I dug my old VHS tape released by Vestron Video (anyone remember them!?) out last night and decided to give it a watch. David and Rosemary Bower (Ian Patrick Williams and Carolyn Purdy-Gordon) and his daughter from a previous marriage Judy (Carrie Lorraine) are on holiday. Traveling along what looks like a dirt track their car becomes stuck in the mud. The sky clouds over, thunder starts to rumble and lightening starts to strike. Through the trees in the distance they notice a large mansion, they decide to seek shelter there. The house is owned by a creepy elderly couple, Gabriel and Hilary Hartwicke (Guy Rolfe and Hilary Mason) who appear to spend their time fashioning beautiful dolls of every type. After David convinces them they aren't burglars, Gabriel and Hilary invite the family to stay for the night. As they eat some hot broth the kitchen door bursts open and two slutty hitchhikers who look like rejects from a rock concert called Enid (Cassie Stuart) and Isabel (Bunty Bailey) burst in soaking wet, plus a kind hearted guy named Ralph (Stephen Lee) who stopped to give them a lift, but it turns out his car became stuck in the mud too, and they also decided to seek shelter from the now raging thunderstorm outside in the Hartwicke's mansion. They are all invited to stay the night. However strange unexplained things begin to happen, and people start to disappear. Could it possibly be the 'little people' Judy keeps talking about? Or is it just her imagination? As the night draws on the visitors begin to realise that these are no ordinary dolls, something in the house is alive and it's not human!
Directed by Stuart Gordon for Charles and Albert Bands Empire pictures, before they set up Full Moon productions that itself went on to produce the puppet master films, as well as numerous other killer toy films. I still thought it was a good horror film, just not brilliant. The dolls them selves are brought to life via a mix of puppetry and stop motion animation, the effects team does a reasonable job. The special make up effects are better with a couple of impressive gore scenes here and there, and Ian Patrick Williams transformation at the end is well done and becomes a little unnerving and freaky. The script by Ed Naha could have used a little more work, nothing is really explained properly, who are Gabriel and Hilary? How can they turn people into dolls? Why does Rosemary throw herself out of a window? All she needs to do is jump over the dolls and run away, I don't understand why she jumps over them and out the nearest window to her death! And that ending feels very rushed and comes across as rather ludicrous. But there are some great ideas in there too, I loved Judy's dream sequence in which Rosemary her mean stepmother throws her teddy bear into a bush, a giant teddy then emerges and transforms into a vicious monster, sharp claws and razor teeth ripping through teddy's soft exterior. It then goes on to bite Rosemary's arm off and kill her dad, afterwards it turns to Judy and opens its arms as if to try and cuddle her, Judy looks at it and says "oh teddy!". Another great sequence is where Isabel is confronted by toy soldiers. One of the soldiers starts to play the bugle and another starts a drum roll, while the rest raise their guns towards Isabel. Once the music stops the soldiers shoot Isabel, an extremely memorable sequence. The acting is variable, Carrie Lorraine as Judy isn't anywhere nears as annoying as a lot of child actors, Cassie Stuart and Bunty Bailey as the hitchhikers are terrible, those accents are awful, where are they supposed to be from? Everyone else is OK. I should also mention the score by Richard Band, it's wonderful. Really atmospheric and creepy and I love the opening theme music, fantastic eerie undertones. At 76 odd minutes it's short, and too be fair needs to be. A decent time waster, but I much prefer the puppet master films, the dolls themselves while being a bit creepy aren't scary or fun. Not bad, just not brilliant either, OK if you've got nothing else to watch and can find a copy to rent, or if it's showing on TV.
Directed by Stuart Gordon for Charles and Albert Bands Empire pictures, before they set up Full Moon productions that itself went on to produce the puppet master films, as well as numerous other killer toy films. I still thought it was a good horror film, just not brilliant. The dolls them selves are brought to life via a mix of puppetry and stop motion animation, the effects team does a reasonable job. The special make up effects are better with a couple of impressive gore scenes here and there, and Ian Patrick Williams transformation at the end is well done and becomes a little unnerving and freaky. The script by Ed Naha could have used a little more work, nothing is really explained properly, who are Gabriel and Hilary? How can they turn people into dolls? Why does Rosemary throw herself out of a window? All she needs to do is jump over the dolls and run away, I don't understand why she jumps over them and out the nearest window to her death! And that ending feels very rushed and comes across as rather ludicrous. But there are some great ideas in there too, I loved Judy's dream sequence in which Rosemary her mean stepmother throws her teddy bear into a bush, a giant teddy then emerges and transforms into a vicious monster, sharp claws and razor teeth ripping through teddy's soft exterior. It then goes on to bite Rosemary's arm off and kill her dad, afterwards it turns to Judy and opens its arms as if to try and cuddle her, Judy looks at it and says "oh teddy!". Another great sequence is where Isabel is confronted by toy soldiers. One of the soldiers starts to play the bugle and another starts a drum roll, while the rest raise their guns towards Isabel. Once the music stops the soldiers shoot Isabel, an extremely memorable sequence. The acting is variable, Carrie Lorraine as Judy isn't anywhere nears as annoying as a lot of child actors, Cassie Stuart and Bunty Bailey as the hitchhikers are terrible, those accents are awful, where are they supposed to be from? Everyone else is OK. I should also mention the score by Richard Band, it's wonderful. Really atmospheric and creepy and I love the opening theme music, fantastic eerie undertones. At 76 odd minutes it's short, and too be fair needs to be. A decent time waster, but I much prefer the puppet master films, the dolls themselves while being a bit creepy aren't scary or fun. Not bad, just not brilliant either, OK if you've got nothing else to watch and can find a copy to rent, or if it's showing on TV.