 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is from the 1986 film dolls This is one that's been on my list for a while and I've been meaning to get to it's been very hard to find it in places And I think actually the most recent issue of the Blu-ray that I think was through screen factory is actually out of print now So if you want to own it, sorry, this is a fun film. I don't know if this is one that I feel like I need to own I might have to give it a second watch just to make that very Just to verify that for myself But I do think this is a film that kind of falls into two categories where you can kind of watch it as a more serious Like creepy type film or you can also watch it. It's kind of be so bad It's good type film which you don't find often those films that kind of walk that line and can be viewed both ways Even though there are plenty of films. I rate both ways So this one will get that same type of rating But this one it's interesting because there's enough of it It's actually good from a film perspective, but there's enough of it That's actually bad as well to kind of straddle that line, which just doesn't happen that often It's an interesting film. I've seen a lot of buzz about this online And probably because it hasn't been able to be seen anywhere on streaming really But shutter just recently put it up. So when I'm doing this review, I watched it on shutter It is available on shutter Don't know how long it'll be there But check it out because it's dolls and it's done by Stuart Gordon and it's produced by Brian Yusna who you know Those two work together quite a bit in their career to varying Levels of success. This film actually did not have a whole lot of success Unfortunately, like I said directed by Stuart Gordon and this came right after he and Yusna did reanimator And it came out the same year it he released from beyond which actually side note on that Apparently they use the exact same set they built for dolls and for from beyond they shot dolls first and while their post production And everything was going on for dolls. They were shooting from beyond So the films ended up coming out at the same time But dolls was technically done before from beyond was but they use the same set and this was actually a Multi-level set it was actually two levels. I know a lot of times sets will be on one level And then it'll just kind of be like oh, we're in this room Oh now we're in this room and they're different sets basically or different rooms with within the set this one They actually built the two levels, which is something that was done with Evil dead as well actually evil dead two is when they did it. They didn't do it for the first one They did it for the second one So that I just think that's kind of interesting information. It was written by Ed Naha who also wrote scripts for troll Now I'm talking not troll to the infamous troll to which I highly recommend people watch because it is horrible But the original troll which actually is not a bad film. I think it's pretty solid actually have it somewhere back here in my collection I will probably watch it and review it at some point. There is horror elements to it But it's kind of more of like a fantastical sci-fi ish Thing as well. I actually I have a DVD that's the two pack of troll and troll too So well worth owning that in my opinion Naha also wrote the script for chud to bud the chud which I have not seen yet I've seen the original chud But I will get to bud the chud at some point. I hear it's not good, but just so you know He was also involved in writing the script for honey I shrunk the kids and I know that Stuart Gordon and Brian Usina were also involved in writing that script Now Bunty Bailey, she's the person who plays Isabelle in this film who doesn't last super long in the film And has that great kind of a look of the grown-up doll where her eyes pop out And she holds holds eyes up which by the way that was not originally going to be in the film That was pulled from their kind of poster concept But the Charles band I think who who was the main producer on this had said look I want Something like that to actually be in the film if it's on the poster I wanted to be in the film at some point. So that's why they did that particular scene now Anyway Bunty Bailey she didn't do a whole lot of acting But she was the good-looking woman in the aha music video take on me if anyone remembers music videos when they were actually a thing that people cared about so Just interesting so apparently the speaking of the poster which I already kind of threw out there a little bit the poster and Concept for the film was created first Which is typically not something that that happens that often But I mean obviously that can help in in selling an idea like that Then the script was developed after the idea was thrown out there and people like yeah, you know killer dolls It can be a good one Apparently post-production for this one was quite long Mainly because all the stuff they had to add in after the fact with the dolls moving all that kind of stop motion With the dolls which I think they did a really good job with in my opinion Also, I was not expecting them to throw as many dolls into the film as they did because let's be honest They didn't need to you know think about something like a puppet master which Charles Bann was also involved in making That's a film that there are some of these killer dolls But there's not that many so like it wouldn't take as much time It wouldn't take as much money. They didn't have to create a ton of them and it was very effective I think it's the same for for this film, but for some reason they felt like they just wanted a lot of dolls So I say kudos to that because I think it definitely adds to the film It's just they could have had the same degree of success with this film without putting all that extra time and money into it But you know watching it now I really appreciate that they did put that extra time and money into it but apparently the post-production took forever and during that time where they're trying to get everything done with the dolls in Post they were also they also decided that there wasn't enough gore to the film initially There was really not that much gore So they ended up doing a lot of extra takes to insert in while they were editing it to add gore to it Which I'm thankful for that too because you got to have gore in a film like this Like you really need to have a lot of gore in a film like this because it's a ridiculous concept Let's be honest. It's not a great concept. It's not a great film That's why you have to have the gore. You have to have a better selling factor Just saying The dolls in the opening credits of this look legitimately creepy That's another thing the actual design of the dolls not just the fact that they did so many of them They look like they kind of straddle that line of being Looking like they would be actual dolls and looking like they've been created to be these demonic things so great design on that and To start the film out, especially with that kind of like creepy Kind of childlike but still creepy and scary music Great way to open it up with the opening credits Sets the tone a nice creepy tone because we all know what we're getting into when it's called dolls It's obvious early on that david and rosemary really don't like judy and they really kind of just treat her as an annoyance Now obviously with a lot of the characters in this film mind me with all the characters in this film They're pretty simplistic, you know, they're one thing and that's what they're going to hammer home about that character now david and rosemary Obviously horrible people. They're bad parents. They hate they hate their kid I mean, well, it's actually biologically david's kid, but rosemary's like the stepmother or soon to be stepmother is what is what I gather and They obviously just hate her like they are One-dimensional characters who are just supposed to be pure evil and terrible so that when they eventually get it from the dolls Well, I mean david turns into a doll but in a degree to a degree. He gets it from the dolls But both of them when they get it then you're supposed to be like, yeah, fine Good that they got what they deserve because they're terrible parents. They hate their child All that jazz now other people like ralph, you know, you can tell early on that ralph is going to end up becoming a partial hero at least throughout the film just because of how good natured he is immediately And the fact that he gets referred to as being childlike just like there's judy who's obviously shown in a very innocent positive light from the get-go because she's a child and this film plays a lot on the whole Childlike innocence thing and they they show that by not just having judy as the actual child with childlike innocence But they have ralph as a grown-up who still has that inner childlike innocence innocence and still opines for the for the days of playing with dolls and owning dolls and Being a good person and kind of basically just not being tainted by the world and society Which I think is a lot of what this film hits at The giant teddy bear scene that they have which is obviously the daydream for judy. I think was really awesome I liked the giant teddy bear at first, but then as soon as like the More feral giant teddy bear kind of rips through the exterior. That's even better. I love that practical effect. It looks great The other thing is this this also serves to Set the tracks for judy not necessarily being a reliable narrator as far as the audience goes The fact that she's having these daydreams and seeing something crazy like that is supposed to then have the audience later think Well, are these dolls actually winking or moving or coming to life or making noises? Or is judy just having another one of her daydreams? That's why this is laid down so early So that the audience is kind of questioning things at least for a little bit Until the murders start happening, which the first one obviously being you know isabel where she's getting rammed Her head's getting rammed up against the wall by the dolls who are off screen Now at that point I really wanted to be seeing the dolls kind of like holding her and doing it But um, I was okay with the fact that they didn't do it that way because a the kills still looked pretty funny And b you get a lot of the dolls later on now. Had you not gotten that much of the dolls later on I still would have been upset about that first kill scene With isabel so oh and also the fact that they then follow it up with her having like the large doll face with the eyes That fall out so yeah Um So Oh, the other thing the other thing I think that to backpedal just a little bit that that teddy bear A daydream that judy has it also serves one other purpose Which is a bit of a premonition that judy herself is having that something terrible is inside of that house That they go into where gabriel and hillary live Because remember how reticent she was in the beginning to actually go in there And a lot of that seemed to be predicated on that terrible daydream she had which was kind of indicating to her There's something terrible on the way Rosemary is awfully rude to gabriel and hillary when they've taken her in from the storm Uh, that's just furthering like how bad the person rosemary is they established that early They hammer that home quite a bit probably too much in my opinion But the fact that hillary is like such a jerk to this old couple who've taken her into their home They're feeding her they're giving her a place to stay they even separated her and her man from the kid for the night so they can have Well, presumably have sex Because they also provide them with wine on their night stand to have a little bit of wine. So just ungrateful When the three additional people stumble in that would be ralph enid and isabel When they stumble in from the the storm, I immediately just thought they're here for increased body count Although Interestingly enough ralph didn't end up being that obviously he ends up becoming Basically the guardian of judy by the end of the film because of his childlike nature another good guy Strike one against isabel is talking about stealing ralph's wallet Strike two is her pushing the dolls off the mantle and them falling on the floor Just to put her boombox there to listen to loud music and strike three is when she decides She wants to steal antiques or antiques if you want to say it that way From the house. Uh, she got her three strikes and that's why she is the first to go She just seems like a bad person. You do see an enid though a little bit She wants to kind of go along with With isabel's plans and and how bad isabel is but she's also Got a little bit of that good nature still in her that she kind of like tries to fight it at first And then she just kind of goes along with things So she's a kind of more in-between type character Love the doll noises. I think they're funny and creepy at the same time. That's and i'm referring to mainly Before we're seeing the dolls and you're just kind of like hearing noises behind doors initially Love that sound. Uh, like I said, it's creepy and it's funny at the same time Uh, the isabel scene. Yeah going back to the isabel kill. It's slap sticky And that's one of the things that kind of sets the tone for how the film is going to be Not going to be totally serious. It's not all about scares Although they could have tried to play that the film that way So I think that at times it really does Help the film that it's got that kind of slap sticky humor element to it But there are times where I feel like it goes a bit too overboard and that kind of hinders the film at the same time hitting the humor versus creep factor Hitting that just right and having the right balance is actually kind of hard to do From a filmmaker and especially from a script writing standpoint I love the scene of the dolls going crazy on rosemary. Uh, and that's the type of payoff I was really looking for for when you're finally seeing the dolls in action doing their killing Uh, love that scene and once again the fact that there are so many of these dolls just like dog piling on rosemary They're using hammers or using hacksaws. They're just like at her with everything And it's chaos and it's a wonderful chaotic scene that gives you that satisfaction of this is what I've been Been enduring part of this film for And then from there on it's just it's pretty fun I like that there's an inner structure to the dolls. That's another thing. It adds that extra creep factor when I say inner structure I mean the fact that they actually have like bones and viscera underneath the porcelain that that they have there Uh, and it looks super super cool in the scene where enid starts busting them open Which is the first time you see that there's actually actually something under the porcelain of the dolls Now i'm assuming that that's just because They are actually people Were people at one point who ended up being turned into dolls much the way that david Gets turned into the new punch doll. That's my assumption on why that's the case I don't know if you feel differently go ahead and put it in the comments But that's my best guess but regardless the fact that they chose to actually put something Underneath that porcelain. I think adds a lot to the film especially that creepiness going way up Uh, and apparently originally they were just going to have them be hollow But then there was an idea thrown out, you know, why don't we put something in there? It might kind of enhance it and I think it definitely did The aspect of ralph being young young at heart should have stayed as sub subtext Because there is a time where ralph and judy actually are having a conversation about the fact that Oh, maybe i'm okay because i'm i'm young at heart. It's that time where The dolls were going to attack ralph, but then judy asked them not to and then they were having like this Little conference with one another you could still do that scene But the fact that ralph and judy like outwardly talk about the fact that he's still a child at heart And maybe they'll recognize that blah blah It's too much like it's too on the nose. You're insulting your audience by being up up in their face about that stuff That should stay subtext. I'm a very big proponent of Allow your audience to be intelligent allow them to use their brains and figure this type of stuff out I it really does bother me When the filmmaker feels like they just want to come out and say that type of stuff because it's insulting It really is like people would have gotten what was going on there without the characters saying it just The ending makes you think that think about how many of the numerous styles there were were actually people at some point Uh getting back to the thing where I was saying I assumed that there's an inner structure because they were people at at a certain point The characters are pretty stock characters. It's obvious that they're there just to be a vehicle for the dolls to happen Yeah, I mean like I said before it's a very simplistic story I actually feel like it's kind of a reverse Hansel and Gretel and part of the reason I say that is Initially in the film judy is reading Hansel and Gretel in the car Then when we get to the house and she's going to eat. Uh, what's her name? Uh, hillary the the old lady Checks judy much like the witch and Hansel and Gretel does checks her finger to see how skinny she is And that she needs to get more meat on her bones Then there's a reference later on where they're talking about Hansel and Gretel and then I just got me thinking because of that all those references to Hansel and Gretel Why it's a reverse is because it's more of a Hansel and Gretel to rosemary and david In the sense that in Hansel and Gretel, you know, you're pulling these kids in To kill and eat them by having something enticing out there, which is a house made of candy now in this instance it is Bringing rosemary and david in because it's a place to seek refuge from the storm Which they say is happening like all the time. That's what hillary and gabriel say Uh So it's a place for refuge. It's a place to get food. It's a place to get a break from their child That's the biggest thing. So all these things are very inviting very enticing to them but it obviously is leading them and probably intentionally Leading them to their deaths Much like Hansel and Gretel Because you get that idea that that's what gabriel and hillary are about is they're about maintaining the childhood innocence and anyone who comes by their path intentionally Uh by having people get stuck outside of their house and bringing them in They kind of evaluate the person and decide Should these people be killed or more importantly the dolls will decide should these people be killed I'm sure they didn't initially expect Ralph to to not be killed This could have been more successful if they toned down the wacky nature of the film because the dolls actually are scary I totally agree with that. I think the film actually ended up making like one and a half million dollars I think it was like a budget of two million and it made like 3.5. So they made like 1.5 now Obviously, this is about maintaining the innocence of a child instead of becoming an adult corrupted by the ills of society Like I said, that's judy and that's Ralph and you would assume that judy would be Especially after this on the trajectory of Ralph himself of staying a child at heart even when she grows up Now this is the part where I'm going to tell you that in that at one point Stuart Gordon had plans to do a sequel It just never ended up coming to fruition. So let me tell you what his sequel idea was Uh judy and Ralph were going to go to boston Ralph was going to marry judy's mother And then one day judy was going to end up receiving a package from England Or I think it was specifically london and it would have two dolls in the in it who resembled Hillary and gabriel. I think that's a good premise to kind of start a sequel And who knows, you know, maybe someone else could pick it up and do it I know charles band could make that happen. I don't know. Is brian using this still alive? He could be involved I don't know. But anyway, uh, my thoughts I told you I was going to rate this two ways So as just an overall film out of five stars with half stars in play I mean, it's a two star film I was between one and a half and two, but I think with all the time and money they put into those dolls I think I'd give it a two Uh, as far as like a so bad. It's good type film. I think it gets to like a 3.5. Actually I'd put it there. It's a fun time in a bad way And um, yeah, I could see myself watching it again But I was between three and three and a half on that but I'm gonna give it the three and a half So we'd love to hear your thoughts on dolls go ahead and put comments down there Did you love it? Did you hate it? Are you in between? Just want to know and also this was my first viewing of it So how many times have you watched it and hasn't gotten better over time because that's what I want to know Or with multiple views basically So anyway, um, like I said comments, do me a quick favor hit subscribe I'm getting very close at this point. 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