Ragdoll

7/10

I have a soft spot in my heart for Full Moon productions. What I appreciate about their movies, at least their 80s and 90s output, is their ability to tell small stories really well (HIDEOUS and HEAD OF THE FAMILY being fine examples). RAGDOLL is a great example. It's a morality tale, reminiscent of PUMPKINHEAD (also quite good).

The story is familiar but told well. It's elevated by excellent performances, particularly from Tarnell Poindexter, William Stanford Davis, Freda Payne, and a brief but memorable performance by Frederic Tucker as Shadowman. Russell Richardson, as Kwame, performs capably. The breath-taking Jennia Fredrique Aponte turns in a strong performance as his girlfriend, Teesha.

I'm glad I stumbled across this movie. I really enjoyed it.

1-3 Don't waste your time 4-6 Decent/good 7-9 Great 10 Outstanding.

Ragdoll isnt all that great of a movie,it seemed like it was going to a great horror film that was along the lines of Puppet Master,but it wasnt.This movie might give some people very high expectations from the trailer,but overall,the acting was very bad (but thats mandatory because all Full Moon movies have bad acting) a mediocre plot,and not much entertaimnent.This film may seem like it would be a gore fest,but it isnt,it doesnt have that much gore.I would recomend this film to people who are big fans of Full Moon productions.This film wasnt good,I expected it to be great,but it wasnt.3 out of 10.

I'm feeling really generous today. Ordinarily I'd rate this movie at 2/10 or less. Ordinarily I may not have even finished watching this movie, but today I'm feeling magnanimous.

The tritely named "Ragdoll" is about... well, it's about a ragdoll, but there's more to it than that. Kwame (Russell Richardson) is the lead vocalist of a New Orleans rap group called KT Bounce and they are hot. So hot in fact that a local Suge Knight-type joker named Pere (pronounced pear) wants to sign them and he won't take no for an answer. When Kwame et al do say no in a rather public and disrespectful fashion, Pere has his two nephews attack Kwame's grandmother whom he affectionately calls Gran (Freda Payne).

After Gran is hospitalized, Kwame goes home to do some "conjuring" and makes a deal with the Shadow Man (Fredrick D. Tucker) to have Pere and co. dealt with. This Faustian bargain has an unstated price, but you know that whatever the price, it's going to be hefty. The price ended up being a life for a life: whatever adversarial life the Shadow Man took via the vicious ragdoll, he took the life of one of Kwame's friends.

The movie's biggest issue was the ragdoll. It was terribly unbelievable. Not that I'd believe in an animated ragdoll anyway, but it would help if the ragdoll actually moved. The ragdoll would suddenly appear places and through the magic of cinematography (cutting from scene to scene) it would have a weapon or it would be "attacking" someone. It was a joke. But, I'm sure if they had a bigger budget they could've solved that problem. In fact, a bigger budget would've solved a lot of problems: the lighting, the sound, the set, and the ragdoll. The plot and the acting were decent. In fact, they kept me tuned in. Everything else, however, was a turn off.

I actually love the over the top storyline. It was very 90s considering it was at the cusp of the new millennium. I would have liked it at the movies or from Blockbuster(back in the day).

This is yet another effort of full moon. and a better one at that. seventeen year old KWAME performs in a local hip hop band. while living with his aged grandmother, he has grown up listening to her "magical powers". When his Gran is put into the hospital by local thugs, KWAME invokes the killing magic and puts it in his Gran's old rag doll. However there is a terrible price to pay for dealing with the magic of the killing kind. I gave this movie **1/2 stars. The story is good. It would have gotten higher if the doll hadnt looked so damned fake! Still,RENT IT!