Dolls

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Dolls

1986

Directed by Stuart Gordon

They're cute, they're cuddly... and they kill!

A precocious girl, her nasty parents, two punk-rock losers and a weak-kneed salesman inadvertently become the guests of two ghoulish senior citizens in their dark, haunted mansion.

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Ian West
Review by Ian West ★★★★½ Liked 10

A VHS staple turned faded poster in my childhood bedroom, I’ve seen Dolls a good 20+ times over the years... and despite not revisiting it as often these days, my admiration for it hasnt waivered at all... especially since it introduced young me to creepy doll movies as well as the world’s of director Stuart Gordon and producers Brian Yuzna and Charles Band (and Band’s Empire Pictures).

I always thought of Dolls as Stuart Gordon’s The Old Dark House—this creepy little fairy tale is a super fun ‘dark and stormy night of the living dolls’ jam about a group of people stranded at a mansion during a storm discovering two magical toy makers and their haunted collection of dolls is…

Tony the Terror
Review by Tony the Terror ★★★★½ Liked 5

Now this is how you make a goddamn movie about bitchy, petty killer dolls! Charli B may be a total mess, but the man knows how to do his killer dolls/puppets/toys movies and I do love him for that and pretty much that only.

This is a refreshing 77 minutes and that alone is enough for me to love it, but it’s also got a creepy mansion on a dark and stormy night setting, great doll effects, and plenty of gore. Also, I seriously love Carolyn Purdy-Gordon’s bitchy stepmother with the towel wrapped around her head even more than I love the name “Carolyn Purdy-Gordon” and I love that name a lot.

David Sims
Review by David Sims ★★★½ 7

it is SO funny when the dolls are crawling around killing people. dolls! little dolls!

VIVE_le_FILTH
Review by VIVE_le_FILTH ★★★★ Liked 4

"The old man's probably a sex fiend!"

A girl, her evil parents, two punks with bad British accents and a manchild don't walk in to a bar but instead have to take refuge in an old creepy house owned by a toy maker and his wife. (I'm sure that will end well?)


"At least the old fart stocked some good wine"

Another Stuart Gordon classic with some freaky doll action (but not freaky like the one's made by Mattel) but one's with sinister side looking eyes so you know shit's about to go down.


"Toys will be around as long as kids want them!"

The Toymaker would be shitting bricks if he could see what kids are into now a days, their eye balls super glued to phone screens! (it makes me weep for the future of mankind - well not really I couldn't care less - the sooner we get a MAD MAX future the better!)

bummer_buddy
Review by bummer_buddy ★★★½ 3

This movie plays like an R-rated Goosebumps book and I love every stupid minute of it—A main character who acts like she’s in a John Waters remake of Punky Brewster! British Madonna punks! Over-the-top puppets & practical gore effects! It’s only an hour and seventeen minutes!

Josh Lewis
Review by Josh Lewis ★★★★ Liked 1

A testament to Stuart Gordon's skill as a director is that this was shot back-to-back with From Beyond (on the exact same sets!) but the atmosphere here could not be more different. He briefly traded in the goopy, cosmic, mad-science perversity for a more lowkey haunted house movie about a creepy toymaker taking karmic revenge on his naughty house guests (pre-Puppetmaster btw, this might have awoken something in Charles Band) with a more Grimm fairy tale by way of Val Lewton or James Whale kinda vibe to it that he never really did again. Which he should have, he's pretty good at it.

The combo of twinkling children's movie sweetness/silliness + stormy, candlelit gothic mood + full-blown slasher movie gruesomeness…

Lou (rhymes with wow!)
Review by Lou (rhymes with wow!) ★★★★ Liked 3

Wow, Stuart Gordon really was on a roll in the mid to late '80s huh?! Not only does this guy know how to do excellent Lovecraftian movies, but a haunted dolls flick isn't a problem for him either. This was fantastic. I was super impressed by the effects work. Top notch stuff! The dialogue was great too, and Ralph and Judy were the best team together. I loved their banter.

So much fun watching this with Michelle for our Haunted Sunday marathon.

[Michelle's write-up]

kat🕷
Review by kat🕷 ★★★

Entertaining Stuart Gordon movie. With less gore and humor than "Re-Animator" or "From Beyond", but very atmospheric.

Kaijuman
Review by Kaijuman ★★★★½ Liked 20

The Stuart Gordon/Charles Band duo never missed did they?

I haven’t seen this film in over a decade so revisiting it brought back all these wonderful emotions for me. Dolls is truly one of the best films to come out of Empire Pictures. 

It’s a film that shouldn’t work as well as it does. The film is at odds with itself with its tone and emphasis on the innocence and wonder of children while full of gore and brutal deaths. 

It’s a throwback to classic fairytales with its fantastical plot and whimsical liveliness. It’s a spooky house on a dark and stormy night, a morality tale on never losing your childlike wonder, it’s a b-movie slasher with stop-motion dolls stabbing…

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