The night that their cars break down during a bad storm, two groups of strangers find refuge in a mansion run by an elderly couple. The couple themselves are doll makers, and the house is adjourned with them. After turning in for the night though, young Judy discovers that the dolls are alive, and they may have a larger mean streak in them than initially realized.
I've been excited about this one for some time. A killer doll film directed by Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator)? Sign me up! Alas.......any hopes I had for Dolls being a good piece of work were immediately cast aside when I saw the name "Charles Band" pop up in the opening credits. For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Band, he has a serious affinity for small and wonderful creatures, preferably the murderous type, and he's the head of Full Moon Features, the company who distributes the Puppet Master films. I'll admit to liking the first three films in that franchise, but they're closer to being guilty pleasure films rather than actual good movies.
As far as the acting goes, Dolls could contain some of the very worst I've seen for this year's blog. While I get that most of the cast was trying to go for the "asshole" feel, they're either too over the top, or just plain stiff. Our heroes are essentially mirror images of Mara Wilson and Adam Richman, but boy are they bad here. I've stated before how much I hate bashing kid actors, but seriously, Jake Lloyd-level shit here from the girl who plays Judy. You get the feeling that Stuart Gordon must've been on cruise control when he came to work on this. "Just act and shit, I'm too busy writing From Beyond!" (Note: this was actually completed almost a full year before that film came out). Guy Rolfe and Hilary Mason, who play the elderly toymakers, are probably the only ones who seem to give any effort, and they do manage to find a nice balance between kindly old people and creepy mysterious figures. There's also quite a few goofs that those with keen eyes will be able to spot, including someone jumping through a window that was already visibly cracked, and certain dolls melting from fire while others don't.
This might sound controversial to some, but I think Dolls could benefit from a remake. Its fine final act isn't enough to make up for the rest of the film being utter garbage, and I think the fact that it only runs 77 minutes really hurts it as well. Give it a slightly bigger budget, take it away from Charles Band's hands, and properly mix the fairy tale and horror aspects. You might just surprise a few folks. This version is pretty disposable though.
Tomorrow, we stick with another familiar face from Re-Animator, this time the late David Gale, and tackle THE BRAIN.
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