Dolls

"Dolls" (1987, Stuart Gordon, Empire Pictures) is a killer doll movie.


Little Judy Bower (Carrie Lorraine) is an unlucky tyke. Her parents are divorced and she's stuck on holiday with her selfish father, David (Ian Patrick Williams), and his new wife, Rosemary (Carolyn Purdy Gordon) - the epitome of wicked stepmother and lover of hair wraps.


After their trip is cut short due to a thunderstorm, the family seek shelter in a nearby house; that of elderly puppet-maker, Gabriel Hartwicke (Guy Rolfe) and his rather dotty wife, Hilary (Hilary Mason). They are later joined by some other stranded strangers; punk girls and thieves, Isabel (Bunty Bailey) and Enid (Cassie Stuart), and the child-at-heart schmo the girls have marked as their next robbery victim, Ralph (Steven Lee). The old couple are very accommodating, giving everyone a room each for the night and offering them supper and wine. Gabriel also gifts the young Judy a Mr Punch doll upon finding out that Rosemary threw her favourite teddy bear into the woods!


But as the night wears on the dolls and puppets placed around the large house seem to move, strange voices can be heard coming from behind locked doors, people appear to go missing and suspicious bloodstains begin to appear. Are the friendly Hartwicke's up to something devious? Will Judy escape from her awful father and stepmother? What's the deal with Mr Punch? All is revealed in this fun, cheesy caper.


Despite falling into the low-budget category, "Dolls" enjoys some effects that still look good today. The doll face effects can vary in quality between props, but are pretty good overall. There's also a variety of different little doll-monsters to enjoy and the scenes with them in are fun in a way similar to the "Puppet Master" series. There's also the added layer of watching the dolls' creation which was pretty fun.


Rolfe and Mason provide some likeable villains with an effective creep-factor, both Williams and Gordon also bring some unlikeable fodder to the tale and Bailey and Stuart provide further villains with more annoying accents. Carrie Lorraine does great work as the little leading lady and pushes the plot on with her childish curiosity and bravery.


There's a lesson in there about being a nice person, being a good parent and also about watching out for vengeful dolls. The film delivers this in a gleefully schlocky b-movie way before sending us on our way as yet another family of unhappy individuals lands themselves on the doorstep of Hartwicke's dollhouse....

[Image: Empire Pictures]

Hani

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

"Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" (2010, Troy Nixey, Guillermo del Toro, Miramax Films, Gran via Tequila Gang, FilmDistrict, StudioCanal UK) is a remake of the 1973 made-for-TV film of the same name.

The troubled young daughter (Bailee Madison) of an architect (Guy Pearce) who is refurbishing an old mansion to its former glory with his new wife (Katie Holmes), discovers Fey creatures are trapped within the house behind an iron grate and decides to set them free, believing them to be friendly. However, they soon turn out to be vicious and devious creatures which are hungry for children's teeth and must also take a mortal back to their netherworld to replenish their ranks.

A creepy retelling of the Tooth Fairy myth, this film was excellently jumpy in the cinema, but loses something a little on the small screen.

However, the animation of the 'fairies' is brilliant and little Bailee Madison gives a perfect performance as young Sally.

Not a film that will scare many adults, but would have many young viewers scared to hang an arm over the side of the bed, I imagine.

Creepy in a traditional way, with beautiful settings and effective attack scenes (and a little gore), I thoroughly enjoyed this film as a fun and creepy fairy story.

[Image: Miramax Films]

Hani