This was probably the 4th or 5th time I've seen Dolls and I never tire of it. Even though this is a Charles Band production (and we all know how much he loves killer puppets and dolls), this one stands out above the rest because it's a Stuart Gordon film.

I love that Gordon often casts his wife [Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, married for 48 years!] in his films, here she plays Rosemary, the wealthy, cruel stepmother of Judy--she's always witty, smart and just a hint of evil.

Dolls starts off like an ode to The Old Dark House, with stranded motorists arriving at an old mansion on a dark and stormy night, throw in a lot of truly creepy killer teddy bears, dolls and toys on top of great gore and actually funny comedic undertones and I'm as happy as a clam!

Now this is how you make a goddamn movie about bitchy, petty killer dolls! Charli B may be a total garbage person, 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.

I adore this forever.

This may be the longest night in the world but the hour-and-twenty-minute runtime is pretty much perfect. The faces of the dolls when they get mad, the shitheel parents turned into dolls, the house, the storm, the candlelight. The copy I have is old and the sound isn't great so I only watch this once in a while, on rainy days when I'm planning on staying inside, getting up only to microwave more hot chocolate.

Grim as Grimms’, just as a fairytale should be. Evil stepmother, careless father, rotten older girls, old toy maker, a witch, house fairies, a storm, an endless night, something of a hero prince (reluctant as he may be).

It’s a child’s horror movie in every sense except that it’s illustrated with some amount of gooey wet red goodness. So, not really for children, but certainly for the child at heart.

The tame, sweet "a-horror-movie-for-everyone" tone must’ve come as a shock to Gordon fans in the late 80's, but looking back on it now, here in the year of his passing, it shows most clearly that like many practitioners of the horror genre, he had a great heart and a humorous gentle spirit that was moved by whimsy.

And those house interiors! Sets to die for.

I think they prefer to be called little evil people.

Possessed dolls converge on a group of travelers who are stranded in a Gothic mansion in the country owned by a kindly old couple. It's a doll slasher film basically but with fairy tale elements as well. "Dolls" kind of reminds me of "Pinocchio" for some reason, and the wayward traveler bit veers off towards "Motel Hell" in some ways also. And yet "Dolls" also has that quaint fairy tale kid-like quality to it as well.

My Eyes Hurt When I Go Outside, It's Too Bright!!! (or, My Halloween Horrorfest 2018) Movie #4

A child's fantasy film gone horribly wrong! I used to watch this movie every October but it's been a few years since my last viewing and boy did I miss this movie! This plays like a kid's film, if the kid's film includes Teddy Bears turning into real bears and mauling people, dolls coming to life and biting and stabbing and sawing and clubbing people, and quite a lot of blood. It's a movie produced by Charles Band so you know the dolls are going to be kind of terrifying. I'm so glad to watch this again after some time off. It still works for me. Completely.

Yeah yeah, Charles Band, I get it, dolls are cool, but can we please get a British Desperately Seeking Susan ripoff starring the Material Girl and Boy Toy who spend their time cruising the British countryside for schlubby American tourists to rob??

Very decent 80s horror about killer dolls. Good atmosphere and plot plus some great scenes!

"Your kid is daydreaming again".

Starts stupid... Stays stupid but gets crazy fun. Then it continues to be stupid and gets even more fun. Big fan.

As if you could picture a fairy tale.

i was too sleepy last night but i do in fact think it would have made a good double feature with House of Clocks, if only because this is a nice contrast to pick your mood back up! the dolls are more animated than i remember and its so sweet and so short and ! Ralph <3 <3 <3

what i would give to be invited to spend summers there <3

80s B-movie retelling of Old Dark House essentially and because it was produced by Charles Band there are dolls. Stuart Gordon is a great director, which makes this a step above the typical Charles Band fare. Loved the giant teddy bear and Stuart Gordon's wife as the evil, wonderfully bitchy step-mother. The daughter feels borrowed from a Stephen Spielberg poppy 80s horror and she's perfectly mismatched with the B-movie Charles Band vibe. The killings feel like moral punishment, each dealing with a different deadly sin: Greed, Sloth, Lust, and Wrath. The Stop-motion kills are perfect and hysterical. Has one of my absolute favorite 80s transformations.

a very charming movie, which was a palate cleanser for me following my marathon of the paranormal activity sequels.

the dialogue is witty (rosemary’s lines are especially funny — “you’ll wind up paying more child support. my money.”), the kills are unexpectedly brutal, and the characters are all around memorable.

highly recommended for those who love supernatural films! i think this entry in the haunted doll subgenre could serve as a solid introduction to horror too.

watched this while making a quilt and it was VIBES

“What’s the matter? Afraid of the dark?”
“No. Afraid of what’s in the dark.”

I enjoyed every second of this and was very pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it. The dark, rainy setting in an old creepy mansion is right up my alley. It felt like a mix of gremlins in a sense and child’s play. The characters are pretty unlikeable for the most part but they all still brought something fun to the film. Also I LOVE LOVE the score!

The loss of innocence can kill you. 

In Dolls, Stuart Gordon takes on Charles Band’s signature Full Moon style of combining the whimsical and the macabre. 

When as children we greet fairytales with innocence and wonder, when as adults we recognize the underlying darkness throughout. Dolls is a horror film of few which balances both so generously. 

The projection of unconditional love we endear to toys and the consequences we face when we deny our inner child and inevitably become cruel to ourselves and others is shown with great sentimental analogies and body horror. 

Unlike similar productions such as The Puppet Master, Gordon’s Dolls not only creates fear of the external, but fear of the internal as well. 

We must accept our lack of love, our loss of innocence, or one day it may simply overtake us until we become cold and hallowed out like the toys we have forgone all love for.