Dolls (1987)

There's going to be some dissension with this review, and I know it. After all, the director AND the subject matter are going to be one of those "take it or leave it" options that leaves no room for discussion. This is either a project you love whole-heartedly or hate vehemently. With that in mind, let us begin, hmm?

When you hit the ground running, sooner or later you're gonna stumble, fall and hurt yourself.

Take Stuart Gordon.

This is a man who really displays some absolutely undeniable talent; not only in his breakthrough film Re-Animator (1985) but also its follow up, From Beyond (1986). These were both loaded with way-over-the-top special FX, appropriate hysteria-level acting and gruesome carnage, with a little H.P. Lovecraft thrown in for good measure. That H.P.; he always pops up when least expected.

But don't you see, that's the problem when you hit it off with great success - or even successes - you're always having to top yourself, the next film HAS to be bigger and better than the last one, give the people what they want. If you don't, sure enough people will say: "Hey, remember the one film that guy did; it was great! His last one sucked. Oh well...let's go watch a Seth Rogan movie to cleanse our palate."

And there goes another talent through the Hollywood shredder, forgotten like yesterday's meatloaf.

So it's kind of surprising that Gordon followed up his roaring dual juggernauts with a movie that really had nothing to do with Lovecraft or medical procedures. No, in 1987, Gordon released a much smaller-scale feature about...killer dolls. That's right, killer dollies...and not ones like in Child's Play or Puppet Master that pull out a full-throttle attack on the unwary.

That kind of stuff would be all too well expected by the jaded viewer.

In Dolls, director Gordon and writer/compatriot Ed Naha brew up a tale of an odd old couple played by Guy Rolfe (whom the wise will remember quite well not only from Mr. Sardonicus but also Snow White and The Three Stooges. Ahh, memories...) and Hilary Mason (Don't Look Now) who, one dark and stormy night, take in some stranded travelers - including a rude couple (Ian Patrick Williams, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon) and their poor little put-upon girl (Carrie Lorraine), a big lovable lug of a guy (Stephen Lee) and some nasty young punks - into their nice big and spacious mansion.

However, one by one, many unexplained accidents occur to the nastiest of the group. It certainly couldn't be the work of this frail old couple, could it? After all, the only others in the mansion are a bunch of...dolls.

And when I say "a bunch of", I mean hundreds, thousands...this is kind of like Night of 1000 Cats, only with dolls, which are much creepier than cats anyway.

Now, Gordon cannot be faulted in direction; it's all effectively creepy and such but the tone, in one Dope's own humble-yet-battle-weary opinion, goes for the old British veddy-proper horror tone of good manners, deep shadows, odd noises and then EH, WOT? - dead people. I guess this is a Hammer-ish way to tackle the proceedings, but does it work, really? In an homage to the old style of scares, I guess it does. It won't do much for the modern blood-and-guts Saw crowd, though.

And the FX are really good, too; the stop-motion dolls by legendary effects maestro Dave Allen are good, even if you can tell in some spots where the matte lines and differences in shadowing are. But hey, who asks for perfection in movies like this?

The actors do well enough, too. Rolfe and Mason play very effete and unassuming, save for a wry cackle here and there. The victims play up the fact of how nasty and cruel they are, practically begging to be offed by murderous dolls. As the little girl, though, Lorraine is a very sympathetic figure who counts on small little plush toys for comfort where she can count on little else. And as the big lovable lug, Lee is just that: big and lovable. It's not much of a spoiler in Dolls to say they are the only survivors, but for awhile it's a pretty close call.

Now I know it sounds like I'm being down on the "mood and shadow" school of horror. I have to protest that fact: some Hammer films are my favorites. And the mood fits Dolls for what it is. Indeed, Dolls was completed BEFORE From Beyond and would have been released first had it not been for the fact that the effects weren't quite finished yet.

But this time out, why didn't Gordon do as he did before and simply turn up the heat and the volume, go for more hysterical screaming, spewing effects and give us something we hadn't seen a million and one times before? I ask you, don't we - the B-movie crowd - deserve that?

I may be too hard on Dolls, though. I guess it just stands as a case of a let-down; looking again at Re-Animator and then Dolls, wouldn't you expect something more from a story like this? More...I don't know what, but something. Then again, expecting more than what you get is a common thing for those who expect greatness from titles like Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus or The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies. Of course, some of us get the greatness we expect from these projects. We are fickle in our likes, we B-movie lovers are.

Suffice it to say, this is one of the lesser-known works in Stuart Gordon's repertoire. He still works and is fluent in his productivity, with varying degrees of success and acclaim. On one hand, Dagon. On the other hand, "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids: The TV Series". On another hand, King of the Ants. On yet another hand, Robot Jox. And still another hand has Space Truckers and Stuck. And you can see in the ever-present other hand The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and Fortress.

So you see, with all of those hands to account for, Gordon's brilliance comes and goes in ebbs and tides.

Maybe someday we will see yet another fiery punch to the gut like Re-Animator; something that will get us going on another Lovecraft-ian mind trip to the black pit of the soul - a real roller coaster ride.

Until then, these Dolls will be all we have to play with. Until better toys come along.

Dolls (1987) 2010-10-10T12:33:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: admin