Benny Loves you

Benny Loves you
Original title:Benny Loves you
Director:Karl Holt
Release:Cinema
Running time:94 minutes
Release date:15 february 2021 (France)
Rating:

Mulder's Review

To Chucky and Ted

We all have a toy for which we feel a real and strong emotional connection as it represents such an important part of our past whether it's a Star Wars Kenner collectible toy, a Chucky figurine faithful reproduction of one of the iconic characters of our horrific film culture voitrTed whose two Seth MacFarlane movies have also made him a true movie icon in the same way.

Imagine if your favorite toy or stuffed animal came to life and turned out to be a real psychopathic killer. Evil toys have often been a recurring theme in horror movies, whether it be Chucky, Annabelle or other puppet masters. In this respect, the first film written, produced, edited, acted and directed by Karl Holt, despite its limited means, proves to be as jubilant as possible. With a tight budget, the director Karl Holt simply delivers one of the best horrific films with an evil toy devoid of feeling and which slaughters everything that passes by him as well as animals (cat, dog.) as human beings.

From the first scene of the film, which takes the predefined base of a horror film with an exposition scene transforming the room of a young child with a bad temper into a crime scene, the tone is defined and we suspect that this revenge of the abandoned toys against the humans will have other repercussions in the future. We then discover years later Jack (Karl Holt) a toy designer who is desperately seeking a new start in life. In his late thirties, he still lives with his parents and has not been able to find a job or a partner. On his birthday, his parents have a tragic accident, he finds himself alone in his family home with debts to pay and above all his boss is against him and doesn't recognize his work. Things take an even more disturbing turn when his favorite stuffed animal that he had decided to take down to his cellar comes to life and starts killing everyone who comes to Jack's house.

When discovering Benny Loves You, one instantly thinks of several fantasy or horror movies such as the cinematographic saga Chucky, but also Gremlins and many nods to other films such as Star Wars. While Chucky was a scary doll, Benny looks like an adorable stuffed animal with a voluntary or involuntary Elmo look. However, Benny is just as dangerous as Chucky and takes pleasure in murdering in an inventive way and having fun doing it. There are several particularly successful scenes mixing unbridled comedy and gory scenes. For a first film Karl Holt shows not only that he knows his horror classics but that he is able to offer us a horrific comedy that has all its chances to become cult. Several questions arise after this film, where can we find Benny when we buy it and is he really possessed or is he a dwarf in a suit as Dawn says at one point in the film.

Benny Loves You
Written, directed and produced by Karl Holt
Starring Claire Cartwright, Karl Holt, George Collie, James Parsons, David Wayman, Lydia Hourihan
Music by
Cinematography : John Bowe, Karl Holt
Edited by Karl Holt
Production company : Darkline Entertainment
Distributed by Darkline Entertainment
Release date : November 21, 2019 (Bars), February 15, 2021 (United Kingdom)
Running time : 94 minutes

Seen on April 11, 2021

Mulder's Mark: