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.

Under-appreciated gem from director Stuart Gordon and screenwriter Ed Naha, who in a previous incarnation wrote film review books such as 'Horrors - From Screen To Scream'. Ed may have learned a thing or two from the turkeys he encountered in his reviewing days because his script for "Dolls" is rich in homage and character. The film borrows its structure from "The Old Dark House" and realizes its ambitions with a cast and crew of highly talented individuals.

Gordon, who directed the entertaining "Re-animator" and perverse "From Beyond" brings a deliciously eerie and playful tone to this novel story of a group of adults who are sentenced to death for losing the child-like aspects of their personalities. The "dolls" of the title are the executioners and they love their bloody work, which is depicted in fine, crimson detail.

The special effects sequences featuring the dolls are realized with stop motion animation and puppetry. For the most part, they are extraordinarily convincing. A scene in which various doll characters huddle together to discreetly discuss the fate of a human character is priceless.

Mac Ahlberg's cinematography is moody and beautiful, perfectly capturing a toyland ambiance within a house of horror; and Lee Percy, who cut the Americanization of the "Baby Cart" films, "Shogun Assassin", delivers another tight, intuitive piece of work here.

Hats must come off to Gordon for the casting of Mr. Sardonicus himself, Guy Rolfe, as Gabriel Hartwicke, the eccentric, twisted toymaker and owner of the film's pivotal location where the nasty events transpire.

Producer Charles Band has made dozens of horror films, but none are as classy as the three above that he made with the talented Stuart Gordon.

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.

The Dolls was truly an enjoyable little horror film which never got the recognition it deserved unlike the evil Chucky from the Childs Play movies. The Dolls were around before Chucky!

It's an entertaining horror film which I won't give many details about because it will spoil it. There's certainly a few little twists in the story and nothing is quite what it seems.

The dolls themselves were quite creepy. Being a male, I've never had a doll obviously but after watching this film I have to wonder how women could ever keep dolls when they were kids. Dolls are so evil looking (some of them anyway).

This was a great film. I won't spoil the ending but wait till you see what fate befalls one of the main characters.

the whole situation/plot is ludicrous. the acting is also bad but the magical/killer doll theme is funny. recommended for a slight scare and a laugh or two. it is worse than child's play 1 and 2 but in no means a copy. it is better than child's play 3 and the remainder of the series. this interested me because of the killer doll picture on the cover which always freaks me out. you will like this a lot if you are accepting the bad parts and you like killer doll flicks.

in the story a bunch of different people become stranded and stay in a mansion that is owned by two seniors that are doll makers. but they hold a secret about the dolls. the victims serve surprisingly different fates. its like a haunted fairy tale.

Rated R for Horror Violence and Some Language