Toys Are Not For Children (1972)

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Psychological trauma and aberrant sexuality abound in this twisted 1972 tale of a young woman whose severe daddy issues send her on an unforgettably bleak downward spiral. Yearning for the love of her absentee father, Jamie inhabits an infantilized world surrounded by toys, including those which her wayward pops bizarrely continues to send her. Unable to consummate her new marriage with dashing colleague Charlie, Jamie's chance encounter with aging sex worker Pearl leads her into the murky world of prostitution where her most disturbing erotic fantasies begin to play out. Grim, quirky and strangely affecting in equal measure, Stanley H. Brasloff's Toys Are Not for Children is a truly one-of-a-kind effort from the heyday of the American exploitation independents, which builds to a haunting and devastating climax that lingers long after the credits roll.