Blood Dolls

His Empire May Have Crumbled. The Full Moon might have slightly dimmed, And as for the present state of being for Charles Band and his new company Shadow Entertainment, Time will only tell, i for one will always follow.

Now As for "Blood Dolls" upon only my second viewing i was suddenly struck with the notion, now if memory serves, Ever since my viewing of "Ghoulies" which was my very first Band movie, i can never quite recall Charles Band Actually writing the movie script himself, but here he did.

So here i was, Thinking. Did Band base the Character of Virgil on himself, all the major factors were present. Here was Virgil head of his company having to safeguard his own wellbeing as well as that of his company from the nasty clutches of outside forces.

You be the judge, and wonder just how many times Charles Band has had to swim with the sharks and if like me you are a real fan, enjoy the film, it certainly made for a different kind of viewing, pleasant yes for the film itself had a kind of voyueristic feel. If in Doubt check out Meridian or Head of the Family as prime examples.

Tiring of living in his mansion as a deformed freak, an eccentric billionaire decides to use his living dolls to seek revenge for the years of treatment he's received only for an unexpected twist to take over the dolls and threaten the success of the mission.

This one turned out to be one of the rather enjoyable Full Moon killer doll classics. What really makes this one work quite well here is the fact that the story here takes a backseat to the doll carnage and depravity depicted here which is overall utterly fun. This one manages to make the fact that there's the depravity with so much oddball stuff overall quite entertaining, with the chained-up female rock group shocked into performing, a clown-painted assistant, deviant sex games played out with the main couple and the fact that the main billionaire is portrayed as a pin-headed figure among much more here that it's all quite twisted and utterly enjoyable that it's much more unique than it usually warrants here. That extended to the dolls themselves, created through a rather ingenious method in the reconfiguration chamber and emerging out in their new, original looks which makes them work rather well here while serving as the launching for the overt display of their work from the rather gruesome and bloody deaths by the dolls, the suspenseful stalking throughout the house as they hunt their target in the action-packed confrontations that's filled in here with some rather fun action in the grandest tradition of their usual killer doll efforts. There's even the fun of the twist here in the different manners of who's controlling everyone here in the first half which is quite an achievement here by pulling it off that well and is quite fun, with the shocking revelation being one of the better scenes here and leading into the rather enjoyable second half here that manages to go even weirder and then sets up the finale which is one of the strongest aspects here. While these here are what make this one worthwhile, there's still some flaws here. The biggest one here is that although this one comes off as quite creative, the decision to change the doll characters around makes no sense, for their creation through a contraption rather than a special serum on actual puppets goes against the remainder of the series and doesn't really serve it well here. It's also certainly repetitive of the other killer doll films out there and doesn't really offer anything new or innovative beyond that means of creation as the main points of the film are more on the corporate espionage and backstabbing that really holds itself in the usual manners of dolls being sent out to partake their owners' deviant wishes like all the others usually are, so it has that against it, but the real damaging effort is the final twist which makes no sense and doesn't really have a whole lot about it that serves the film well. It's certainly a lot of fun if you're into this sort of thing but it's quite flawed if you're not.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity and several sex scenes.

This movie has and is far more fun than anyone has any right to expect. It doesn't follow any set formula and just does its own thing. None of it really makes sense or has context, but at no point does it try to be anything serious.

This is what schlocky cinema should be, you'll never be taken seriously as a real movie so why not have some fun with it?! Have a protagonist with a shrunken head, have a feminist rock band in an electrified cage, have offensively stereotypical murder dolls and acknowledge that this is purposeful in the first five minutes of the movie!

All of these things appear and more, it is a bit of schlocky fluff, but it knows what it is and uses its lack of rules to make something fun and strange, give it a watch!

With BLOOD DOLLS, Director Charles Band has done it again! Another triumph for FULL MOON productions! Eccentric, masked billionaire, Virgil Travis (Jack Maturin) loses big money, and must have revenge against those who've tried to destroy him and his empire.

Aided by his trusted servant / henchman / spiritual advisor, Mr. Mascaro (William Paul Burns in a three-piece suit and full clown makeup), he sends a trio of his latest creations to deal with his rivals.

Uh oh!

Virgil never counted on the brilliant dominatrix, Moira (Debra Mayer) getting involved! Can twisted love win out against her plans for world dominion?

This movie offers non-stop lunacy, a caged, all-girl rock band, an eeevil dwarf (Phil Fondacaro), gore, BDSM, mad science, a drill murder, and a novel use of piano wire! For those looking for something VERY different...

Well, granted, as I sat down in 2021 to watch the 1999 movie "Blood Dolls" from Full Moon Entertainment, I pretty much had an idea of what I was in for here, as I have seen most of the movies in the "Puppet Master" series.

And true enough, the 1999 "Blood Dolls" definitely was fitting right into that particular genre. So if you enjoyed the "Puppet Master" movies, then you will also enjoy "Blood Dolls".

The storyline in "Blood Dolls" was entertaining enough. It wasn't exactly rocket science here and it was a pretty straight forward storyline that really didn't offer much of any surprises or ups and downs along the way really. And that was something that essentially made the movie seem mediocre.

The acting in the movie was adequate, taking into consideration the type of movie that it is. It was fun to watch Naomi McClure in the movie, just a shame that she didn't have a bigger role though.

Visually then "Blood Dolls" is definitely fun to watch. Sure, the effects are not ones that have aged gracefully, but they are still watchable today, 22 years later. Sure, it is not special effects that will knock you backwards, but they were adequate enough, albeit a bit wobbly.

If you are expecting a proper horror movie when you sit down to watch something like "Blood Dolls", then you are in for somewhat of a surprise. While listed as a horror comedy, the elements of both these genres are few and far in between.

For better or worse, then this 1999 movie is an archetypical Charles Band movie. Trust me; once you've seen one of the "Puppet Master" movies you will know what "Blood Dolls" is going to be like.

My rating of Charles Band's "Blood Dolls" lands on a mediocre five out of ten stars.