Dorchester's Revenge AKA Dollface is the sequel to the indie classic Crinoline Head directed by Tommy Faircloth.
Our film begins at the beginning, actually showing us what the original only spoke about. Young Dorchester and his mother, Mary Stewart are seen spending their last moments together before her passing of a heart attack right in front of the scared young boy... Now according to Legend, Dorchester is forced to spend the summer alone after her death, eventually eating his mother to survive. This more visually disturbing backstory makes those who have never seen the original film (Check my reviews for: Crinoline Head) stay caught up without missing too much of its predecessor.
Starring in this: is busty scream queen Debbie Rochon as Betsy, the caretaker of the now burned down lake property from the previous film. She is a force to be reckoned with. Her introduction includes a shotgun, a 'Merica bandana, a redneck accent and enough sexual innuendos to make a sailor blush...not to mention she backs up every word (as one will see later in the film much to your delight). Another actor who in my opinion doesn't get enough screen time, but does a damn good job with the amount of screen time he has is Jason Vail. Vail comes back as Paul Donner, one of the lone survivors of Crinoline's bloody rage from the first film (originally played by: Brian Kelly ). Jason is a very talented actor and knows how to tease the audience into thinking is he or isn't the bad guy or the good guy as you'll see in my review of: The Cabin - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2989422/reviews-1.
The other actors like Lizzie Mears, Gunner Willis, Leah Wiseman, Kirsten Ray & John Kap, alongside the others all add their our individuality to their roles which make each character feel more fleshed out then in the previous film.
Something else that needs to be mentioned is that the clichés that were once riddled on screen are trumped in this sequel, not only that but the kills upped, the gross out humour is so over the top that it borders on awesome. This film is obviously another Horror Comedy and it shows, yet it also when needed has the serious elements that make it so successful as a horror film also. Mentioning the actors as I did earlier, I must say that 3 in particular stand out for me. That's not to say that I picked one more than the other, it's just that when someone throws a bloody tampon at another bang on & swears, screws like a sailor and enjoys the company of diesel, and well let's just say it KILLS PEOPLE; they tend to stand out a bit.
Another thing I must give props about this film is how they reimagined Dorchester's look, it is so much more menacing almost like that of BABYFACE from the film THE HILLS RUN RED. As I mentioned in my review of the first film, the deaths were quite inventive and original... This is still the case, I love the deaths in these films!! They truly have a 80's flare to them. You can tell that the director knew, we (the horror fans) were getting tired of the same ole same ole on screen kill and Tommy being a product of that generation truly delivers on the kills in this film. Whilst we are on the topic of kills, the gore is quite lacking. Saying that, if one can appreciate the creativity and imagination which us old school horror fans do then the fade to black kill sequences with a scream and the sound of dicing/slicing can be much more gruesome.
I own several of Tommy's films and the one thing that I always have to touch on is his cinematography and camera work. Something else I couldn't help notice and love was the real fly buzzing across the screen more than once during the film. At first, I thought it was intentional but realized later it probably wasn't. Either way I dug that it was kept in the film.
Dorchester's Revenge is a wonderful follow up to an amazing debut film. I personally, can NOT wait to see what he brings to us with his up and coming "FAMILY POSSESSIONS". Faircloth and Co. are here to stay, and definitely a force to be reckoned with in the indie film circuit.
Crinoline Head IS ALIVE!!!!
