Around the holidays, especially for those of us in the business of celebrating fringe cinema, social media is dominated by posts celebrating the likes of Silent Night, Deadly Night 2, Black Christmas and other Christmas horror fare.
And while we’ve made no bones about loving these franchises, we made our bones on this site actually championing indie cinema and giving a home to filmmakers trying their best to generate exposure in a space dominated by frequently indifferent gatekeepers.
In the spirit of the season, we are shining the spotlight on Toy Terminator, an inspired, bombastic 7-minute short, currently screening on Filmfreeway and the brainchild of Matt Wisniewski, with whom we connected on Instagram.
The director, is “stylistically influenced by derivative, low-budget schlock from the late 80s and early 90s,” a description that is so up our alley, we half expect some leather-clad goons with bandanas, bad muscle tone and lead pipes, lying in wait for a rumble.
It should be said that many of the submissions we receive, are of…how should we put this diplomatically…”varying quality.”
Thankfully, Toy Terminator is really well made with atmosphere to spare. It’s gorgeously lit too.
With a plot described as “An isolated puppet-maker fights off a tiny insurrection,” it features an eyepatch-wearing protagonist, a really gripping score that marries twangy Western and 80s synth Italian horror sensibilities, and of course, lots of incredible puppets.
Really Awful Movies 