Benny Loves You | |
---|---|
Directed by | Karl Holt |
Written by | Karl Holt |
Produced by | Karl Holt |
Starring |
|
Cinematography |
|
Edited by | Karl Holt |
Music by | Karl Holt |
Production company | Darkline Entertainment |
Distributed by | Epic Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 94 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Benny Loves You is a 2019 British horror comedy film directed, written, and produced by Karl Holt. [1] It stars Claire Cartwright, George Collie, James Parsons, David Wayman, Lydia Hourihan and Holt himself. The film premiered at the Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre on November 21, 2019.
Ashley, a spoiled brat, gets a new present and discards her old teddy bear. That night, the teddy bear pulls her into a closet and rips her eyes out, Ashley's mother discovers her corpse and screams in horror at the sight.
Jack, a failed toy designer, constantly depends on his parents, until they are killed in a freak accident on his 35th birthday. Ten months later, Jack is struggling financially from living on his own without support and dealing with maintenance and mortgage, while getting convinced by an estate agent named David to sell his house. Jack also sees his colleague, Richard, as competition, as he won the designer of the year award. Due to the failures of his toy designs, Jack is subsequently fired by his boss, Ron, and rehired for a lower waged position, instead of being promoted.
Jack decides to become an adult and sell his house, packs his toys, and to Jack's sadness, throws away a stuffed bunny named Benny, his favorite childhood toy. However, Benny destroys all of Jack's plush toys, which prompts him to call two police officers over for an investigation. However, they just insult Jack and eat his biscuits. At work, Jack meets Dawn, a tech consultant, and begins a relationship.
At home, Jack finds David's head on the bed beside him, and the next morning, his body slumped on a chair, and his blood is all over the house. He immediately cleans up his house and narrowly avoids getting caught when the police officers come by to get something they left in his house the day before. After Benny shreds a cat with a lawnmower, Jack makes Benny promise that he will stay here as long as he does not murder anyone else.
Jack is inspired by Benny to create several toy designs, which impresses Ron and his relationship grows closer with Dawn. A realtor shows Jack's house, which is on sale, to a woman named Tara, but Benny impales the realtor with a wooden sign and forces Tara to hide for a long period of time in Jack's attic. Jack comes home and is shocked at Benny again, so he keeps him in a box for his date night with Dawn.
Benny frees himself as Ron drops off Precious, his dog, which Benny kills by hacking it in the back with a hatchet. Dawn shares a tragic backstory of when her father tripped over her favorite doll, Amy, and broke his neck. Jack decides to fake Precious' death by stabbing him and throwing him out the window and onto Ron's car, to allegedly protect Dawn from him.
Ron fires Jack, but Benny does not realize that Jack is upset, and even tries to play with the very stressed-out Jack. Benny kidnaps Ron, and Jack sees this as an opportunity to get his job back, but Benny throws a garden tool into Ron's throat before he is rehired. Jack buries Benny in the woods and spends time with Dawn while they clean up Ron's murder. Benny hitches a ride on Dawn's car, where Jack tries to claim that Benny is dangerous, just to be mocked and laughed at by his colleagues. Benny stabs Richard in the hand, and Jack, Dawn, and Richard escape the room, locking Benny inside, who subsequently massacres the remaining workers.
Jack, Dawn, and Richard go back to Jack's house to formulate a plan against Benny, even though Richard is pessimistic. Benny gears up with weapons, while at the same time, the trio booby traps the house. Benny makes his way into Jack's house through his toilet. Dawn is surprised by Benny with her childhood doll, Amy. Richard gets stabbed and has his organs sucked out by his toy Rosco, which earlier, he discarded. Jack and Dawn continue fighting with Benny and Amy, respectively, which ends in Amy being stabbed and Benny leaping out of the window and being shot to death by the same police officers from earlier.
Two months later, Jack and Dawn are starting a new life, with the two police officers covering for them about Benny, Rosco and Ashley's teddy bear are seen hiding out in an alleyway as the bear exclaims "You're Special". In a post-credits scene, Tara is seen dead in the attic, having hidden there for a long time and having succumbed to starvation/dehydration.
Filming began in 2014 and was completed in 2015. The main reason for the gap between filming and release was due to the fact that Holt edited, scored and did the visual effects.[ citation needed ]
The film premiered at the Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre on November 21, 2019, New York City Horror Film Festival on December 8, 2019, [2] Sitges Film Festival on October 8, 2020, Trieste Science+Fiction Festival on November 1, 2020 [3] and Panic Film Fest in Kansas City on April 9 to April 15, 2021. [4]
Benny Loves You was released in the UK on February 19, 2021, and was scheduled to premiere in the United States in selected theaters on May 7 before becoming available on demand on May 11, 2021. The film's Blu-ray release was on June 8, 2021. [5]
Benny Loves You was selected at the 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) in South Korea, held in July 2021. It was showcased in the World Fantastic Red section of the festival. [6]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 79% based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The site's consensus reads, "A zany entry into the sentient murder toy genre, Benny Loves You is an enjoyably macabre and clever horror comedy that will have audiences rooting for its loveable villain." [7]
Anton Bitel of Sight and Sound wrote:
In this comic killer-doll film, our hero struggles to put away childish things, even as we are left wondering whether it might be Jack's own arrested psyche, rather than a stuffed animal, that is the real deadly danger. [8]
Award ceremony | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bilbao Fantasy Film Festival | Best Feature Film | Benny Loves You - Karl Holt | Nominated | |
Most Innovative Direction | Karl Holt | Nominated | ||
San Sebastián Horror and Fantasy Film Festival | Best Film | Benny Loves You - Karl Holt | Won | |
Macabro: International Horror Film Festival of Mexico City | Best International Feature Length Horror | Benny Loves You - Karl Holt | Won | |
Razorreel | Best Film | Benny Loves You | Nominated | |
Sitges Film Festival | Best Film | Benny Loves You | Nominated | |
FrightFest | Best Film | Benny Loves You - Karl Holt | Won |
The Manson Family is a 1997 American true crime exploitation horror film directed by Jim Van Bebber. The film covers the lives of Charles Manson and his family of followers.
May is a 2002 American psychological horror film written and directed by Lucky McKee in his directorial debut. Starring Angela Bettis, Jeremy Sisto, Anna Faris, and James Duval, the film follows a lonely young woman (Bettis) traumatized by a difficult childhood, and her increasingly desperate attempts to connect with the people around her.
Dolls is a 1987 American horror film directed by Stuart Gordon, written by Ed Naha, and starring Stephen Lee, Guy Rolfe, Hilary Mason, Ian Patrick Williams, and Bunty Bailey. Its plot follows six people who seek shelter during a storm in the mansion of an elderly puppet maker and his wife, only to find that the various puppets and dolls in the home contain the imprisoned spirits of criminals. It was produced by Charles Band and Brian Yuzna through Band's Empire Pictures.
Demonic Toys is a 1992 American direct-to-video horror comedy film produced by Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment and directed by Peter Manoogian. The film centers on a police officer who is terrorized by the title characters after a botched arrest. Like many other Full Moon releases, Demonic Toys never had a theatrical release and went straight-to-video in 1992. In the United States, the film was given an "R" rating for violence, language, and brief nudity. The franchise was created by Charles Band.
The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, or BiFan, formerly known as Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival or PiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea. Inaugurated in 1997, the festival focuses on South Korean and international horror, thriller, mystery and fantasy films, with particular attention to Asian cinema from East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is a non-competitive international film festival, with partial competition, awarding a number of awards.
Girls Nite Out is a 1982 American slasher film written and produced by Anthony N. Gurvis, directed by Robert Deubel, and starring Julia Montgomery, Suzanne Barnes, Rutanya Alda, and Hal Holbrook. The film focuses on a group of female college students who are targeted by a killer in a bear mascot costume during an all-night scavenger hunt on their campus.
Witchcraft is a 1964 British horror film directed by Don Sharp and starring Lon Chaney Jr., Jack Hedley and Jill Dixon. The script was written by Harry Spalding.
Na Hong-jin is a South Korean film director, producer and screenwriter.
Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! is a 2011 American Christmas road comedy television film directed by Arlene Sanford and written by Geoff Rodkey, based on the Disney Channel Original Series Good Luck Charlie by Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen. The Disney Channel Original Movie stars Bridgit Mendler, Leigh-Allyn Baker, Bradley Steven Perry, Mia Talerico, Eric Allan Kramer, and Jason Dolley as the Duncan family. It follows the Duncan family as they prepare for their Christmas trip to Amy Duncan's parents' house in Palm Springs, California. Things goes awry however when Teddy and Amy find themselves separated from their family after Teddy gives up her seat in exchange for a free plane ticket. With only a few days left until Christmas, the duo will have to face numerous obstacles as they embark on a hitchhiking journey across Utah and Nevada to get to California so they can reunite with their family in time for the holidays.
YellowBrickRoad is a 2010 American horror film directed by Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton and starring Cassidy Freeman, Anessa Ramsey and Laura Heisler. It is about an expedition to discover the fate of an entire town that disappeared into the wilderness 70 years earlier. Although critical reception was mixed, it won best film at the New York City Horror Film Festival.
Feng Shui 2 is a 2014 Filipino supernatural horror film directed by Chito S. Roño, and a sequel to the 2004 film Feng Shui. Kris Aquino reprises her role as Joy Ramirez and Coco Martin plays Lester Anonuevo, the new owner of the cursed bagua. The film co-stars Cherry Pie Picache, Carmi Martin, Ian Veneracion, and Joonee Gamboa. It focuses on Lester (Martin) who, upon getting the cursed bagua, starts to have luck and prosperity, but with deadly consequences. The film was also Star Cinema's official entry in the 2014 Metro Manila Film Festival.
Scare Package is a 2020 American anthology horror comedy film created by Aaron B. Koontz and Cameron Burns. It features a series of horror shorts written and directed by Aaron B. Koontz, Courtney Andujar, Hillary Andujar, Anthony Cousins, Emily Hagins, Chris McInroy, Noah Segan, and Baron Vaughn.
Bloody Hell is a 2020 American-Australian-Finnish horror comedy film directed by Alister Grierson and written by Robert Benjamin. It tells the story of Rex Coen, a former U.S. soldier with a mysterious past who flees from his homeland to escape his own personal hell - to unknowingly experience something even more sinister and hellish. The film stars Ben O'Toole, Caroline Craig and Matthew Sunderland.
Demonic Toys is a series of films that center on a collection of seemingly harmless playthings that are in reality the avatars of powerful demons from hell who seek to cause havoc in the mortal world.
Chathur Mukham is a 2021 Indian techno-horror thriller film directed by Ranjeet Kamala Sankar and Salil V for the screenplay written by Abhayakumar K and Anil Kurian. The film stars Manju Warrier, Sunny Wayne, Alencier ley Lopez, Niranjana Anoop, Babu Annur, Shyamaprasad and Rony David in lead roles. Manoj has edited the film while Abinandhan Ramanujam handled the cinematography. Dawn Vincent composed the original songs and background score. The film is jointly produced by Jiss Toms and Justin Thomas under Jiss Toms Movies and Manju Warrier Productions. In the film, Thejaswini, a young woman, buys a cheap smartphone after she loses her old one in an accident. Soon, she is terrorised by a malevolent supernatural entity through the phone, which threatens her safety and those of others, making her seek help.
Caveat is a 2020 Irish horror film written, directed, and edited by Damian McCarthy in his feature directorial debut. Starring Johnny French and Leila Sykes, it follows a drifter suffering from partial memory loss who accepts a job to look after a psychologically disturbed woman in a house on a secluded island. Funded by British producer Justin Hyne through his company HyneSight Films, it premiered at the IndieCork Film Festival in Ireland on 4 October 2020.
"Ransom" is the 12th episode of the seventh season of the American television police sitcom series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and the 142nd overall episode of the series. The episode was written by Nick Perdue and Beau Rawlins and directed by Rebecca Asher. It aired on April 16, 2020, on NBC.
Show Me the Ghost (Korean: 쇼미더고스트) is a 2021 South Korean comedy horror film, written and directed by Kim Eun-kyoung and starring Han Seung-yeon, Kim Hyun-mok and Hong Seung-bum. The film depicts the story of two job seeking best friends Ho-du and Yeji, whose dreams and hopes have been ruined. It was premiered at 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival on July 10 and was theatrically released on September 9, 2021.
"The Last Day" is the two-part series finale of the American police sitcom television series Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It is the ninth and tenth episode of the eighth season and the 152nd and 153rd episode overall. The first part was written by Luke Del Tredici and Audrey Goodman and directed by Linda Mendoza, while the second part was written by series co-creator Dan Goor and directed by Claire Scanlon. The episodes aired on September 16, 2021 on NBC.
Coralie Fargeat is a French film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her 2017 debut feature film Revenge, for which she received awards from independent film festivals across the world. Her second feature The Substance (2024), a feminist body horror film starring Demi Moore, screened in the main competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where Fargeat won the Best Screenplay award.