Description
A violent thunderstorm strands young Judy, her father David, and her stepmother Rosemary in the English countryside. Seeking shelter, the trio break into a nearby mansion, where they meet the owners, a kindly older couple named Gabriel and Hilary Hartwicke. Learning that Judy has "lost" her beloved doll Teddy (in fact, the cruel Rosemary threw Teddy into the bushes), Gabriel gives Judy a doll, named Mr. Punch. Three more people arrive at the mansion, also seeking shelter from the storm: Good-natured American businessman Ralph and English hitchhikers Isabel and Enid. Gabriel invites them all to stay the night.
Judy soon discovers that the mansion is full of beautifully detailed toys and dolls like Mr. Punch; Gabriel explains that he is a toy maker. Judy and Ralph are both overjoyed, and the latter is something of a child at heart who has never given up his love and fondness of toys.
Isabel and Enid are actually petty thieves who hitchhiked with Ralph intending to pick his pocket. That night, Isabel sneaks out of her room to rob the mansion. Instead, she is brutally attacked by dolls. Judy, in the hallway, briefly sees the attack and she rushes to tell her father David. However, David is a neglectful and uncaring father; both he and Rosemary accuse Judy of making up stories. Instead, Judy convinces Ralph to check out the hallway with her. Ralph is initially very skeptical, but he eventually believes Judy after her Mr. Punch doll briefly speaks to them.
Rosemary is later attacked by the dolls; in the midst of escaping them, she ends up accidentally overleaping out of a window to her death. Enid searches for Isabel and finds her almost entirely transformed into a doll version of herself. A horde of toys attack and kill Enid as she attempts to escape. Meanwhile, Ralph gets accidentally caught in a trap the dolls set for the other adults before Judy convinces them to save him; because he is her friend and has done nothing wrong. David discovers Rosemary's dead body placed in his bed and believes that Ralph killed her.
Now safe from the dolls, Judy and Ralph enter the workshop where the irate David finds them. Ralph tries to explain that the dolls attacked the others for their actions, but David refuses to listen, knocks both his daughter and Ralph unconscious in his rage. Then, Mr. Punch comes to life and attacks David. Other dolls intervene, dragging the unconscious Ralph and Judy away to safety as Mr. Punch is destroyed by David after a fierce struggle.
The Hartwickes appears and explain that they are magician couples who see toys as the heart and soul of childhood. Gabriel and Hilary dislike the bitterness of adults, and when people seek shelter at their mansion, the dolls serve as a test for the visitors. People like Ralph, who appreciate the joy of childhood, and children like Judy are spared and leave the house with a fuller appreciation of life. However, those who refuse to change their ways, like David, Rosemary, Enid, and Isabel, can never leave and have to start all over and play a new role in the big game as toys forever. As the Hartwickes explain this, the incredulous, yet threatening David is slowly transformed into a doll to replace Mr. Punch.
The next morning, the Hartwickes convince the reawakened Ralph and Judy that the night's events were just a dream. Gabriel reads a fake letter from David explaining to Judy that he and Rosemary are changing their names and leaving the country with Enid and Isabel. Judy will be able to stay permanently with her caring mother in Boston and that "David" has left Judy and Ralph enough money to buy plane tickets to Boston. Ralph and Judy leave the house, and as they drive away, Judy hints to him that if he would like to stay with her and her mother, he could be Judy's new father. Ralph seems interested in the idea.
The film ends with dolls of David, Rosemary, Enid, and Isabel sitting on a shelf while outside another car with a set of obnoxious parents gets stuck in mud near the mansion.
