Twisted Horror Comedy On Streaming Breathes New Life Into A Tired Drop

By Robert Scucci
| Published 30 seconds ago

Any horror fan is no doubt familiar with (or tired of) the “Oh my God, my toy has come to life and is trying to kill me” trope. I for one felt like this once lifeless-as-antagonist premise had been done to death until I looked at Karl Holt’s 2019 film, Benny Loves You. Play out as a mix between Shaun of the Dead a Children’s Play, Benny Loves You curious, shy, excessively violent, and, more than that, he has a wicked sense of humor that will have Chucky himself rooting for the titular toy, Benny, from the sidelines.

Unexplained resuscitation

After a brutal opening sequence featuring a little girl named Ashley (Bella Munday) being executed by her old teddy bear, it suggests that Benny is not the only sentient and sadistic toy out there. But we soon forget about Ashley – who was tiring in terms of design so we don’t lose her – when the story moves to our hero, Jack (portrayed by writer/director/producer Karl Holt).

Jack is a 35-year-old man in every sense of the stereotype you can think of Benny Loves You. Living with his parents, sleeping in his childhood room with his Benny plushie by his side, and working as an underachieving toy designer, Jack doesn’t have much going for him outside of the unconditional love of his parents, who in my mind are at least responsible for the arrested developmental state of their grown child at this time. After a freak birthday cake accident, both of Jack’s parents die, which means the mortgage is no longer being paid, and he will have to sell the house.

It’s Benny Time!

Meanwhile, Jack is fired by his boss, Ron (James Parsons) for not coming up with any decent toy ideas, but is later rehired on a trial basis until he can prove himself a worthy designer with the help of Dawn (Clair Cartwright), a technology consultant who works for the toy company. Realizing he needs to grow up or shut up, Jack removes his soon-to-be-sold house from all of his childhood sites, including Benny’s. Jack quickly discovers that he has made the fatal mistake that sets the rest Benny Loves You moves when his beloved childhood toy comes to life with murderous intent.

One by one, whoever enters Jack’s house is brutally murdered when they stop to visit Benny Loves You. As a result, cleaning up after Benny and dodging the less than competent police on more than one occasion inspires Jack to design a toy based on Benny’s likeness and new personality, which is beneficial to his career. As Jack grows closer with Dawn, his emotions are held hostage by Benny, who is willing to kill anyone Jack pays attention to except himself.

It’s Not As Cliché As It Sounds

I know you’re probably thinking that Benny Loves You is another watered down and poorly executed version of the Children’s Play franchise, similar to The Gingerdead Man or Ooga Boga. Shamelessly borrowing multiple pages from the sentient-murder-doll playbook, Benny Loves You holds its own because it plays out more like a comedy of errors than anything else. Jack is a talented designer, no doubt, but his clumsiness is exacerbated by the fact that he needs to cover up a gruesome murder whenever someone gets close to him, and often while his guests are minding their own business. themselves in the next room.

In fact, most of the comedy is Benny Loves You involves Jack randomly spewing large amounts of blood while looking into the other room to make sure everything is okay.

And Benny, as lovable as he seems at first, is one of the most brutal serial killers I’ve seen in the subgenre by a long shot. Using whatever object found around the house he can get his hands on, Benny impales, slashes, and, on one occasion, uses a vacuum cleaner to suck the organs out of his victims, all while he laughed to himself and said his signature phrase, “Benny loves you!”

It is not Reinventing the Wheel

At the end of the day, Benny Loves You is yet another entry into the killer doll sub-genre. However, there’s nothing wrong with a derivative plot device as long as it’s done well, which is why I prefer antagonists like Benny over the Annabelle doll found in the Conjuring universe. Benny Loves You takes a tired trope, and uses his own self-awareness to drive his humor home. If you look closely enough, you might even see a few subtle nods to Stephen King’s “The Monkey” in a couple of scenes.

Although some of the violence may make you cry, you’ll find yourself laughing at the most inappropriate moments because the stop-motion animation is so deliberately over-the-top that you can’t help but fall in love with Benny.

If you want to stay on Benny’s good side by showing him your undying affection, you can stream Benny Loves You free on Tubi.