Dolls (1987 film)

For the 2002 Japanese film, see Dolls (2002 film).
Dolls

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Stuart Gordon
Produced by Charles Band,
Brian Yuzna
Written by Ed Naha
Starring Stephen Lee
Guy Rolfe
Hilary Mason
Ian Patrick Williams
Carolyn Purdy Gordon
Cassie Stuart
Bunty Bailey
Carrie Lorraine
Music by Fuzzbee Morse
Victor Spiegel
Cinematography Mac Ahlberg
Edited by Lee Percy
Distributed by Empire Pictures
Release dates
 March 6, 1987
Running time
 77 minutes
Country Italy
United States
Language English
Budget $2 million
Box office $3.5 million

Dolls is a 1987 Italian-American horror film directed by Stuart Gordon, produced by Charles Band and Brian Yuzna and was written by Ed Naha. It stars Stephen Lee, Guy Rolfe, Hilary Mason, Ian Patrick Williams and Bunty Bailey. In the film, during a harsh thunderstorm, a group of six people is arriving to the mansion of a pair of an old puppet maker and his old wife, then, they are revealing that the puppets in the house created by the man are actually cursed immortal people who had been killed and imprisoned in toy bodies for years in order to pay for their crimes and every single one of them is getting horribly and violently murdered by the toys.

The film was released on March 6, 1987 and was a major critical and commercial failure grossing $3.5 million worldwide against budget of only $2 million.

Plot

A violent thunderstorm strands six people in the gothic English countryside including little Judy, who's traveling with her selfish, uncaring father, David Bower, and her callous, arrogant stepmother Rosemary. They are accompanied by an amiable, mild-mannered businessman Ralph, who has given a ride to Isabel and Enid, two British punk rock girls who are hitchhiking. They all wind up at a mansion inhabited by Gabriel and Hilary Hartwicke, a kindly elderly people who appear to be toy makers; their house literally abounds with dolls, puppets, and other beautifully detailed toys. They give Judy a new doll, Mr. Punch, after she had been forced to give up her old teddy bear by her cruel stepmother before they arrived at the house. The Hartwickes invite the stranded travelers to join them for dinner and stay as guests until the storm ends.

One by one, the overnight guests are attacked by dolls, who turn out to be cursed, immoral people that have been killed and imprisoned in toys to pay for their crimes. The first to suffer the wrath of the dolls are the two female punks, for trying to steal antiques from the house they believe to be valuable: Isabel, who's beautiful but rude and vain, is brutally beaten by the dolls, who smash her head into a wall before dragging her into the attic to become one of them; Enid is shot by a group of toy soldiers after finding her nearly transformed friend and attempting to escape. For her constant berating of her stepdaughter, Rosemary ends up being ambushed and stabbed repeatedly by the toys before leaping to her death out of the window into a mutilated mess. Her body is brought back to the bedroom, where she is found by her husband. Thinking that Ralph murdered her, David prepares to kill him.

In the meantime, Ralph accompanies Judy for her search of the first punk girl after he notices blood on the little girl's slippers. They encounter the dolls, and Ralph accidentally falls into a trap they set for the other bad guests, but all is cleared up when Judy calls on the dolls to get Ralph out of it. Right afterwards, however, they are both attacked and knocked out by Judy's maddened father, but before a killing blow can be struck, the dolls intervene, dragging the unconscious Ralph and Judy away while Mr. Punch distracts David. Mr. Punch is destroyed by David, who is then confronted by Gabriel and Hilary. It is revealed that Gabriel and Hilary are actually a wizard and witch couple who see toys as the heart and soul of childhood and believe toys will be around for as long as children (or even those with the hearts of children) want them. They also believe that the bitterness adults feel can turn to love if they surrender to the goodwill that toys provide. They explain that people come to their house every now and then and spend the night. When this happens, they test their visitors to see if they can change, giving them a sporting chance to save themselves. Some people like Ralph (people who are able to see the love and respect of childhood) are saved/spared and leave the house with a much better perspective of life. But the ones like David, Rosemary and the two punk girls who refuse to show respect to childhood and don't change their ways, never leave and have to start over and play a new role in the world of children by becoming toys. It is shown what that new role is when David is transformed into a doll to replace Mr. Punch.

The next morning, Ralph and Judy wake up, being convinced by Gabriel and Hilary that the night's events were all just a dream, and receive a letter saying that David is leaving her behind because he never was a good father to her and that she will be much happier living in Boston with her mother. The letter also states that her father and stepmother are moving to another country and changing their names and have also taken the two girls with them, but have left enough money behind for Judy and Ralph to buy plane tickets back to Boston. Though the letter was really written by the Hartwickles and that Ralph was a little suspicious that the letter wasn't written by David, in a twisted way, everything in it is the truth. Ralph and Judy then leave the house together after being bid farewell by Gabriel and Hilary, who even invite them to come back whenever they want and even rejoin Judy with her lost teddy. After Judy returns Teddy to the old people as a gift, she and Ralph then drive off for the airport. Judy, who has grown quite fond of Ralph, tells him that he'll really like her mother and hints to him if he'd like to stay with her and her mother and be Judy's new father. Though Ralph doesn't answer, he seems interested in the idea.

The movie ends with the Bowers and the punk girls sitting on a shelf as dolls. Just then, another car with another family with a set of obnoxious parents suddenly arrives and their car breaks down yards from the mansion.

Cast

Cancelled sequel

Stuart Gordon was, at one point, very interested in directing a sequel to this film. The initial storyline would have followed Judy and Ralph back to Boston in which Ralph would have indeed married Judy's mother and they would all become a family. Until, one day Judy would receive a box sent from England which would contain the toy makers, Gabriel and Hilary, as dolls. The said sequel never happened.

Reception

Critical reception for Dolls has been largely positive, with the movie holding a 64% "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Ain't It Cool News reviewed the DVD, calling it "a movie that really stands above the type of film you might expect from this era, with this subject matter."[1] Roger Ebert's review of the film was mostly negative, writing "At some point Dolls remains only an idea, a concept. It doesn't become an engine to shock and involve us," though also conceded that the film "looks good" and "the haunted house looks magnificent.[2] HorrorNews.net's Jeff Colebank listed the toymaking couple as one of the "13 Best Horror Movie Couples", stating that Rolfe was "the creepiest toymaker of them all".[3] Allmovie's review of the film was mildly favorable, calling it "a serious-minded, lovingly-crafted modern fairy tale that only misses classic status by a few clumsy, low-budget moments."[4]

Home media

Dolls was released to DVD by MGM Home Video on September 20, 2005, as a Region 1 widescreen DVD and by the Scream Factory division of Shout! Factory (under license from MGM) on November 11, 2014 as a Region A widescreen Blu-ray.

See also

References

  1. ↑ A Movie A Day: DOLLS (1987) Toys are very loyal and that is a fact. Ain't It Cool News
  2. ↑ Dolls Roger Ebert
  3. ↑ The 13 Best Horror Movie Couples (serial murder edition) HorrorNews.net
  4. ↑ Robert Firsching. "Dolls (1987)". Allmovie. Retrieved July 1, 2012.

External links

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