Andrew E reviews DOLLS (2019)
Gruemonkey’s Andrew E reviews the new indie movie ‘Dolls‘ – check out his thoughts below!
Before my review of the film starts a note do not confuse this film with a remake / re-brand or sequel of Stuart Gordon’s 1987 film Dolls. It is not connected, purely a movie with an identical title.
Ahhh dolls, dolls, dolls. This is the year of our little friends – with a re-make of Childs Play out now (currently just outside the top ten box office), and the third Annabelle movie released only a week ago along with Toy Story 4 it appears to be the year of the toys. Why do we fear the doll so much? the creepy plaything of a child, the porcelain faces that have nothing but our own innate fear projected on to them? Dolls have been a source of deep-seated primitive fear heading way back in history. There is just something inherently evil about that cold blank stare that messes with our brains with their human esque emotionless features.
Terrifying murderous or haunted dolls in horror have been a staple for a long time, and some are still making serious money in today’s box office. Currently, the latest big-budget franchise ‘Annabelle‘ is on its a third sequel (Currently in the top 5 in the box office) with a total combined worldwide income of over $700 + million. But there have been some incredible franchises featuring our childhood friends like :
Puppet Master, Dolls 1987, Dolly Dearest, Magic, Child’s Play, Saw, Annabelle, and The Boy.
Official Synopsis: A struggling children’s book author and his rebellious teen daughter move into the house they inherited from Gramma and find mysterious dolls in the attic. The father and daughter soon learn that the dolls have a sinister and deadly past!
Robert (Thomas Downey) has some problems. An alcoholic with an adulterous wife, he moves into his dead mother’s house after the divorce proceedings begin. His mother was killed under very strange circumstances, and there are creepy dolls in the attic (of course). Robert is shown to be a one-time popular author of children’s books. Beginning work on his latest book “The Attic Dolls” the pages turn into something much eviler than anything he has created before. Robert is shown to be driven insane the deeper he delves in creating his story.
Robert’s daughter Sammy (Trinity Simpson) comes to stay. The cute neighbor boy James (Bret Green) drops by. Sammy’s obnoxious mom Lynn (Elise Muller) stops by to be a Joan Collins esque bitch.
The film features a welcome appearance by scream queen Dee Wallace, whose character provides some illuminating backstories to give the events transpiring context.
In true horror style, nothing ever happens fast enough and indeed bodies begin to fall. I like the simplicity of the story and the less comedic elements of films like Childs Play. You barely see the dolls move. It adds a much better and more dramatic sense of tension. Instead, the film leans into the more classic scares of footsteps heard upstairs, unsettling sporadic laughter. Plus points to the prop makers/sources for the Doll collection each of them lool creep as hell.
On a slightly less than professional note this film has an incredibly beautiful cast. Including actor Cuyle Carvin (right) and Bret Green (left). I mean…speachless!
