Just so...so bad

Better Late Then Never

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Other users here at IMDb seem to have a hard time locating this film, leading to talk of it having been suppressed. The reason The Magic Toyshop has become (unfairly) obscure is simply because it was screened on British television before having any major theatrical release. Technically it's a TV movie, made by the Granada network (not the BBC), and it has suffered the same fate as many British television movies of the 70's and 80's. Thankfully this film was released by Palace video in the UK - I located a copy and have now archived mine to DVD.Caroline Milmoe was not underage when the film was made - she was 23 years old, playing a 15 year old. It is true that the nude scenes present a minor through a grown woman, and that is one of the central themes of the film - the sexual element itself is disturbingly grim.The whole film has a unworldly sheen and inhabits magical realism long before it became fashionably known as such. Watch the camera track the parrot's gaze to get an idea of the sheer level of invention and ingenuity. And Milmoe really knows how to torment those braids...This is one of the best films of the 1980's, and certainly the best film I have ever seen about childhood's end. I don't mind it being obscure because that lends it cult status, but I feel unhappy for the cast, particularly Caroline Milmoe, as this film is the top of their art and that deserves a wider audience.Brilliant.

I saw this film when I was very young on British TV. Someone commented that it left an indelible impression on them - same for me.Of course, years later I found out who Angela Carter was and read all of her novels. Reading the magic toyshop was a strange experience, rarely I think has a film captured the atmosphere of a novel so perfectly. Only one other film that i saw as a child had a similar impact - The Red Shoes. There are some similarities I think. I would love to get hold of a copy. Can anybody help me with this?

I saw this film when I was very young and it was shown on British TV. It made a huge impression on with its fairytale story and blackly humorous touches. Years went by and I hadnt thought of the film until I wanted to see the comments for it on IMDb.com. I managed to get a DVD copy It was even more brilliant than I remembered.Melanie is orphaned when her parents die on holiday and is left to take her younger brother and sister to live with her strange uncle who has not had contact with the family. Her uncle owns a toyshop which is filled with wonderful toys and disturbing life like puppets. She also meets the rest of the family in his mute wife and her brothers. Her uncle puts on surreal plays with the puppets and makes Melanie take part. She develops a relationship with Finn who is her aunts brother and discovers the incestuous secret in the family.I love this film because it is so quirky and deals with the subjects of growing up and relationships in such an interesting way. The dialogue works and the actors are all well cast, especially Melanie and her aunt. Tom Bell brings the right amount of creepiness as the uncle. The sets are all fab and really give a sense of a post war Britain (you will know what I mean when you see the bathroom!) Great film and I wish they would put this out on general release as I had a tough time trying to get a copy.

I have recently found this film on one of my husband's VHS tapes (the blank variety which he uses to record stuff from the telly). The film looks as if it was last shown in the eighties and I don't remember having seen it since. It has not (to my knowledge) been released on DVD or VHS although I shall browse around for a copy.The film tells the story of three young people: two girls, one on the edge of puberty and the other much younger, and a young boy who go to live with their mother's brother and his young, mute Irish wife. His wife also has two brothers who live with them. The children's uncle is an unpleasant control freak who forces his young wife to wear a silver collar whilst she watches a marionette show put on by him and her brothers in his toyshop.The eldest girl and one of the Irishmen (the younger) develop a love for each other whilst they live in the same house. The girl helps her aunt out in the shop whilst her brother helps his uncle to make things in the workshop.There are a lot of very disturbing elements to the film. There is the uncle's treatment of his wife as some kind of dumb (literally) possession (illustrated by the collar) whilst the Irish indulge dancing, drinking and somewhat forbidden love. Interestingly, though, I have seen far more explicit themes played out in other movies made in Hollywood today.Makes you wonder whether the British film industry and the BBC have some kind of hidden agenda going on.Still, despite it not being a children's movie, there are a lot of playful, magic moments in it and the one Irishman does some beautiful paintings.