Dolls

I first saw this as a kid and it was instantly one of my favorite movies. even to this day it is still very good. The acting direction and script is very good, not to mention the score. The scenes with the dolls attacking are top notch. My only problem with the film years later is it is too short. And you would think they would have made a sequel to it by now. they made a million puppetmasters. Dolls was 10 times far better then puppetmaster you would have thought they'd make a sequel. I give it a 10 out of 10. Recommended.

It isn't super great mind you, but it is rather interesting from what I remember. A group of people stranded in a rain storm come upon a house and seek refuge there. Like many other movies that have this premise, things are a bit odd, as the house is the home of a man and his wife who are very avid doll makers. You can see where this is going, this is a killer doll story sort of like "The Puppet Master" and "Demonic Toys" only this one is better than those. Though it still has humor in it like those two as well. Still though it is an okay horror movie and it does have one memorable scene that was rather funny...the one where the little girl imagines her stuffed bear getting big and killing her step parents (I don't remember if either parent was her natural one). Also stuck in the house some guy and a couple of hitchhikers (at least I think there was two). As you can tell it has been awhile since I saw it. I do remember it ended okay. Like I said nothing to great, but worth checking out.

This movie is too minor and too short (runs only 75 minutes) to escape the two-star rating category, but it's still recommended to any casual horror fan. Entertaining, well-made and well-written (especially regarding the ultimate fate of all the victims), it's filled with characters that are (intentionally) so dislikable you can't wait to see them killed, and yet the dolls are so vicious that you won't be rooting for them, either. Only problem is that the stop-motion animation is a little clumsy at times, and the dolls' movements aren't always as smooth as they should've been.

Wow, I remember watching this movie as a kid...it has to be one of my all time favorites. If you're looking for a great scary-doll movie, before the whole "Chucky" thing came about, this is for you. It's fun with great effects (for the time mind you) and blends together the right amount of gore and laughs...a must see in my book!

If Sam Raimi had channeled the Brothers Grimm to write a story about dolls in the present day, this is about what they would've come up with. By turns charming, eerie and cringe-inducing, it allowed director Stuart Gordon to rein in the outrageousness he got to indulge in with "Re-Animator" and "From Beyond". There are shocks, there is gore and there is that pitch-black sense of humor, but everything is tempered by the wonderfully pleasant presences of Carrie Lorraine and Stephen Lee, as the only two decent souls in the midst of one of the most unpleasant casts of rotters I've seen in my recent if faulty memory; all of whom come to equally unpleasant, if not deserving ends. Just like in fairy tales...

The Bands and Gordon must've been avid fans of the old William Castle spooker "Mr. Sardonicus," because they find casting perfection in Guy Rolfe as the kindly old dollmaker, who sort of extends the role (and his career) in the "Puppet Master" series. Distinguished character actor Hilary Mason plays off him well, and the two have a wonderfully morbid benevolence about them; like Gomez and Morticia Adams in their twilight years.

Working the other end of the spectrum are Ian Patrick Williams and the always excellent Carolyn Purdy-Gordon as the little girl's abusive and shallow father and "wicked" stepmother. Rounding it off are Bunty Bailey and Cassie Stuart as the brassy, blowsy punkettes who learn all about the virtues of etiquette...the hard way.

Anybody who thinks Chucky is state-of-the-art when it comes to walking, talking, murderous toys needs to check out the effects created by Giancarlo Del Brocco and John and Vivian Brunner. A lot of stop-motion combined with mechanics, (courtesy of the legendary David Allen) but you gotta appreciate the subtleties. Got creeps? Less is definitely more.

A nifty little rental if you can get hold of it.