Amityville Toybox

Amityville Toybox is a chilling horror movie that was released in 2016. Directed by Dustin Ferguson and starring an adept ensemble, including Mark Popejoy, Julia Farrell, and Jennii Caroline, the movie completely holds the viewer in its grip, with its tightly coiled terror and absorbing storyline that blends supernatural elements with the patent raw fear that the horror genre cherishes.

Mark Popejoy portrays Harold, a man with an indefinable charm and rare object dealer who is constantly on the hunt for peculiar items to sell in his curiosities shop. Julia Farrell is his sister Felicia, a level-headed woman with nursing as her profession. She is sensible, happy-go-lucky, and loves her family, but has little patience for her brother's obsession with the odd and uncanny. Jennii Caroline plays the role of Felicia’s daughter, Tina, a tenacious teenager with a boundless curiosity that sometimes leads her into tricky situations.

Set in the enigmatic world of the Amityville universe, the movie starts with Harold, who unwittingly acquires a mysterious toybox from a routine auction without realizing that it carries an evil legacy from America's most haunted house. The subsequent happenings in his life and the effects of owning this toybox carry the narrative forward. As the story unfolds, the audience gets to see a fresh interpretation of the infamous Amityville haunting through the prism of objects tainted with a terrifying past.

Once the toybox comes to Harold’s house, viewers can expect sequences of eerie events that will set the tone for the rest of the movie. Skeletons from the dark past, figuratively and literally, come out of the 'haunted' toybox, setting off a chain of supernatural occurrences that steer the narrative into darker territories.

Julia Farrell's character Felicia plays a pivotal role. As the series of inexplicable events occur around them, it is her sense of perceptiveness and logic that attempts to keep things in perspective. There are moments where Felicia’s nursing instincts spring into action accentuating the tension this movie creates.

The character of Tina, superbly brought to life by Jennii Caroline, is a significant catalyst in the movie. Her fearlessness as a character is contrasted with the fear she experiences, which amplifies the familial tension and makes the movie more intriguing. Her inquisitive nature leads to some intense moments that become turning points in this twisted tale.

The movie's intermittent abstractions into the lives of these characters add deeper layers to the horror narrative. The storytelling approach adopted by the director skillfully blends the mundane and the supernatural, resulting in a gripping tale of fear intertwining the human and the unknown.

Amityville Toybox uses the classic elements of haunted objects, familial bonds, and a relentless evil force, entwining them in an engaging script that holds its audience captivated in its web of fear. The seemingly harmless toybox itself is depicted in such a way that viewers may feel a sense of dread whenever it appears on screen, and that is an example of the director’s successful use of classic horror techniques.

The film scores high on atmospheric horror, with an eerie undertone maintained throughout. The cinematography and set design add another layer of eeriness to the overall ambience. The gloomy lighting and the ominous soundtrack perfectly set up the mood for a string of spine-chilling scenes.

To conclude, Amityville Toybox, although remaining well within the traditional bounds of the horror genre, rises above the generic with its well-drawn characters, creative narrative turnarounds, and the ever-present sense of unease. It successfully builds upon the infamous Amityville legend, giving the audience a fresh perspective on the narrative while making sure it delivers the raw terror expected from a film of this genre.