Killer toys and household objects

A clothing launch gives the killer jeans a crowded workplace and a very unhelpful management structure. The satire gives the film something to do between attacks, making this a strong opening choice.

For your group: Bloody kills and workplace exploitation are central; the joke has a sharp edge.

Choose this for an ensemble night of neon, gym equipment and excessive personal grievances. The haunted health club provides a whole building of potential weapons instead of one prop doing all the work.

For your group: Gory and intentionally extravagant, with a complicated supernatural explanation.

The returning puppets have distinctive methods and readable silhouettes, which makes comparing favourites part of the fun. The hotel and resurrection business provide the human-scale mess around them.

For your group: Practical puppetry is a strength; the surrounding drama can be slower and less convincing.

The wartime setting changes the puppets' targets and gives their origin story a more melodramatic shape. A useful second look at the series if the group already likes the miniature performers.

For your group: Nazi persecution and wartime violence make the material darker than a toy-shop romp.

A tiny policeman is a particularly sensible opponent for murderous toys. The scale match is the attraction, and the short feature length makes it a possible extra for a group with energy left.

For your group: Recycled setup and crossover assumptions can make it feel slight as a main event.

The industrial laundry machine forces a police investigation to take an exceptionally undignified suspect seriously. Put this on for grand performances and mythology that keeps outgrowing the appliance.

For your group: Gruesome workplace deaths. The film pursues its premise with considerable seriousness.

A psychic tyre offers immediate novelty, but the audience watching it inside the film is just as important. Choose this when the room enjoys arguing about why a movie is showing them something.

For your group: Deliberately self-aware and digressive; it does not simply race from one tyre attack to the next.

The eating bed and the observer trapped behind a painting create a peculiar little universe. It is an interesting late-night curiosity for a small group willing to settle into a waking dream.

For your group: Slow, detached and surreal. A poor choice if everyone expects brisk slasher comedy.

The elderly hosts and child visitor give the murderous dolls a dark fairy-tale framework. Choose it for a compact story with tangible little monsters and imaginative practical punishment.

For your group: Bloody attacks and cruel adults; the toy premise does not make it a children’s film.