Dolly Dearest

There's no getting around the densely populated territory this movie plays in. The "evil doll" notion has been around seemingly forever, and dominated for a long time by the 'Child's play' series that saw the first three entries released all within a few short years (or months!) all before this. Though specifics differ, scenes and story beats recall Don Mancini's brainchild, 'The omen,' and various other genre flicks even including 'The exorcist,' while plot development is decidedly direct and swift. 'Dolly Dearest' is modestly enjoyable, but it also isn't anything to get especially excited about.

I don't think this is altogether bad. It's fairly well made, in fact. The picture ably carries slight measures of atmosphere at times, and a few small moments are almost mildly hair-raising or thrilling. Such as it is, I think 'Dolly Dearest' is reasonably well written and directed; some scenes come off better than others. I like Mark Snow's score in and of itself, dramatic and dynamic; post-production visuals are dated, but effects at large look good. The production design and art direction are swell generally, and the cast are fine - Hey! Denise Crosby! Rip Torn! A job well done, young Candace Hutson! It's hardly gripping and essential, but when all is said and done this is passably entertaining genre fare.

There are issues, however, and the biggest is that there's nothing here we haven't seen before. No matter how well done this or that may be, nothing particularly inspires, let alone elevates one's pulse. It's not quite accurate to say this is "horror by numbers," but such a phrase does loosely approximate how it looks and feels. More concretely, 'Dolly Dearest' is almost certainly at its best where the genre element is more suggested than shown; a dash of subtlety can go a long way. While they look good in and of themselves, the more a scene shows us of the titular toys in action, the more dubious it all becomes. And while the screenplay is suitable enough in the broad strokes, some of the dialogue and scene writing is overly tired, if not outright hackneyed. For all the hard work and care that went into making this, there are definite rough patches throughout the writing, and in some parts that really shows. With this said, the actors on hand perform admirably overall, but there's no doubt they're restricted by the material.

I can't say I didn't have a good time watching. If it's a horror movie you want, a horror movie you'll get. Only, there's a splendid array of other features past and present that are more original, more chilling, more compelling, and all around better. For as fundamentally solid as 'Dolly Dearest' is, weaknesses and shortcomings hold it back to the point that this is best reserved for a lazy, quiet day; file under "why not." Most recommendable specifically for fans of the cast, there are much worse things you could see, but plenty other horror flicks should top your watch list first.

And I Just re-watch Dolly Dearest 1991

I had only seen it once before, it thought i liked but I could remember how it's ended,

I liked how the plot started and the movie made some tense moments, I loved Mirror scenes, where get to see doll standing and again she was gone.

The doll it's self was very creepy and I thought kill scenes were really well done, it still work these days .

But felt some of script was bit weak in some parts of the movie, made it's feel a bit outdated and I found the ending a little rushed.

I would not mind if this movie gets remake but it's not of best killer doll movies, well it was not as fun as Chucky or even The Dolls, were fun watch, I didn't really find this movie that fun

The acting was decent. 6 out of 10

This was one of those bad movies that had some good effects, but wasn't really scary, except to maybe a five year old.

The acting was good, but, the characters were annoying, and very stereotyped.

The life of the show was the terrific appearance of Rip Torn. He always seems to enjoy his work, and he has that kind of sarcastic side about him that you can chuckle at and not feel bad about it.

So good scares for the young or the faint-at-heart. Otherwise, just a standard possessed-doll-raising-hell-type movie.

Stumbling upon the 1991 horror movie "Dolly Dearest" here in 2022, I opted to sit down and watch what writers Maria Lease, Rod Nave and Peter Sutcliffe had to offer. I recall one of my friends once commenting on how bad the movie was, so of course I had to sit down and watch it, now that I had the opportunity to do so.

Well, I will say that I didn't find director Maria Lease's 1991 movie "Dolly Dearest" to be all that bad. Sure, it wasn't a milestone in horror cinema, but it was a watchable enough movie for what it turned out to be.

The movie feels somewhat like a watered down cash-in on the success of the first three "Child's Play" movies from 1988, 1990 and 1991. However, "Dolly Dearest" was just lacking the witty banter and humor, and all the killings that the "Child's Play" movies had. But hey, if you enjoy movies with killer dolls and possessed dolls, then you should check out "Dolly Dearest".

The acting performances in the movie was okay, taking into consideration the limitations imposed by a somewhat stale script. It was nice, though, to see the likes of Denise Crosby, Chris Demetral and Rip Torn on the cast list.

Visually then "Dolly Dearest" was okay. I mean, the special effects were adequate, but you're not in for a grand cinematic experience in special effects.

All in all, watchable for what it turned out to be, though I doubt I will ever return to watch it again.

My rating of "Dolly Dearest" lands on a five out of ten stars.

In Mexico, an archaeologist releases the evil spirit of a devil child from a tomb of an ancient tribe called Sanzia that worshiped Satan on Earth and dies in an accident. Immediately after, an American family with two children arrives to live and reactivate a factory of dolls in a site nearby the archaeological field. Elliot Read (Sam Bottoms) invested the savings of his family in this business to manufacture dolls. He finds many dolls left by the previous owners of the factory, and gives one of them, which is possessed by the fiend, to his daughter Jessica Read (Candy Hutson). The girl changes her behavior, speaks an ancient language and the maid tells to the mother Marilyn Read (Denise Crosby). Meanwhile, the archaeologist Karl Resnick (Rip Torn) arrives to investigate the finding of his colleague. However, the demon has been already released.

"Dolly Dearest" is a clear rip-off "Child's Play" franchise, but is not as bad as the expectation a reader may have with the IMDb Rating of 3.8. Indeed it is a reasonable horror movie, with characters and situation well developed for this type of movie. Denise Crosby plays again the role of a mother new arrival in a different environment that faces problem with his daughter, recalling her performance in "Pet Sematary" (1989). There are some accidentally funny scenes, like for example when Elliot Read is stabbed on his thigh and runs like a hell when the factory is blowing up but in general "Dolly Dearest" is watchable and entertains. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Boneca Assassina" ("Killer Doll")

Note: On 26 May 2024, I saw this film again.