Director: Lawrence Fowler
Year: 2024
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural Slasher
Plot:
Attending a decrepit boarding school, a group of students discover the remains of a cursed jack in the box in the bowels of the school and are soon forced into a series of deadly scenarios involving the doll looking to secure souls for its freer to grant a wish and must stop the deadly being.
Review:
Overall, this was a fine if somewhat problematic ending to the series. The film works best when it does what the other entries in the series accomplished in dealing with the rules involving the doll and it being let loose on the students. That there’s still the same general format of the figure being released from the specific toy and looking to kill off six different people to take their souls as a means of gaining power to provide a wish for who freed it is a fine way of bringing this one along into the franchise by keeping the format the same but changing up the location. Putting this one in a boarding school so that the students are the ones who are caught in the middle of its rampage works incredibly well, making the dark hallways and general suspenseful nature of where it takes place.
These get put through some intriguing enough scenes that are done by the figure coming to life and stalking his chosen target. Whether it’s the appearance against the headmaster to start everything, the lone student entering the basement where the toy is kept in the middle of the room, or the final confrontation where it spreads its powers into a rather fiery and imposing conclusion, it all comes together well enough throughout here. That the creature’s presence continues to use the same haunting gurgling rattle and the eerie nursery rhyme to keep the suspense going is a fun touch, and given how it still looks chilling and imposing, provides some engaging positives here.
There are some issues with this one, and it continues the series of flaws that have been present in the other entries in the franchise. The main issue here is the expectedly sluggish and simply dull pacing that provides this with some immensely interesting elements. This one takes way too long to get the rampage started, as the first half tends to go through a series of exploits involving the students at the school trying to sort out their personal lives rather than deal with the creature on the loose. Their lives and relationships are glossed over to the point of not even being interesting anyway, so it just feels even more draining waiting around for the box to be uncovered and the spree can start.
This also highlights the different changes to the storyline about how the creature can be summoned and stopped. This is accomplished rather oddly and just seems to be brought up out of nowhere only to then be ignored to the point of confusion over why it was even brought up in the first place as the idea of going for a mystical route to stop him flies in the face of the other entries that never utilized this factor. The other issue here is the expectedly simple and bloodless kills that don’t go all the way regarding how the gore comes off, which doesn't make for a fun time since there’s little about this to feature any kind of standout gore or kills. These are what end up bringing this one down overall.
Overview: **.5/5
A solid enough if problematic entry in the franchise, this one manages to be worthwhile enough that it’s not a complete loss yet still shows no improvement fixing the flaws that harmed the other entries in the series. Give it a shot if you’re a fan of the original entries in the series, appreciate this style of indie effort, or are curious about it while most others out there should heed caution with it.
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