an iconic scene, and then comes out of the bathroom to stop
and marvel at a ghost coming down the stairs. If it was me, I would have said “fuck
this shit” and walked right through the ghost and out the door. There are a few
moments like that in this film, such as a sink full of blood and hair one
moment and clean the next instant, in one case. Something like that would not
get a response of “I have a bad feeling about this;” I would be freaking the
hell out. There’s a similar event with a broken television that I won’t ruin,
but honestly, I wouldn’t just “oh, there’s something wrong.” I would have set
the freakin’ camper on fire and hope the smoke would bring someone.
 |
| Jeff Denton |
The sensibilities of the film are
more mainstream than most indies, and the high-power cast belies that. But
there are also some questionable moments that made me cringe that had nothing
to do with the story proper, such as Jennifer saying to Steve, “It’s your job
to keep the family safe.” This is a bit heteronormative, and confusing to me.
She’s trying to get him to fix the toybox
to get it going again, and he says he’s no mechanic. But earlier on Mark
describes Samantha as such, so shouldn’t Jennifer be confronting her rather
than him? In my family, my spouse knows way more about automotives than do I,
and we just accept that. Keeping families safe is everyone’s responsibility, not just that of the man. This isn’t
1980. Okay, so that rant is over, thank you for listening. And yes, for the
sake of this conversation, Samantha does step up to the engine issue so that is
addressed. Eventually.
There are definitely some serious issues
with the behavior of some of the characters. Food and water goes bad overnight,
but no one really seems to fret, even though they are in the middle of the
desert. No water, but no one seems to be sweating and everyone’s hair stays
shiny and luxurious (Richards keeps her iconic Farrah Fawcett curls just fine). That being said, there are some brave choice made here and there in the story you don't see very often.
Now, I’ve complained a bit about the story and writing, but let me get to both the nitty and gritty. There is a lot of blood and wounds, which look great, so thank you David Greathouse and crew. The acting is quite good of course so no issues there, and the film looks beautiful as we look out over the golden desert terrain.
Overall, the film’s issue is more in
the writing than presentation, such as no truly likeable character with whom to
identify (everyone’s personality is a bit too flinty), plot questions, and
choices made by the characters, such as the timing of a deep, emotional family
discussion that seems oddly placed in the story and throwing off the pacing. On
the other hand, as I said, it looks lovely and is certainly okay for a Saturday
afternoon distraction, has some nicely disturbing otherworldly characters, more
than expected blood and mayhem, and has a post-1980s feel to it that is after
the VHS explosion of cheese, but before the overwhelming detail of the Hostel/Saw physical torture.
 |
| Micha Barton |
In the long run, as I know I have
been comparing this to other films, let me posit one other, which is a bit obscure
but actually aligns pretty well: The Car,
from 1977. So now, let’s talk about spooks. First of all, there is a very cool Ghost
Girl (Katie Keene, who was great in Inoperable),
but what was that about? There is no context in the story for her being there,
and her appearance is way brief. As for the central serial killer, there is
some kind of indication of possibly trying to make Robert Gunthry (David
Greathouse) part of the Freddy-Jason-Michael-Pinhead pantheon, but that isn’t
going to work for one simple reason: no teenagers were seen harmed or
threatened during the film, as they were in the initial run of the other horror
gods.
While some of the actions are
telegraphed (windows shaking before closing violently), including some deaths,
it’s the surprise ones that are the most fun.
Just to note, much of the crew and
cast also worked together in Tom Nagel’s previous film in 2016, ClownTown, and it comes across in the
quality of the way things flow between the actors, and how well the film is put
together.
I caught a screener of this film, but
the Blu-ray and DVD will include a feature-length commentary by the director,
producer Jeff Miller, writer/actor Jeff Denton, and Brian Nagel, plus there is
a behind the scenes featurette.
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