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DOLLS (1987) Director: Stuart Gordon Hacktors: Stephen Lee, Guy Rolfe, Carrie Lorraine, Hilary Mason. Rating/5: The lowdown: In 1985 a new horror film burst into genre film fans' affections. Re-Animator was a fast paced, hyper gory, low budget classic, creating a popular franchise which rolls on to this day. Director Gordon was tipped as a name to watch and his follow-up films were eagerly anticipated by horror fans the world over. From Beyond, another loose Lovecraft adaption was not the success its studio craved, though it remains a fan favourite.     Gordon had shot From Beyond back to back with his third film, Dolls, which came out the following year. It tells a quaint story of stranded travellers seeking sanctuary in a countryside house and being taken in for the night. The elderly owners seem friendly enough, though the house itself has a sinister air. Then there are the dolls, thousands of dolls. Before the night is out the visitors will find out if they are in touch with their inner child. If not, well, they will soon wish they were! Good points: The film, a brisk 77 minutes long, has a real charm and sense of humour to it. Not that it skimps on the gore front, mind - it's just a horror film that isn't afraid to show its sensitive side, best exemplified by its two main characters, Judy and Ralph. Judy is a young girl enraptured by the endless dolls and marionettes the house holds, and Ralph, an adult who at heart has never grown up, is equally enamoured. Their pairing is at all times engaging and frequently hilarious and they are the two standout performances in a cast who with two exceptions acquit themselves well. The stop-motion animation is great and there are some inventive deaths along the way. The film has a strong look, at times giving the impresion of a much larger budget. Bad points: Sadly, as good as the rest of the cast are, this film harbours two of the worst characterisations I have ever seen. As the two actresses portraying the female punk characters screech their way through the film, overacting terribly, I realized why previous reviews I had read about this movie had felt the need to highlight their horrendous performances. They are awful and you question why Gordon allowed them to act like this when the rest of the cast do such sterling work. As is common with a lot of low budget genre films, there is a paucity of effects on screen, which is a shame as those that are seen look fantastic and the dolls have a great, disturbing look that you want to see more of. DVD Details: The disc reviewed is the recent MGM Region 1 release. It has a 1.85:1 widescreen transfer with a Dolby Digital stereo surround soundtrack. It features optional French and Spanish subtitles. On the extras front there is one commentary track with the director and writer, plus another with the cast. Also included is the trailer, a storyboard-to-film comparison and a photo gallery. An impressive amount of extras for a budget release. Overall: Dolls initially seems incredibly dated. I was imagining Vincent Price as the toymaker, or even Boris Karloff: they certainly made enough films with this storyline back then. After a while, though, the characters grew on me and I could see the appeal in this dark-humoured fairy tale fable. Fans of Re-Animator need to switch off the high expectation level before sitting down to view as this is no re-run of that film's speedy, in-your-face attitude. It is a quirky, humourous horror film which goes its own peculiar way. What it really defines is Gordon's own willingness to explore, as evidenced by his incredibly varied career. He has played at mainstream Hollywood, writing the huge hit Honey I Shrunk the Kids and stuck to his horror roots with Castle Freak and The Pit And The Pendulum. His latest project sees him tackle a dark character piece based on the David Mamet play Edmond, starring William H Macy. Gordon is respected if unsung, which is a fair assessment of this film. Both need to be rediscovered by film fans in this digital age. Release Date: Out now in America and Canada on the MGM Region 1 DVD. This film is currently unavailable in the UK. Please note that this film is incredibly cheap: only $11.95 for US buyers from Amazon US (see link below). At that price, it's a must-buy. Reviewer: Jon Kelly. [Check it out at Amazon US] [Reviews Menu] [Home] © Copyright Slasherama 2002-present