By JAMES BURRELL
While most modern horror film collectibles tend to be ultra-detailed and frightening in appearance, there are some exceptions, namely Funko’s various horror-themed POP! vinyl toys, Mezco’s adorable Living Dead Dolls Presents series, and more recently, NECA’s Toony Terrors line of figures.
Probably best described as horror film characters given an animated makeover, the Toony Terrors series basically takes your favorite slasher film villain, vampire, possessed doll or demon hunter and reimagines them as a character right out of Scooby-Doo and other Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoons. The line – which debuted in late 2019 – has, so far, included figures of Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, both the Tim Curry and Bill Skarsgård versions of Pennywise, Michael Myers, Leatherface, Count Orlock, Pinhead, Ash Williams, Chucky, Tiffany and the Nun. Recently released is Wave 4 in the line, which consists of Hatchet’s Victor Crowley, Regan from The Exorcist, Sam from Trick ‘r Treat, and Betelgeuse from of course, Beetlejuice.
Though stylized in appearance, the figures still feature a lot of sculpted detail and great paint apps, and perfectly capture the essence of the characters. You can see Michael Keaton’s likeness in the Betelgeuse figure (amusingly, this is the second line of toys to feature a cartoon-styled rendering of the character – the first was for the 1989-91 animated Beetlejuice series). While these figures are “creepy-cute,” the highly detailed and grotesque-looking Victor Crowley is still the stuff of nightmares.
All the figures in this wave have several points of articulation (head, arms, wrists, and sometimes, ankles), and except for the Beetlejuice release, all come with accessories. The Regan figure (which features green vomit stains on her nightgown) comes with two interchangeable heads and a projectile vomit accessory that can be inserted into the open-mouthed head; Sam comes with both burlap sack and pumpkin-demon heads, his trick ‘r treat sack, and his trademark jack-o-lantern lollypop; Victor Crowley comes with his trusty hatchet. While many of the figures in this line stand approximately 6 inches tall, the Sam and Regan figures are understandably smaller at 4 and 4 ½ inches, respectively. Each figure comes in colourfully illustrated blister card packaging, and the back of the cards feature art – such as Crowley’s swampy domain, and Regan’s bedroom, complete with bed and Pazuzu’s ghastly face above it – that can be used as backdrops to display the figures.
SRP for each figure is around $14.99 USD, and they can be found in stores and various online retailers or go to NECAOnline.com for more info.
