Ragdoll

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!

In the Videozone featurette following the film, one of the actors remarks that it was interesting working on the film because in a horror film the black character always dies, but in this film, all the characters were black. He also said that it was good to have the job because there isn't much demand for young black actors in film. The full meaning of these quotes still escape me; I just know that black characters do usually die in horror films, and the only other all-black horror films I can think of are the blaxploitation-era "Blacula" and its sequel "Scream, Blacula, Scream".

It is somewhat ironic that Full Moon Pictures, a low budget horror label, is doing something to rectify such a situation with their Big City Pictures (at this time called Alchemy) "urban horror" spin-off label, since most of the intended audience would not watch or enjoy their films because of the low budget. This is better than the average horror film, but is a "text-book" Full Moon film, which is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you think of Full Moon's releases.

The plot is interesting, and was at least researched. Kwame and his friends are in an independent band on the verge of making it big. Big Pear, a local gangster (gangsta?), offers a lucrative deal to be their manager, and, when Kwame refuses, sends his brothers to hospitalize Kwame's grandmother. For revenge, Kwame looks up some of his grandmother's spells (she was a sorceress, can't remember if it was specifically described as voodoo sorcery or not), and calls upon the Shadow Man to put his "killing magic" into Kwame's grandmother's wooden rag doll to kill Big Pear and his brothers. Unfortunately, the killing magic comes at a price, and for every person the rag doll kills for Kwame, it must also take another life, from someone that Kwame cares about.

The acting isn't Oscar-calibre, but far from horrible (except for the grandmother, who acts well but, as a result of no make-up budget, looks like she's in her late 30's and not at all injured from Big Pear's brothers' "attack"), and the special effects aren't all that special. In this case, the Ragdoll isn't the slightest bit frightening or menacing (and actually sounds like a Furby or other child's toy), but the actors do an excellent job of selling it. The music by the band was enjoyable, and introduces a new Full Moon market - the urban soundtrack. If you liked Full Moon's other killer puppet/doll flicks, you'll enjoy this, and if not, haven't you learned to stay away from Full Moon titles by now?

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.

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.

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.