Dolls (DVD, 2005)

This is it. This is where Charles Band's obsession with puppets & playthings began.
The giant killer teddy bear in this movie can be seen in "Demonic Toys", & Mr. Punch is an obvious prototype for Jester in the "Puppet Master" films. AND it stars Guy "Andre Toulon" Rolfe as the mysterious toymaker who brings his dolls to life to punish the wicked.
I mean it's pretty obvious that when Band's original Empire Pictures studio collapsed he went on mining this movie's concepts & images for bloody DECADES under his Full Moon brand, & frankly I'm glad that he did.
While not one of director Stuart Gordon's more popular pictures (fans at the time were expecting another nasty gross-out classic like his previous hit "Reanimator", & while it does feature a grand total of three gruesome murders, it is basically a fairy tale about how important it is to stay a child at heart), it definitely has its charms beyond the fact that it features tons of creepy living toys out to kill people.
The acting is pretty darn good, including the director's wife as the very epitome of an evil stepmother, & it is nice to see a child actor that actually looks & acts like a real kid for a change.
Lots of cool stop motion animation from the late, great David Allen too, more than he was able to do for the later, lower-budgeted Full Moon features he was involved in.
A nice selection of extras too, including two commentary tracks (& subtitles to read along with as you listen which is all too rare!), storyboards, a photo gallery & the original trailer, not to mention coming as a 2-sided disc with both full screen & widescreen formats.
While I can't come right out & say that this picture is suitable for horror movie-loving children (goodness knows what kind of trouble I would get into for doing THAT...), I can say that it is a fun flick & definitely worth taking a look at.

I like horror movies, and I collect dolls, but it seems that whenever someone puts the two together, the dolls in the horror movie are repulsive and/or obscene. The exception is DOLLS, a horror movie for doll lovers. The human characters are creepier than the dolls, and they get exactly what they deserve at the tiny hands of the toys, who wield pint-sized guns and knives. The dolls save a little girl, Judy, from her neglectful father and stepmother. Judy is played by the extremely talented Carrie Lorraine (whatever happened to this kid?), and the adult performances are just tongue-in-cheek enough that their demises, while bloody, will not traumatize most modern kids. Foul language is kept to a minimum; there is no nudity; and in fact the film's premise is an abused child's fantasy. Most viewers will be rooting for Judy and the vengeful dolls. OK, they kill people, but they're so darn cute!

A man and his newly wedded wife, along with his child break down and have to stay at a nearby house occupied by an elderly couple. Safe enough, right? Normally but that wouldn't make for much of a horror film now, would it? It seems the man has a penchant for making dolls, we learn.

Another group seeks shelter, as well.....two women and a guy, gotta have people to kill, ya know. Anyway, one of these women gets the bright idea to do a little looting and before you know it, those sweet, adorable dolls get their game on and take care of business, leaving a bloody trail from room to room. Unless you're truly innocent and they'll take pity on you....which thankfully, not many of these characters are, so that's more deaths for us. Yay death!

From the director of Re-Animator, Stuart Gordon, comes an inventive and stylist horror film that hits a homerun with solid characters, neat deaths, some nice gore and a dose of comedy to keep it entertaining. Don't let that other review get to you, horror fans all over have cherished this film for years and it will definitely be a future classic.

Don't you hate it when dolls attack! But, they only attack the bad daddy's and mommies! A friend of mine told me about this movie, and it sure pleased my wicked horror funny bone! Need to see more movies like this! Oh yeah, and my 1 1/2 old daughter saw part of the movie and she got too scared. So, I had to turn off the DVD till she went to sleep. Don't worry, she still plays with dolls and she only got spooked for about a minute or so. Damn, little people are soooo perceptive!

EXCELLENT transfer,with some fun commentary.The actors that were talking in the commentary did not remember much of the filming and they seemed a bit detached to even try to remember which is a shame.There was not much behind the scenes information,and a "making of" would have been good.It gets Five stars because the transfer is great.Nice and clean.MGM was too lazy to do anything else like live interviews with the stars,Stuart Gordon,and Charles Band.Maybe something on David Allen,who did the great stop motion effects,would have been nice as well.Shame on MGM for taking shortcuts on extras.