On the heels of the successful, yet disturbing, first series of Tortured Souls figures, which paired McFarlane's detailed toy work with the designs and concept of horror master Clive Barker, is a second series even more disturbing and twisted as the first. Since the first series has apparently been "optioned" by Universal Studios to be converted to movie format, McFarlane and Barker have decided to bring us more of the demented figurines.

As with all of McFarlane's toy lines, the Tortured Souls 2 series is extremely well detailed. Each figure has a varying degree of poseability, even though you'll find some of them to be fairly immobile and static, much like a plastic statuette. Because of the intense amount of detail, the figures tend to be a little fragile in certain parts, so unless you plan on keeping them in the package, you may need to take especially tender care of them. The figures do come with some accessories, but they're mostly used to accent the look of the figures, rather than add to any kind of playability to them.

I would have to say that this series seems even more disturbed than the first. There's an obvious gross-out factor at work here. The most normal figure of the series, Camille Noire, is a harsh angel of flesh with a saw blade halo through her skull. Feverish is a horrid blubbery mass with an opening to view his hollow interior as he lays on a surgical slab. The rest of the series is an amalgam of fetish horror and supernatural torture and terror that's enough to make the squeamish turn away.

This series has been described as "flesh as canvas" and I would almost agree with this. The figures in this series are less about collectible figures and more about disturbing art and sculpture rendered in molded plastic and put into sellable packaging. If you have a strong stomach and are a fan of Barker's disturbing visions, you should do yourselves a favor and look into this new series.

- - Kinderfeld