Dolly Dearest (1991) User Reviews

Reasonable Rip-off of "Child's Play"

[claudio_carvalho · 5/10 · 16 March 2006]

In Mexico, an archaeologist releases the evil spirit of a devil child from a tomb of an ancient tribe called Sanzia that worshiped Satan on Earth and dies in an accident. Immediately after, an American family with two children arrives to live and reactivate a factory of dolls in a site nearby the archaeological field. Elliot Read (Sam Bottoms) invested the savings of his family in this business to manufacture dolls. He finds many dolls left by the previous owners of the factory, and gives one of them, which is possessed by the fiend, to his daughter Jessica Read (Candy Hutson). The girl changes her behavior, speaks an ancient language and the maid tells to the mother Marilyn Read (Denise Crosby). Meanwhile, the archaeologist Karl Resnick (Rip Torn) arrives to investigate the finding of his colleague. However, the demon has been already released.

"Dolly Dearest" is a clear rip-off "Child's Play" franchise, but is not as bad as the expectation a reader may have with the IMDb Rating of 3.8. Indeed it is a reasonable horror movie, with characters and situation well developed for this type of movie. Denise Crosby plays again the role of a mother new arrival in a different environment that faces problem with his daughter, recalling her performance in "Pet Sematary" (1989). There are some accidentally funny scenes, like for example when Elliot Read is stabbed on his thigh and runs like a hell when the factory is blowing up but in general "Dolly Dearest" is watchable and entertains. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Boneca Assassina" ("Killer Doll")

Bonkers

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 30 May 2020]

Ed Gale played both Chuckie and Dolly Dearest. Knowing this fact has not helped me at all in my life, but perhaps it will bring better fortune to you.

Americans Elliot and Marilyn Wade (Sam Bottoms and Denise Crosby) take their kids Jessica and Jimmy (Candace Huston and Chris Demetral) to Mexico where father is about to run the doll factory, because that's how things go in 1990's direct to video - yes, it played one small theater run - movies.

Jessica soon bonds with Dolly Dearest and accidents start claiming the lives of everyone in the house. This is the kind of movie where an entire doll factory must be blown up to protect a child. That would be the type of movie that I completely endorse.

I'm also totally for any movie that features Rip Torn as an archaeologist who just spews exposition.

Dolly Dearest was directed by Maria Lease, who went from acting in movies like Love Camp 7 and Dracula vs. Frankenstein to being a script supervisor, editor, writer and director.

This movie is completely ridiculous, like some strange mash-up of Demonoid with Child's Play. That's the kind of magical thinking that we need more of.

It's a scary doll

[electra_complex · 5/10 · 15 March 2012]

SPOILY SPOILERS The Read's/Rade's/Wade's (they are referred to all three names during the movie) move to Mexico from L.A, cutesy Jessica is not too happy so to compensate her, her parents put all her weird behavior including (but not limited to) speaking a dead Mexican Satanist language, speaking in a voice normally reserved for demons on cable exorcisim shows, being rude to the maid, cutting her own hair, drawing pictures of hellbeasts, having screaming fits in the car and turning into a dark eyed, pasty, non-verbal problem child who sneaks around with pointy weapon, down to the move and definitely not to the ugly doll her father gave her from the abandoned factory he was tricked into buying.

It's fine as a movie, couple of creepy moments (where the doll is in the chair, Denise Crosby hears clippy clacky steps, looks up and sees the chair rocking on it's own) but as scary as a loaf of bread and similar in other ways too, like it's plain, in need of something else to give it flavor and bloodless.

No reason you should avoid it if you like cheesy horror and if you are reading a review on it you obviously do.

Special mention of Candy Hutson, she was very good in this and it's a pity we don't see more of her

Lupe Ontiveros, RIP

[lee_eisenberg · 5/10 · 23 October 2012]

A lot of "Dolly Dearest" seems like a "Child's Play" ripoff, with a doll possessed by an evil spirit. In this case, the evil spirit comes from an ancient cult in Mexico, and the doll starts controlling the girl who owns it. Most of the movie is pretty predictable but still entertaining.

As is often the case with horror flicks, the cast creates some interesting connections. A noticeable cast member is the recently deceased Lupe Ontiveros as the housekeeper. She played a number of roles over the years; one of her notable roles was that of the woman scorned by Jack Nicholson early on in "As Good as It Gets". The mom is Denise Crosby, aka Bing's granddaughter and best known as Tasha Yar on "Star Trek: The Next Generation"; it seemed as though her character is supposed to look like Marilyn Monroe or Grace Kelly or someone like that. The dad is Sam Bottoms, best known as Lance in "Apocalypse Now". The archaeologist is Rip Torn, most recently known as the chief in the "Men in Black" movies. Crazy stuff.

So, it's basically some cheap entertainment. Still an OK choice for Halloween.

A new twist on an old plot.

[Taiyo · 10 December 1998]

Think of it as the Mexican feminization of "Child's Play". This movie has an incredibly slow start, but is a good watch for fans of movies like the "Child's Play" series, "Dolls", the "Puppet Master" series, and any other movie where dolls can walk and talk. "Dolly Dearest" is your typical, satanically possessed inanimate object movie, containing such well-known actors like Candy Hutson (some of the "Land Before Time" movies), Chris DemetraI ("Somethimes They Come Back") and Denise Crosby ("Pet Sematary"), and comedic favorite Rip Torn. Set against the beautiful background of Mexico, much of the plot of this movie was involved with an ancient black magic curse associated with a pre-Mayan civilization.

It takes nearly a half hour before the movie really starts to get juicy, but once it does, you can't take your eyes off the screen for a second, or you miss something important. Dolly is a terrifying creature, with a tiny, tinny laugh that makes the viewer want to crack up. If you're expecting intelligence and deep meaning to a film, this isn't the horror film for you, but it's an excellent slasher pic. It's not too bad, since there's only a small amount of gore (about the same amount you'll find on a TV movie) and absolutely no nudity, but the satanic overtones may have many viewers picking another movie.

The little girl in the movie, Jessie Wade (Hutson), is written excellently, both as an exuberant young child, and as a slightly satanically possessed creature. Her brother Jimmy (Demetral) is also equally well-written. Where the movie falls short, however, is in the characterization of the mother. Denise Crosby is wasted in the role of this paranoid, semi-psychotic mother who is convinced from the start that her daughter is abnormally obsessed with Dolly (a correct assumption, but a little odd), yet doesn't even notice when her daughter's personality completely changes and she starts acting like an automaton. And never mind that no one notices the few dozen satanically possessed dolls wandering around.

On a scale of one to ten, this movie rates about a six and a half. The storyline behind the movie is mediocre, but the walking and talking dolls make up for it. The young boy is obviously the smartest of the entire lot, something that is typical of horror movies with children. It has the standard horrible ancient curse, but almost any movie regarding satanism or Central America does. I'd recommend it to anyone who's a fan of cult movies or cheezy horror films, in particular "Child's Play" (the first one) and "The Lightning Incident" (with Nancy McKeon), which are both extremely similar.

Well...

[vengeance20 · 4/10 · 25 December 2016]

Saw a trailer for this one a couple of months back & have to say I was looking forward to it. It was sinister, gritty & reminded of the Child's Play films! I thought it looked great & the highlights were added in the trailer which is why it probably looked better than what it was, which sadly, was the truth!

The film starts with an archaeologist in Mexico who pulls down a door to a crypt inside, harbouring a 900-Year-Old spirit who worshipped Satan. The spirit gets unleashed & attaches itself to the conveniently placed dolls in the conveniently place factory adjacent to the mine shaft, where the crypt is situated. The spirits possess the dolls & an American family move to Mexico with the father of the family wanting to start up the production line of "Dolly Dearest" Dolls back up again! Uh oh!

Now, although in 1991, the story was already clichéd, it's not something that bothered me that much. In fact, it was a slight difference from how Child's Play in '89 started. The sequels that followed, were also good until after Child's Plat 3 came out in the same year as this film here, that the next 3 sequels which came out years later sucked arse, but, that's another rant.

Anyway, the film is 90 minutes too long, or should I say too long generally & is the main problem with the film, well the first problem which could've been corrected had it not been for the second problem which would've left none had the film not been so slow to start & drag on with story-line. In other words, the film lacked action & with only 2-3 deaths it was pretty tame & boring. Not to mention the lack of gore & violence which was also another extending factory which let this film down. Like I said, the length of the film wouldn't have bothered me as much had it had more deaths & action in it! It would've made the film seem shorter had it done that! The kills weren't all that great, OK, but not anything to brag about! Tame...!

I also found the film to plod along too slowly for my tastes & again lacked action & kills in so many places! I mean, Child's Play 1, 2 & 3 were better than this! Especially 3, which somehow got negatively received, but so did this so...

The only few good things I could say about this film is that the doll was pretty creepy, the premise was different & ended differently, if not a bit too simply & quickly. It ended & the dolls were killed! They were killed for good, which made me more happy as it's a change from these clichéd films which something always happens near the end to suggest a sequel/prequel taking place! So that was good I guess!

Furthermore, I found the execution style of the dolls to be unique & humorous with the oh Sh...BOOM! That was funny! Along with the young lad, a wannabe archaeologist who stuck his nose where it wasn't wanted, who said: "Play with this, B!tch!" That was humorous too, though I would've liked this film better had it been shorter, or at least with a higher body count as after all, Child's Play was more upbeat & kept you on suspense, while this lost you at parts & had too much story-line & not enough deaths/kills/highlights in it, for it to be a great film! It was a bit weak in a lot of areas & the slow opening of 28-30 minutes didn't help too much either.

I overall give this film a 4/10. It could've been a lot better had it had more deaths in it like the Child's Play films which delivered no problem & had kills & deaths throughout the story-line. Plus the deaths themselves could've been better & more gorier & the film could've been more "with it" as it looked faded & not that upbeat!

FAIR SPECIAL EFFECTS, BUT NOT SCARY

[TEXICAN-2 · 5/10 · 21 November 1999]

This was one of those bad movies that had some good effects, but wasn't really scary, except to maybe a five year old.

The acting was good, but, the characters were annoying, and very stereotyped.

The life of the show was the terrific appearance of Rip Torn. He always seems to enjoy his work, and he has that kind of sarcastic side about him that you can chuckle at and not feel bad about it.

So good scares for the young or the faint-at-heart. Otherwise, just a standard possessed-doll-raising-hell-type movie.

Not as fun as the first time watch

[atinder · 6/10 · 2 December 2013]

And I Just re-watch Dolly Dearest 1991

I had only seen it once before, it thought i liked but I could remember how it's ended,

I liked how the plot started and the movie made some tense moments, I loved Mirror scenes, where get to see doll standing and again she was gone.

The doll it's self was very creepy and I thought kill scenes were really well done, it still work these days .

But felt some of script was bit weak in some parts of the movie, made it's feel a bit outdated and I found the ending a little rushed.

I would not mind if this movie gets remake but it's not of best killer doll movies, well it was not as fun as Chucky or even The Dolls, were fun watch, I didn't really find this movie that fun

The acting was decent. 6 out of 10

Interesting storyline, wrong "Child's Play" influences.

[insomniac_rod · 3/10 · 23 October 2004]

"Dolly Dearest" is a little early 90's horror flick with some pretensions. The storyline can be considered as a mix between the late 80's hit "Child's Play" and "Poltergeist II".

The whole "son of the devil" plot is quite interesting considering that it's linked with the delightful Maya civilization (a mystery sorrounds it's banishing from earth). The plot is imaginative until the dolls come to life.

"Child's Play" excuse to bring the doll to life is actually believable for people that are familiar with occultism, black magic, and voodoo.

"Dolly Dearest" copied the Chucky idea in order to seduce horror junkies but it failed big time.

The premise of the movie doesn't help it because the idea had been taken years before and the publicity campaign for the movie didn't say anything about the whole "son of the devil" thing.

OK the plot is something you've seen and it doesn't helps that the acting is AWFUL, the direction is boring and dull, the score is lame, and the f/x are laughable. To me, the best moment of the movie is when Rip Torn's character discovers the skeleton of the "son of the devil" (the body of a boy with the head of a goat). That was the only creepy moment.

Most of the situations are absurd. For example, the brat blonde girl talks with a possessed voice (like in "The Exorcist") and her geeky brother says something like "wow you learned how to speak". The line is stupid but you need to see the scene to get as mad as me. Also there are 2 huge goofs: The first one is when police determines that Luis death was caused by a heart stroke but they don't mention that his hand was almost cut in half! Then, you can hear from the police car's radio American people talking trying to imitate the Mexican accent. Why would American people work for the Mexican police!? The producers couldn't find more Mexican extras.

"Dolly Dearest" had potential but it's problem came when deciding which movie ideas to mix. The "Poltergeist" inspiration went well but stealing the idea of "Child's Play" didn't work while trying to put it on the storyline.

3/10. Boring early 90's cheese. No gore, no scares.

it's a killer doll movie - what do you expect?!

[thetallman67 · 6/10 · 15 December 2002]

not as bad as some make out. the doll(s) are quite scary & the effects are ok. the film chugs along nicely. if your a fan of killer doll movies then check it out. better than some stuff Full Moon churn out... if anyone's interested this is available as a cheap region zero Hong Kong DVD. rated 6/10.

Hi, my name is Dolly and I'm a pathetic Chucky rip-off.

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 22 March 2013]

Following in the tiny (and lucrative) footsteps of killer doll hit Child's Play (1988), Dolly Dearest sees the spirit of a murderous Mayan demon freed from an ancient Mexican tomb to possess the dolls in the factory recently purchased by American family, The Wades (Sam Bottoms, Denise Crosby, Chris Demetral and Candy Hutson). But where Chucky, the diminutive star of Child's Play, was a brilliantly expressive creation designed by FX genius Kevin Yagher and voiced by the very talented Brad Dourif, 'Dolly' is just dull, a forgettable lump of plastic with zero personality.

Furthermore, the script for Dolly Dearest is extremely derivative, not just content with ripping off Child's Play, but several other horror classics as well (there are shades of The Omen, The Exorcist and Poltergeist); the direction is also uninspired, leaving the reasonable cast struggling against the odds to make matters entertaining. The film might have proved more bearable with more and much gorier death scenes, but all we get are a bloodless electrocution and a guy having a heart attack (having had his hand pushed into a sewing machine). Oh, and the only half decent scares are courtesy of a stray cat that makes a habit of leaping out from behind the boxes in the factory.

A Nostalgia Bomb, For Me

[michaelgarykelley1994 · 8/10 · 28 September 2019]

I saw this movie once, when I was very young-nearly ten years ago-, and it truly creeped me out. There's just something about the dreamlike feeling this movie has going for it. It works so well with such a small budget, and it's clearly a rip-off of the Child's Play flicks I adore so much.

The animatronics and design of the possessed doll is absolutely horrific, and anyone with a phobia of such a thing will be as bothered by it as I am.

Definitely a big recommendation from me-and easily one of the best living-doll-genre movies to ever exist. I can't believe how underrated Dolly Dearest is.

Unexpectedly surprised

[QuinTekno · 6/10 · 7 July 2022]

When I first started watching this movie I was already thinking "Yet another killer doll movie", "this is going to be a Child's Play ripoff".

And yes indeed, you could consider it as a Child's Play ripoff but then again; which killer doll movie isn't?

Maybe it's not the greatest or scariest movie ever made, but this movie genuinely surprised me mostly in terms of the storyline.

All of that being said, I would definitely recommend watching this one, it's really worth the watch.

Beautiful, hand-manufactured ... little bitches!

[Coventry · 3/10 · 9 March 2008]

"Dolly Dearest" is a very boring, extremely redundant and almost intolerably gore-free imitation of Tom Holland's unexpectedly successful shocker "Child's Play"; starring Brad Dourif as the voice of a toy doll possessed with the spirit of a psychopathic killer. This knock-off, released approximately at the same time as the second sequel to "Child's Play", replaces the one male doll with multiple female ones and the murderer's vengeful spirit with a 900-year-old Satanic curse, but pretty much all the other elements in the script are identical. The dolls aim to possess the body of an innocent young girl, the parents are initially blind for the horrific events destroying their family happiness and the killer dolls even shout out supposedly witty but dumb one-liners near the end of the film. The story takes place somewhere in Mexico, where the ambitious American businessman Elliot Reid bought a ramshackle doll factory with the intention of distributing beautiful and handmade dolls all over the planet. But the factory is located next to old mines where an archaeologist accidentally set free the ghost of the Sanzian Devil Child. The ghost seeks refuge in several dollies, one of them belonging to Elliot's cherubic 7-year-old daughter Jessica. The dolls actually look menacing, especially in their "normal" state, but the film is very slow-paced and uninteresting. The first doll-attack is reasonably exciting, but it comes too far into the film and around a time when most die-hard horror fanatics have already given up all hopes to seeing a good film. The character drawings are bland and unsympathetic and the acting performances (with the exception of Rip Torn as a grumpy university's archaeologist) are horridly miserable. Writer/director Maria Lease – previously an exploitation actress – thought up a couple of potentially great aspects, like for example the old factory setting and the mines, but stupidly only uses a small percentage of them. Doll parts, most notably broken and/or ancient, form some of the creepiest horror scenery imaginable, but the film only offers a bit of eerie doll-graveyard footage. Simply everything about "Dolly Dearest" is mediocre and unmemorable, including Mark Snow's dull music and the evil grimaces on dolly's rubber face. Usually rip-offs and imitations are far more exploitative (meaning gorier, sleazier and more demented) than the originals they're based on, but "Dolly Dearest" is a rare exception to this unwritten rule… It's "Child's Play" for actual child audiences.

"You Have A Big Head! All Women Have Big Heads!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 25 May 2021]

In DOLLY DEAREST, dollmakers, Marilyn and Elliot Wade (Denise Crosby and Sam Bottoms), along with their two children, relocate to Mexico to manufacture the doll of the title. They find the factory in disrepair, and an archaeological dig going on nearby.

We know from the opening scene that tragedy struck this site, and something supernatural was unleashed. The Wades are oblivious to this fact. A doll just happens to be sitting in the factory, so, it's given to the Wades' daughter. It's not long before we hear the pitter patter of tiny feet in the night.

Horror and death unfold.

Like CHILD'S PLAY, there's a killer doll on the loose. Unlike that movie, DD also has a demonic possession story that goes beyond the doll. Ms. Crosby is very good in her role as the one who suspects that something weird is going on.

Is the doll itself terrifying? No, but it is menacing enough, and scary in spots. However, it does have its pungent moments of cheddar, usually while strolling around, or somersaulting backward through a doorway.

EXTRA POINTS FOR: The utterly bonkers, all-dolls-on-deck, dynamite finale!...

Average Child's Play rip-off.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 6 April 2006]

Dolly Dearest starts at an archaeological dig in Mexico where professor Bob Larabe (Brass Adams) opens an ancient tomb he believes to be Mayan, however in an accident Larabe is killed & evil spirits escape the tomb... Elliot (Sam Bottoms) & Marilyn Read (Denise Crosby) plus their two young children Jessica (Candace Hutson) & Jimmy (Chris Demetral) are about to begin a new life in Mexico having moved from Los Angeles, they have sunk all their money into a doll factory which they plan to run themselves. The factory isn't in the best of conditions but the Read's are prepared for the hard work ahead, while looking around Jessica notices a rack of large dolls & ask's her Mother if she can have one which she can. Unfortunately this is no ordinary doll, it starts to possess Jessica & make her say & do bad things while the doll itself has been possessed by an evil Sanzian spirit released from the tomb who likes to kill, terrorise & generally cause trouble...

Written & directed by Maria Lease I thought Dolly dearest was an average horror film, it passed the time but wasn't especially good. The script has Child's Play (1988) written all over doesn't it? It also has a little bit of The Omen (1976) thrown in for good measure as well with it's child possession angle & evil spirits. Now, both Child's Play & The Omen are fine films so what's wrong with blending them together I hear you say. Well for a start it adds nothing of it's own & doesn't do a thing with the concept, this could have been a great little horror film if the filmmakers had delivered plenty of deaths, a quick pace to the story, decent character's, some decent exploitation & something that just wasn't so instantly forgettable. It's all rather predictable, it's far too slow (only one kill within the first hour?), the potential of having a factory of possessed dolls seemed to be wasted, it's set entirely within the confines of one house, a factory & an archaeological dig which gives it a very limited feeling. Having said that it's quite fun on occasion, it doesn't really try to be anything else other than a killer doll horror film & as long as you can cope with a slow pace it provides a reasonable amount of entertainment. At least it kept me watching until the end & I didn't want to stop it at any point. Nowhere near as good as Child's Play, Dolls (1987) or Puppet Master (1989).

Director Lease proves that women can make horror films just as badly as any male although to be fair to her Dolly Dearest is competent & has a nice horror film atmosphere to it, it's not really scary though & there's an unforgivable lack of blood & gore, someone is stabbed with some scissors & someone gets their hand caught in a sewing machine but that's about it. The dolls themselves are really ugly & aren't scary or creepy & if I had children I wouldn't give them a doll as unintentionally freaky looking as this.

Technically Dolly Dearest is alright, it could have been worse I suppose, the doll effects are OK although the red evil spirit effect's at the start look extremely dated. Set in Mexico it was actually filmed in Santa Clarita, California. The acting was average with the two children becoming increasingly more annoying as time passed, Rip Torn makes an appearance as an archaeologist.

Dolly Dearest isn't the best killer toy film ever but it's not the worst either, I suppose it's smack bang right in the middle somewhere. I thought it was average, worth a watch if you've got nothing better to do & you can grab a copy cheap or catch it on TV for free.

Bad... just bad

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 1/10 · 1 January 2005]

When I borrowed this from a friend, he said that it was "just a stupid little movie that you could watch, if you didn't take it seriously... at all". Well, I must say, he was absolutely right. This film has no redeeming qualities whatsoever... it's just bad. The very idea is so stupid that it's no wonder that this was an independent film... I can't imagine a studio that would be so overbearing that it would fund a film like this. I have seen some bad horror films in my time, but this is just... it's hard to put into words just how bad it is. The plot is stupid and lame. The pacing is horrible. How can 90 minutes go by so slowly? The acting is awful with no exceptions. And I do mean awful. Not one single character is convincingly acted. Even Rip Torn, the one name on the cast list that is actually a recognizable actor, does a bad job in this. I'm going to have to assume that it's the quality of the direction that is to blame for this, as Rip does a fine job in everything else I've seen him in. The characters are poorly written and not even the least bit credible. They are paper-thin, stereotypical and clichéd as well. The dialog is poorly written, and can be divided into two sections, both equally bad. The first is all the standard dialog that you hear in all of these half-cooked horror films... the clichéd stuff. "Something is in there!" "It will kill again!" Stuff like that. The second is dialog made up to sound smart... most of this is said by the character of the son. This is something the writer put in to appeal to teenagers that see the film... which is a problem, because the son character is supposed to be an inquisitive, book-smart, intelligent kid. So it doesn't fit very well to have him say "dude" and "cool" in-between his smart lines. The doll was about as scary as a visit at grand-ma's... and that's being generous. The film has very few, if any, genuine scares or shocks. The premise is unoriginal. The only real reason to see this is to laugh at the pure ridiculous nature of it. The number of clichés, the amount of stupidity in the production, the ludicrous script, the lack of creativity... it can't be properly described. If you have a chance to do so for free, see it for yourself and you'll see what I mean. An unremarkable film that is only worth spending time on if you, like me, want to compare horror films(particularly bad ones). No one should have to spend money on seeing it, though, unless they are crazy about "killer doll" horror films. I recommend it only to people belonging in one of the two aforementioned groups. No one else. 1/10

Lamentable Child's Play rip-off

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 27 June 2016]

As you may have already guessed, CHILD'S PLAY is the influence for this lamentable C-grade horror movie which doesn't even have the decency of including any of the genre staples (eg. sex or violence) which would have made it more of an exploitation piece. Instead, we're treated to long sequences where little occurs (eg. the first half an hour), terribly wooden acting and a clichéd script which also draws in influences (or to put it plainly, rips off) from POLTERGEIST and THE EVIL DEAD. The best thing about this boring, cheaply-made effort is that I didn't have to pay to see it! At least it keeps a straight face throughout, which means that it's better than abysmal fare like the LEPRECHAUN series or that abomination, RUMPLESTILTSKIN. Sadly, though, the deadly serious tone only provides a couple of unintentional chuckles throughout the film.

Things open with some of those poor computer effects standing in for an ancient Mexican evil force that immediately possesses a factory of dolls. The box makes this sound impressive, until you realise that there are only about four dolls in the "factory" (more like a run-down shed). After this we are introduced to an all-American family. These are a mixed bunch. Firstly we have the terrible actress Denise Crosby. For Denise, this was another step down in her career, which had previously gone from STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION(a popular, mainstream cult television series) to PET SEMATARY(a just about passable Stephen King adaptation). After this, things could only get worse, and the last I know of her, she was shedding her clothes for some erotic cable series.

Her husband is an irritating, mindless idiot who must be blind not to notice the "odd" things going on in his household (daughter speaking in strange tongues, child's strange attachment to doll, son's obsession with archaeological site). He is played by Sam Bottoms, a wooden nobody. The daughter is an irritating, whining little girl, but the son is a likable geek. Another desperate actor appearing in the cast is Rip Torn, who plays a John Rhys-Davies type role of an intrepid archaeologist - at least HIS career could only go up from here.

There is only one gore scene of note in the film, a painful moment where a man gets his hand caught in a sewing machine. There are three deaths in total. One occurs at the beginning, with a man getting crushed under a stone door. The second man has a heart attack (?), and then a woman gets electrocuted. Big deal. The film doesn't even offer up much in the way of doll rampage, with the limited special effects of an animated doll only appearing briefly throughout the film - what a rip off.

Seriously, the best thing I can say about this movie is that it's short, and also at least the dolls don't keep coming back to life - once they're dead, they stay dead, which doesn't prolong the agony. A few of the scenes in the Mexican tomb are all right as well, particularly the discover of a desiccated, goat-headed corpse. And check out some of that hilarious dialogue, like "My daughter is possessed by a 900 year old goat-head, damn it!". All in all, though, this is a colourless affair, and one to be avoided like so many others, unless you're REALLY stuck for something to see.

The first three Childs Play-movies might not be as awesome as you wish - this is worse.

[Finfrosk86 · 3/10 · 15 June 2015]

This is obviously a ripoff of Child's Play, but I don't mind that. I don't really mind movie rip offs - if they are entertaining. If they bring something cool to the table, I'm all in. Doesn't have to reinvent anything, but they have to be entertaining.

Problem here is that the movie is kind of boring. It's not directly bad in quality. Budget is alright. It works alright. But it is just not much fun.

I got this movie in a horror 4-pack, so my expectations weren't exactly sky high, but it still was too boring for my taste.

It's not scary. The doll is alright, but never scary.

You will have to be pretty damn crazy about killer doll-movies to find this interesting.

It's a shame they didn't do more with it, they could have brought in some new, cool elements, but nope. Just a bland ripoff. And the Childs Play movies aren't even that great. I mean, Chucky is cool and all, but I was a little disappointed by them. At least the first couple. The "Chucky"-ones are better.

Not outright bad, but it distinctly fails to inspire

[I_Ailurophile · 5/10 · 28 September 2022]

There's no getting around the densely populated territory this movie plays in. The "evil doll" notion has been around seemingly forever, and dominated for a long time by the 'Child's play' series that saw the first three entries released all within a few short years (or months!) all before this. Though specifics differ, scenes and story beats recall Don Mancini's brainchild, 'The omen,' and various other genre flicks even including 'The exorcist,' while plot development is decidedly direct and swift. 'Dolly Dearest' is modestly enjoyable, but it also isn't anything to get especially excited about.

I don't think this is altogether bad. It's fairly well made, in fact. The picture ably carries slight measures of atmosphere at times, and a few small moments are almost mildly hair-raising or thrilling. Such as it is, I think 'Dolly Dearest' is reasonably well written and directed; some scenes come off better than others. I like Mark Snow's score in and of itself, dramatic and dynamic; post-production visuals are dated, but effects at large look good. The production design and art direction are swell generally, and the cast are fine - Hey! Denise Crosby! Rip Torn! A job well done, young Candace Hutson! It's hardly gripping and essential, but when all is said and done this is passably entertaining genre fare.

There are issues, however, and the biggest is that there's nothing here we haven't seen before. No matter how well done this or that may be, nothing particularly inspires, let alone elevates one's pulse. It's not quite accurate to say this is "horror by numbers," but such a phrase does loosely approximate how it looks and feels. More concretely, 'Dolly Dearest' is almost certainly at its best where the genre element is more suggested than shown; a dash of subtlety can go a long way. While they look good in and of themselves, the more a scene shows us of the titular toys in action, the more dubious it all becomes. And while the screenplay is suitable enough in the broad strokes, some of the dialogue and scene writing is overly tired, if not outright hackneyed. For all the hard work and care that went into making this, there are definite rough patches throughout the writing, and in some parts that really shows. With this said, the actors on hand perform admirably overall, but there's no doubt they're restricted by the material.

I can't say I didn't have a good time watching. If it's a horror movie you want, a horror movie you'll get. Only, there's a splendid array of other features past and present that are more original, more chilling, more compelling, and all around better. For as fundamentally solid as 'Dolly Dearest' is, weaknesses and shortcomings hold it back to the point that this is best reserved for a lazy, quiet day; file under "why not." Most recommendable specifically for fans of the cast, there are much worse things you could see, but plenty other horror flicks should top your watch list first.

It's Not A Killer Doll Film. It's Something Else.....

[nu-arc · 10/10 · 14 December 2006]

Dolly Dearest,however, comes across to most people as a "Child's Play Rip-Off" and a "Cheesey Low-Budget Horror Movie" when in fact, it's neither of what they think it is! Dolly Dearest is actually a very clever film produced with original ideas. It doesn't copy Child's Play that much because, the Dollies are not killer dolls, they are possessed by a devilish spirit that "wants children and would do anything to spread it's word to the children". Therefore, the evil spirit takes the form of toys because, it knows that children love dolls (mainly little girls). And it is an easier way to get to children and possess them and turn them into the "Sanzia Devil Child", just like what happened to little Jessica in this movie.

If my review doesn't agree with you, that's OK! Because you are entitled to your opinion. If you don't, I suggest you watch it a couple of times and let your imagination run wild because, I think the idea of this film is mainly left to the imagination.

I'll NEVER get those 93 minutes of my life back!!!

[screamking_99 · 18 January 2000]

One of the worst movies i have EVER seen, I can't believe that i sat all the way through thinking to myself "it'll get better, it'll get better"...but it didn't get better! The characters were so underdeveloped and just plain annoying! i couldn't believe the mother could just let her daughter do as she pleased, and how she would manipulate her mother and the mother was TOO blind to see it. the main character(s) in the film talks all together for about 5 minutes! It wasn't even scary, you could tell instantly that this sorry excuse for a movie was just a rip off of the very popular movies 'Child's Play' and 'The Exorcist'! to the people who think they'd like this film...YOU'RE WRONG!TRUST ME!! i give this crap 1/10

Did Chucky have a distant relative?...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 15 August 2022]

Stumbling upon the 1991 horror movie "Dolly Dearest" here in 2022, I opted to sit down and watch what writers Maria Lease, Rod Nave and Peter Sutcliffe had to offer. I recall one of my friends once commenting on how bad the movie was, so of course I had to sit down and watch it, now that I had the opportunity to do so.

Well, I will say that I didn't find director Maria Lease's 1991 movie "Dolly Dearest" to be all that bad. Sure, it wasn't a milestone in horror cinema, but it was a watchable enough movie for what it turned out to be.

The movie feels somewhat like a watered down cash-in on the success of the first three "Child's Play" movies from 1988, 1990 and 1991. However, "Dolly Dearest" was just lacking the witty banter and humor, and all the killings that the "Child's Play" movies had. But hey, if you enjoy movies with killer dolls and possessed dolls, then you should check out "Dolly Dearest".

The acting performances in the movie was okay, taking into consideration the limitations imposed by a somewhat stale script. It was nice, though, to see the likes of Denise Crosby, Chris Demetral and Rip Torn on the cast list.

Visually then "Dolly Dearest" was okay. I mean, the special effects were adequate, but you're not in for a grand cinematic experience in special effects.

All in all, watchable for what it turned out to be, though I doubt I will ever return to watch it again.

My rating of "Dolly Dearest" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Not bad...

[AndyVanScoyoc · 5/10 · 4 April 2019]

I've certainly seen worse. I don't mind that it's yet another doll movie. Who cares? It's enough of a stand alone idea to garner a watch.

If you're looking for fast action, this isn't it, but it is instead...steadyish.

Lagging very little, it's mostly watchable with little boredom.

The doll itself, is unreal, as in, someone seriously went to a lot of trouble to craft something so freaky.

Good movie to watch when you're all alone...

Dolly Dumbest

[saint_brett · 1/10 · 24 November 2023]

Dolly Dearest? Yeah, she performed at halftime yesterday at the Cowboys game. Not so sure about covering Queen, Dolly. No Dolly Parton's were harmed in the making of this movie. Dollywood would be a great setting for a horror movie.

'Dolly Dearest' starts with Jack Clumpus jiggling an Aztec burial chamber door. Resenting his meddling ways, the chamber door squashes him like a grape, and a mysterious red visual is released.

Tea Leoni and her family fly to Mexico in under a minute, and I hope the whole movie doesn't take place there. So baron and unattractive.

The quicker we can get back to California or Dollywood, the livelier the movie will be.

Cindy Brady selects the most hideous doll in a discount warehouse factory, and the movie's so lousy it never bothered explaining how the red 80s visual effect wound up in the dolls.

If you thought George Costanza's doll of his mother was ugly, check out this thing.

Was 'Dolly Dearest' made to counter 'Chucky?' It's his second cousin, right?

Already, the doll moves around like an animatronic and seems to display sinister undertones. Either that or its face output is permanently left like that on purpose.

It has a stronghold over Cindy Brady and controls her like a remote control car, both emotionally and psychically.

Come on, movie, you're all pastry and no meat so far!

In an attempt to beef up the lack of iron in the plot, Marilyn Monroe cuts her hair short and fires The Brady's housemaid, Alice Nelson, for disobedience.

Twice in this movie, two actresses have haircuts, meaning they were working on other movie projects besides this one and weren't dedicated to the project. In demand, were we?

I can't say the same for the dad in this! He is a cardboard cut-out of a human and acts stiffly like a robotic surfboard. Sam Bottoms is the worst in this!

30 minutes in, and my rating still sits at 0/10.

Defying Monroe, the maid sticks around out of arrogance or sheer stupidity, and you should have left when you had the chance, Alice, as you're about to become victim #1.

If this kill is any good, then points will be awarded on my 0/10 scorecard as nothing has happened so far.

Dolly Dearest strikes first blood with a pocket knife and electrocution, but my score still sits at 0/10.

Oh boy, most actors in this have that whole twenty-in-one Stormtrooper facial expression you see on t-shirts.

Could someone at least try to look like they're enjoying being in this movie?

I'll make a deal with ya, movie, if the family packs up and flies back to Cali, I'll give you five quick points on my rating.

42 minutes in, and it's boring.

I hope my review isn't coming across as boring. Hey, it's the movie, not my review.

50 minutes in, and still nothing!

The father and mother haven't changed their facial expression or demeanor once yet.

The only one displaying any oomph is the Poindexter son, but even then, he's trying too hard to come across as being funny, as no one else is carrying their weight.

It's like they didn't even want to be in this movie altogether. The performances are lethargic.

Cat jump scares are the oldest trick in the book.

So, what's the movie's intention or aim?

That a bunch of perverts are manufacturing Tender Dolls down in Mexico for global distribution only to have customs seize them at designated borders?

They flew down here with the promise of a managerial job in a factory, but it's just a dilapidated garden shed that's only produced three dolls. What's Sam Bottoms supposed to supervise?

A perverted dude with hebephile tendencies died just then because he ran his hand under a Singer sewing machine's needle and committed suicide. You don't die from a hand injury.

An hour in, and I take it we're stuck in Mexico for the duration?

YES! Around the one-hour, seven-minute mark, the mother says, "I want to go back to Los Angeles." Now we're talking, lady! One-way ticket, one-way ticket, one-way ticket to LA. "I don't think so." Sadly, they don't fly back to the States by the end of the movie. If they had, I'd suggest taking some acting classes and working on personality traits.

The dad in this, Sam Bottoms, is the worst! If he won a billion dollars in this movie, he'd still sport the same facial expression.

"I'm not going to lose my daughter to a 900-year-old goat head." Powerful writing.

Look how bored all these actors are! Look at their faces. They must have landed a role in a movie prior to 'Dolly Dearest' and were contracted and required to make 2 more movies on the deal and weren't enthused or put in.

Either Medusa froze their faces or the wind blew when they were pulling faces, but they haven't changed expressions once in this.

Poindexter blasts Dolly Dearest away with a shotgun, and that scene is half decent, I guess.

I think the director of this put aside 90% of the film's budget just for that big explosion at the end, thinking it would pay off big time.

You're really going to end your movie on that dynamite note, director? What's her name says something like, "I hope it's over." And it does finish briefly on that note. Like Cousin Eddie asked, "You serious, Clark?"

I'll award this movie one point because it's better than 'Body Rock,' and I'll throw in a bonus piece of trivia that I only learned today free of charge.

Did you know that there's a typo on Elvis' diploma? Yeah, see if you can spot it.