Table9Mutant of Cinema Parrot Disco fame is next up in the ‘Recommended By‘ blogathon. Here are her thoughts on the movie Dolls, and after reading below be sure to go check out her site. Enjoy!
Dolls (1987)
Directed by Stuart Gordon
Starring:
Stephen Lee
Guy Rolfe
Hilary Mason
Ian Patrick Williams
Carolyn Purdy Gordon
Cassie Stuart
Bunty Bailey
Carrie Lorraine
Running time: 77 minutes
Plot Synopsis: (via IMDB)
A group of people stop by a mansion during a storm and discover two magical toy makers, and their haunted collection of dolls.
Why I Chose This:
Dolls was reviewed HERE by Laura over at FILMNERDBLOG & I thought it sounded hilariously bad but fun. Laura reviews a wide variety of films but seems to especially have a love/hate relationship with cheesy horror movies. I started following her when I saw she was reviewing things like Basket Case. 🙂
I thought it was time I return the favor as Laura has watched a couple of movies based on my reviews (From Beyond & the awesome Hardware). I think she regretted both, especially From Beyond. Lol! I mean, check this From Beyond shit out – what a trooper she is:
My Opinion On Dolls:
I don’t think I liked this QUITE as much as Laura did but I did have a lot of fun with it. It’s pure 80’s cheese with dodgy acting & fake-looking gore so it’s totally my type of thing (I can’t watch modern horror – too gross!). And the DOLLS… Man I hate dolls – I can’t think of anything much creepier than going into some strange old mansion in the middle of nowhere & finding it’s filled with THESE:
The characters in Dolls are exactly what you’d expect from a horror movie like this (and I mean that in a good way). The main character is the young girl and she’s cute & sweet and you want everything to turn out okay for her as she’s stranded in this mansion with her father & step-mother who are both complete assholes. I really thought the step-mother was a man until I looked her up at IMDB. Turns out she was also in From Beyond! Ha!
Also stranded in this mansion on this stormy night are two girls dressed as “punks” crossed with Madonna and they speak in ridiculously bad Cockney accents. I think? I’m bad with accents. And there’s a nice dorky guy who gave the punk girls a lift and he’s the only one of the bunch (besides the little girl) who isn’t an asshole. Finally, we have the fabulously cliché owners of the mansion: an old doll maker & his wife. These two are great – they totally look the part. Both British actors, the woman was in Don’t Look Now & the man was in movies such as And Now The Screaming Starts! with Peter Cushing and was the Puppet Master in several of the films in that series. Look at these two! Perfect for Dolls:
Anyway – everything you expect to happen, happens. Everyone you expect to die, dies. It’s predictable and the acting is pretty atrocious but… C’mon – Who cares? It’s a movie about dolls that go around killing people! It’s fun! It even has a bit of a moral (which is more than can be said about most horror films). Basically, the moral is that you should always stay young at heart. If you don’t, DOLLS WILL COME TO LIFE & KILL YOU!
Awesome. Thanks, Laura! I really enjoyed watching this one. 🙂
My Rating: 6/10
Head In A Vice 
Tyson Carter
/ October 1, 2014Not a movie I’ve seen (or heard of!) but thanks again for taking part, and especially for doing my work for me with all the links and images!! If only everyone was that organised 🙂
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Laura O
/ October 1, 2014I found it on Youtube. Worth a watch if you like a good old 80s cheese-fest.
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Tyson Carter
/ October 1, 2014After just enjoying Dead Silence maybe I do need more creepy dolls in my life 🙂
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Laura O
/ October 2, 2014Yes, do it! Also try Dead of Night.
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Tyson Carter
/ October 2, 2014Cheers for the heads up! Perfect month to be checking out new horror anyway 🙂
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table9mutant
/ October 4, 2014I’ve been on the lookout for Dead Of Night for years! Looks awesome. See? Laura likes cool stuff! 🙂
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table9mutant
/ October 4, 2014Thanks again for letting me take part! It was a fun movie to watch. This is more my kind of horror – the cheesy kind. 😉 Sorry I’m so late to finally stop by – had a busy couple of days!
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Garry Armstrong
/ October 6, 2014I haven’t seen this one and am not likely to. But I love the review, details and comments. It’s good to see Guy Rolfe in the credits. I am fantasizing a gathering of old time movie buffs like me with the horror movie mavens. It would be very funny, I’m sure. BTW: Who is Bunty Bailey?
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table9mutant
/ October 18, 2014I’m sorry – I totally missed your comment! I loved Guy Rolfe in this – he was perfect for the part. I had to look up Bunty Bailey since you asked. I guess she was one of the punk girls and I had no idea she was the girl in A-Ha’s Take On Me video! That’s awesome. 🙂
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Kristin
/ October 1, 2014Haha, sounds like it was fun movie! And is it just me, or does it seem like the majority of films that have been reviewed in the “Recommended By” blogathon have been horror in nature? If I were to watch a horror movie, it would probably be cut from this cloth, because I have a hard time with more modern horror films today. Definitely a fan of the classics, and this one looks hilarious. Thanks for the recommendation, and nice review!
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Laura O
/ October 1, 2014Yeah, you don’t need a particularly strong stomach for this kind of film. Really, it’s fun for all the family!
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Kristin
/ October 2, 2014Haha, I’ll tell that to my hubby!
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table9mutant
/ October 4, 2014Lol! Well, I maybe wouldn’t show it to a four-year-old… 😉 Yeah – this is more my kind of horror as well. I can’t stomach the modern stuff! Far too gross. Actually, Laura reviewed several that I really want to see now and the main one is M. But I haven’t managed to get hold of that one yet and went with Dolls as it was actually on TV so I recorded it. 😉 Also, as Tyson is a horror guy, I figured I might as well do a horror. Not my favorite genre! But I do love some of the greats from the 70s & 80s (The Shining, The Omen – that sort of thing). 🙂
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Kristin
/ October 6, 2014Hahaha, well that’s good. That makes a lot of sense – I’ve started to realize that since he started his “Recommended by” blogathon. I have The Shining on my “shame list” (list of movies I have yet to see but plan to). Can’t wait to watch it!
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table9mutant
/ October 8, 2014Ohh – you HAVE to see The Shining! I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think of it! I love it. 🙂
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Three Rows Back
/ October 1, 2014Ha ha. Looks ace!
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Laura O
/ October 1, 2014It is!
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table9mutant
/ October 4, 2014Hehe. It is! If you like 80’s cheese. I loooove a bit of 80’s cheese. 😉
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Laura O
/ October 1, 2014Mutant! Good work. I’m glad you liked it, I thought this one was great fun.
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table9mutant
/ October 4, 2014It was great fun indeed. Very “me”. 🙂 Can’t believe it’s the same guy who did From Beyond – they’re not very similar! I’m sure I’ll be watching plenty more that you’ve reviewed – I’ve added several to my watchlist. 🙂
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Laura O
/ October 4, 2014I had no idea it was the same guy and would never have guessed. I just found it on YouTube.
I’ll keep my eyes peeled for your reviews…
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table9mutant
/ October 4, 2014I’ll link to ya when I review M for sure! Looking forward to that one. 🙂
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Laura
/ October 4, 2014Definitely, I’d love to see what you think. I hope you like it (although, I’m not sure if ‘like’ is the right word given the subject matter!).
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table9mutant
/ October 4, 2014True! It’s actually a genre I wouldn’t go for nowadays but it’s such a highly rated classic. We’ll see! I tend to avoid “murdery” things normally (I’m a weirdo who doesn’t like Silence of the Lambs).
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Laura
/ October 5, 2014I do like Lambs but not as much as some. I hope you get on with M.
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The Otaku Judge
/ October 2, 2014I’ll give this a miss as I hated Puppet Master.
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table9mutant
/ October 4, 2014Hmm – I think I saw one of those years ago but don’t remember a thing about it. I’m guessing that this movie may be somewhat similar to those, though. So, yeah – probably not your type of thing. I like cheesy 80’s horror. 🙂
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theipc
/ October 2, 2014Sounds a little dodgy….. but I’m NOT a big fan of Charles Band’s shit……
Have either of you seen Curtains?
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table9mutant
/ October 4, 2014I’ve not seen any of his stuff so can’t say if this is much like his other stuff. I didn’t know what you were talking about as he wasn’t listed at IMDB but see his name on the poster. He was just a producer on this so it’s hard to say how much involvement he had. However, I do doubt it’s your type of thing anyway. 😉 I’ve always wanted to see Curtains! I remember your review. I have a list of 80’s horror movies I still want to see JUST because I remember the covers of them so well from when I used to go to video stores in the olden days. That’s one of the great covers. I may have already said that on your review… 😉
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theipc
/ October 5, 2014I loved Curtains! At least it’s from the 80s so I have a chance of you liking it : )
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table9mutant
/ October 5, 2014Yep! Seems more my type of thing than your usual stuff… 😉
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theipc
/ October 5, 2014Hugs and butt pats!
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atothewr
/ October 2, 2014I can’t believe I haven’t seen this one. Need to check it out.
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table9mutant
/ October 4, 2014If you like cheesy 80’s horror, you should like this one. 😉 Would love to know what you think if you do see it!
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Abbi
/ October 4, 2014Dolls totally freak me out.
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table9mutant
/ October 4, 2014Hehe. Me too, but…. I think they’re cheesy & fake enough in this that you’d maybe be okay with it. Just never watch the old Hitchcock episode “Where The Woodbine Twineth”. That scarred me for life when it comes to dolls… 😉
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Todd Benefiel
/ October 5, 2014Yeah, dolls are no good. I remember seeing this poster when the movie first came out…maybe now I’ll have to finally give the movie a look, since there’s some quality cheese involved. Another fun review, Miss T9M!
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table9mutant
/ October 18, 2014Oh, thank you! 🙂 Sorry I’m so late to reply. Yes – there’s indeed plenty of cheese here. You should check it out! 🙂
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