Dolls

When i was a kid in the early 80´s, i used to collect He-Man dolls, and play with them at the home of my neighborhood friend Claes. He had the Greyskull castle as well, and some other He-Man characters that i did not have. And i remember one time, when while we were playing with the He-Man dolls, he asked me if i wanted to see something. Of course i said yes, so we went into his parents bedroom. Under the bed was lots of porn magazines. Boobies everywhere, so from that day on i stopped playing with dolls, and learned that there are better things to do...such as gardening. Dolls can be wondeful for children, or terrifying. This is why dolls is always a bad idea in horror films, because you can never trust a doll completely. One of the best examples of this is of course the classic horror film Child´s Play, from director Tom Holland ( who also directed the classic 1985 horror film Fright Night ). Released in 1988, this film tells the story of Andy Barclay, a young boy who gets a doll as a gift from his mother. A Good Guy Doll, who is no ordinary doll. This doll carry the evil soul of serial killer Charles, and use the doll to continue murder victims, under the name of Chucky. This is a true 80´s classic and the best film in the Child´s Play franchise. I do enjoy some of the other Chucky films as well, but the first one is special in many ways. One of the dolls that scare people most these days, is of course Annabelle of The Conjuring franchise. I have seen all the films, including her own 2 films ( a review of the third film will be published in September ), and i have to say she is really effective as a scary looking dool. Remember the classic The Puppet Masters franhise ? Well, looks like we got a new film with different dolls, in a horror film called Dolls from Uncork´d Entertainment. I bought a DVD copy of this film, hoping it would please my horror genes. Is this the doll film we all wished for, or is this film a big dissapointment ?

Robert Holbrook ( Thomas Downey ) is taking care of his mother´s home. Since she passed away, he is staying in her big house, and his daughter Sammey Holbrook ( Trinity Simpson ) moves in as well. Robert are thinking about getting rid of 3 different dolls in the attic, but show them to his daughter instead. There seems to be something strange about these dolls, since at certain moments they seem to be able to move. Not worrying too much about this, Robert and Sammey go on with their ordinary day life. Until they get a visit from mysterious lady Margaret ( Dee Wallace ), and it becomes clear that these dolls carry a dark secret.

If you are expecting a film similar to the Puppet Master franchise, you might not find what you are looking for her. Dolls is a different kind of horror film, that focus more on psychological feelings than murdering dolls. We do get to see a little bit of the dolls showing up at certain locations, and even some murder scenes where the dolls are involved. But this film is more focused on family issues, and how they handle them with these strange dolls up in the attic. Let´s get into the characters for a while. Thomas Downey ( who some of you might remember from the independent horror film Bethany, worth picking up on DVD ) plays the character Robert Holbrook, a children´s book author. He clearly becomes inspired by the dolls in the attic, as he starts writing his next book with the dolls in mind . Thomas manage to deliver this character in a positive way. Young actress Trinity Simpson ( this is the first time i have seen her in a film ) is in my opinion the highlight of this film as Thomas daughter Sammey Holbrook. You can tell she is struggling with family issues towards her mother Lynn ( played by actress Elise Muller ), one of the reasons why she lives with her father instead. Sammey is a great character for a film like this, since she is both emotional and frustrated over the family situation. Legendary actress Dee Wallace ( so many great performances such as The Howling, Critters and many more ) plays the character Margaret. As soon as we see her character on screen, this film becomes more interesting. It becomes clear that Margaret have some very important information about this house. Dolls is the kind of film that takes time to get into, and this is not a horror film made to have lots of blood and gore. If you can accept that then you might actually enjoy this film. Director Cuyle Carvin ( mostly known as an actor, been in a lot of films and TV shows ) have made a film that feels inspired by classic dolls films, but still manage to go in a different direction. I like the fact that he tries to tell a story from a family perspective, and not only on a certain character. I suggest you give Dolls a chance on DVD from Uncork´d Entertainment, this is a horror film with more depth than focusing on the amount of victims. One thing is clear, no dolls are going to be in my appartment in the future ( security reasons, just in case they might go insane ).

Rating: DDD