Fresh and Exciting

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Six people are stranded at a mansion in the English countryside — David Bower and Rosemary Bower (Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, wife of Stuart Gordon), two totally selfish and uncaring parents, and their daughter Judy. Plus, we have nice guy Ralph and two British punk rock hitchhikers, Isabel (played by Bunty Bailey, who starred in two landmark music videos for the band A-Ha) and Enid.The mansion is owned by Gabriel and Hilary Hartwicke (Hilary Mason, the blind psychic from Don't Look Now), toy makers who fill their home with their creations. As Judy had to give up her old teddy bear by her evil stepmother, they give her a new doll, Mr. Punch.We soon discover that the dolls are alive and love to destroy humans — the eviler the better. The two girls try to steal antiques and get their faces smashed in and shot by toy soldiers before becoming dolls themselves. Rosemary is attacked by the dolls, then leaps out a window to her death. Her body is brought back to the house, leading David to believe Ralph is a killer.Meanwhile, Judy reveals to Ralph that the dolls are alive and talks them into saving his life. David attacks, knocking out his daughter and the man he blames for his wife's death, but the dolls save them. Mr. Punch battles David but is destroyed.The old owners of the house reveal themselves and explain that the house tests people. Either they pass — like Ralph and Judy. Or they fail, like everyone else, and are turned into dolls. It just depends on who believes in the power of childhood. David now becomes Judy's new doll, Judy picks Ralph to be her new dad and she leaves for home.Meanwhile, we see all the evil folks as dolls on the shelf as new people get stuck outside the house and the cycle begins again.Dolls is a Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Castle Freak) film and feels like a test run for the Demonic Toys movies. There are some moments of great invention, like the giant evil teddy bear and the eyeballs popping out of the punk girl. It was a theatrical release that actually didn't do well, but found new life on video — where a young version of my wife found it and rented it just about every day.Read more at https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/09/25/dolls-1987/

Any good horror fan of the eighties would have heard of the film production company "Empire International" which specialized in low budget horror films mostly containing little devils, demons, monsters and as this movie states dolls. "Dolls" however, is not your average slasher horror film like "Child's Play". It has elements of family love and respect interwoven throughout the movie in much the same way as a Grimm's Fairy Tale (to bluntly put it "a moral"). The films starts as a young girl, her father and step mother become stranded in the middle of a forest during a storm. They seek shelter in an old, spooky house which is owned by an elderly couple who have a mass collection of dolls. They are later joined by three other people who have also been taken by surprise by the storm. When the people tuck in for the night, the dolls start to come alive and only a certain few will survive the night.I thought this a pretty entertaining film, one that plays out like a fairy tale, complete with a moral element (never lose touch with your inner child). There are a few gruesome parts within the movie (the teddy bear mauling sequence in the beginning for one), but there was a lot less gore than I would have expected, especially from a Stuart Gordon production. The aspects I really appreciated were the creepy sequences, of which there were a few, including the old woman with the baby carriage, Isabel in the attic, and the dolls, especially their facial expressions... at certain points in the movie we'd see dolls sitting on a shelf, motionless, that is until their eyes move, along with displaying a sinister grin. I didn't feel the film was soaked in atmosphere, but there was definitely an effort, one that pays off if given a chance. One element that stands this movie apart from others featuring killer dolls is there's not much focus given to any particular doll, the exception being perhaps the 'Punch' doll. There are hundreds of dolls in the house, and all seem to be of the same mind, driven by the same force.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

People who think this Stuart Gordon directed movie will be a wild horror movie like "Re-Animator" or "From Beyond" will more likely than not be disappointed. Actually, I knew that "Dolls" would be in a more traditional style before sitting down to watch it, but I have to say I was kind of disappointed by the end results. The whole "killer doll" plot has been done in many movies before, which wouldn't be so bad had this movie brought in some fresh twists and ideas to liven things up. But the movie is extremely predictable, from what the dolls will do to who will survive the night. There's another problem with the script. Although the movie is a seemingly lean seventy-seven minutes long, it still feels too long and stretched out. There's only enough material for a short subject film or one segment in a multi-story horror anthology movie.The movie has some merit. The special effects and the sets are pretty good for a low budget movie. And Gordon does manage to build a little mood with the darkened sets and the creepy-looking dolls. So the movie is not terrible, but all the same it's kind of disappointing. I would only recommend the movie to patient viewers who are fans of Gordon and/or the works of Empire Pictures.

Yep found another doll film but this time from Bands Empire film company and not directed by the man himself. Surprisingly this doll flick is different from all the rest with its plot, this time its very much like a fairytale or even a Stephen King story. An old couple that make dolls in a big mansion in the middle of nowhere take in lost or stranded folk and shrink them down turning them into dolls depending on the persons character, if they're good or bad.So a slightly different spin with this film which is nice and gives it a fresher feel. The dolls are not weird looking killers either they are just normal looking old fashioned toy dolls from various periods, almost 'Pinocchio-like' in design style and feel.Cast is good in this too with the old couple being especially well performed, no one really well known but they all play their parts well enough to make the film seem much better than you'd expect. In fact the whole film looks good with decent well lit sets, dark hallways, plenty of shadows and the classic thunder and lightning gimmick, all giving the right spooky atmospheric glow.Not really scary, the film has more of a 'Scooby Doo' creepy feel to it. Just right as its obviously hard to make killer dolls like this come across as genuinely scary.7/10