I’ve covered all the previous installments of these three franchises, so it’s time to play catch-up with the latest sequels.
TERROR TOONS 4 (2022)
This installment of the Terror Toons series sucked me right back into the warped visuals and abstract ideas that series creator Joe Castro brings to his films. You either eat up his approach to crafting horror weirdness or you don’t.
The fourth movie breaks from the original story to give us an anthology film, with Castro handling direction on only one tale and effects on all tales to ensure the chaotic horror presentation continues. For instance, the opening scene is just a smorgasbord of bee attacks set to classical music to prep you for his crazed style. Then come the stories:
Dr. Carnage: Origins
What do we have here? It’s a prequel focusing on the major evil cartoon villain of the series. A therapist having nightmares about the Terror Toons thinks she’s taking on a new case of a troubled child, but instead walks right into a mad scientist’s nightmarish lab lair.
Castro blends his bizarre, campy computer generated effects with his gruesome practical effects to deliver a totally fabulous freak show, with Linnea Quigley even getting in on the action. However, a giant rat definitely steals the show, and the ending is reminiscent of a classic episode of The Twilight Zone.
Personal Demons
Brinke Stevens plays an out of work actress and recovered junkie who inherits a mansion from her aunt that is supposedly haunted.
She is soon on what seems like an acid trip as she is terrorized by horrific renditions of her personal demons—in Joe Castro’s whacky green screen exploitation style.
The Heads of Mr. Switch
It’s a Halloween tale that begins with a very sexual frat prank scene. The boys whip out a blowup doll to play with. She inexplicably becomes real so that they can lose their virginity to her.
However, we all know what happens when you have sex in a horror movie. There are naked pretty boys galore and loads of icky, crass sexual situations in this fantastic fever dream holiday slasher.
The Clucking
This is a very short, twisted game show tale in which the evil Terror Toons doctor makes a really gross appearance. It’s also a sort of wrap-up conclusion to the first story.
BAD NUN 3 (2023)
I said I’d come back for more after the second film, so here I am. Smartly, this third installment is short and to the point, running about 70 minutes long.
The nun is ringing doorbells again and waiting for gullible victims to answer. The opening kill scene immediately tipped me off that something was different this time—the nun has a black cloth over her face and goes old school slasher with a knife.
Turns out the first victim was in sober group therapy. A few of her fellow therapy members become curious about her murder and how it relates to the nun killings in the previous movies, which leads to some flashback scenes.
The main girl ends up going on holiday to a vacation home, and soon the nun is terrorizing other in the vicinity. The highlight is when the nun goes to slit the main girl’s throat from behind and she blocks it…by putting her hand in the way. Gruesome!
This movie definitely feels like a cash grab, especially considering that when all is said and done, this is sort of like the Friday the 13th Part 5 of Bad Nun movies, but once again, I’d totally come back for another installment.
THE MADNESS OF HUMPTY DUMPTY (2023)
Just like the Bad Nun series, Humpty Dumpty is losing steam with this third installment. It’s only about 70 minutes long, and there’s barely any body count.
Our main girl is the daughter of the schizo woman from the last movie, and she inherits her mother’s house. She and her boyfriend head there, meet some curious neighbors, and then she begins seeing and hearing things.
Most of the “scary” parts are hallucinations the main girl is having. Is she going mad like her mother?
There are a few violent kills at least, but you can tell pretty early on that this one isn’t actually going to be about the Humpty Dumpty doll. Yep, another bait and switch movie—but it’s even more than that as we get several twists before all is said and done. It was alright, but I miss the freakiness the actual Humpty Dumpty doll delivered.
