Movie Review: Dolls (2019)

When I saw that Dolls (2019) was an Uncork'd movie, I wrongly assumed it would be a low-budget film. ('Cause you know, that's kind of their thing.) Happily, the production quality was much better than I had expected, which contributed to Dolls being a solid ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5 star) movie. 

Thomas Downey's Robert Holbrook writes and illustrates children's books - when he's not black out drunk or fighting with his teenage daughter, Sammey. (Or trying to keep her away from local handyman and sexual predator, James (Bret Green.) I'm just gonna say it: chasing after a girl you know is only 17 is not okay. Not. Okay.) Downey crashes at his deceased mother's house when his marriage fails, his daughter soon joins him to get away from her mother, and that's when things get a bit... weird. 

Weird like the three dolls he finds chilling in the attic. Two of the dolls are... let's say mild weird. (I mean... any doll is weird in the dark. Right? Right?) The third doll is extra spicy weird. I don't know if it's because it's just a little too tall (taller than, say, a toddler) or the perpetual wink painted on its face, but that little fucker creeps me out. 

And I'm the proud owner of an Autopsy Staple Baby.

To add to the weird, the sound of laughter, whispering, and teeny tiny footsteps can be heard throughout the movie. It's a nice, creepy addition to an otherwise unremarkable soundtrack. 

As Downey's book grows (you're never quite sure if he's still the one writing it,) there's a voiceover reading the rhyme aloud. At first, it's a bit annoying because the rhyme is exactly the same, with only the drawings changing. It gets better when the rhymes alter, getting nastier they do. (And usually giving some indication of bad shit about to happen.)

Like the "Attic Dolls" rhyme, Dolls can be a bit of a slow starter, but it's important that it is. The movie needs time to build uncertainty. Downey's addiction paints him as a wholly unreliable character. His daughter's insistence on coming off her Anxiety meds does the same. You just know no one is going to believe either of them, no matter what happens. 

And, yeah, there's totally going to be a good reason not to believe at least one of them.

Horror legend Dee Wallace plays resident lurker, Maragret. She's the only one who believes Downey and Sammey because she's seen it all play out before with Henry (Robert R Ryel) who is... well, I don't think they ever say what Henry is to Maragret. All we know about Henry is that he suffers from multiple personalities, two of which are demons tormenting the third, a little boy. Downey's mother uses the dolls to trap the three other personalities but then leaves them there to simmer over being trapped and, well... you can imagine how well they take that. 

So, after she's dead...

The demons don't like being stuck inside dolls (to be fair, not sure I would either...) so they're looking for new hosts. I won't tell you who the target is, but it's worth watching to find out whether they're successful. I will tell you that the ending is satisfying and quite nasty. 

I enjoyed Dolls because of the frequent frights. You're constantly watching the dolls, waiting for them to move, or do one of their disappearing acts, (or for their eyes to flash red again,) so it's easy to set up unexpected jumps. If you like cheap scares, this one delivers them in "Oh, fuck!" droves. 

The budget for for Dolls is decent but not terrific. The same can be said for the acting. Any deficiencies in these areas, though, are made up for in anticipation and straight up jump scares. Dolls might not top my list of creepy dolls & demonic toys films but it does comes highly recommended.