The Doll (III) (2016) User Reviews

The Doll: Watchable Indonesian horror

[Platypuschow · 5/10 · 17 January 2019]

I dropped the ball a tad, this is the first movie of The Doll trilogy and not realizing I went and watched the last part Sabrina (2018) first. My bad! However based on this I get the impression that's not really an issue as they appear to be independent stories with recurring characters.

Now regarding Sabrina it was flawed but oddly competent stuff and not the silly killer doll movie I expected, The Doll is very very similar and in many regards almost the same movie. It is however almost the same movie but on a lower budget and it shows.

It tells the story of a supposedly haunted doll that gets brought into the new home of a young couple, you can probably work out how this plays out.

I've been watching a fair few Indonesian movies lately and though not groundbreaking I've actually enjoyed them, they're not what you'd expect at all and seem to be a blend of western and eastern methods of film making.

The Doll is hardly original and some parts look really quite terrible, however it's a passable enough effort and Sara Wijayanto shines as franchise recurring character Ms.Laras.

If you're new to Indonesian cinema The Doll franchise is a harmless place to start and I'm now looking forward to watching the 2nd movie to complete the trilogy.

The Good:

Some creepy moments

Sara Wijayanto

The Bad:

Some really quite bad cgi

Has its fair share of flaws and cliches

Anna-Doll

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 27 June 2019]

Yes, there were Puppet Horror movies well before Annabelle and there will be more in the future. But this seems to be quite inspired by that universe (string of movies). Horror movies will be horror movies and either you like some of them no matter how much cliche is thrown into the mix or you will be utterly annoyed by watching.

Hide and seek is one thing, when your doll is playing that game with you, you should consider consulting someone who knows what is up. And while there are western influences as I already said, you can also see that it does have its own mythology when it comes to ghosts, respect for the dead and the other/under-world. There have been worse movies out there, but there have been way better horror movies too (and no that is not a pun for the sequel)

Good storyline

[philippakoh · 6/10 · 19 October 2020]

I thought that the beginning was meh but from the middle to the end, it was very good for a low budget movie!

Indonesia meets Annabelle

[fireprincesstorah · 3/10 · 22 April 2019]

The beginning was screaming a retake to the Annabelle doll story as pertaining to a family that becomes troubled by a killer doll and tells a paranormal couple all about their troubles. Skipping to the young couple moving in to the house, the wife is your cliché annoying trope on women, starts complaining, asks her husband to take care of everything when she senses something may be wrong in the house...and the cart thing? A bit funny but after the second time she smells it, she couldn't guess that the doll may be the center of this?

Overall the movie was low budgeted, lame and over the top boring on jump scares and drama. No offense to the writing, cast and crew but this movie i would never recommend. How this got several more movies...i dare not hazard a guess.

So bad that it's really good!

[towers-36285 · 5/10 · 14 September 2019]

I don't speak Chinese yet It's evident how hilariously bad the actors are. The script is so inept that it makes you laugh at how bad it is and the CG is on the level of Birdemic.

I would describe this as 'The Room' of the horror genre.

It's so bad whilst trying to treat it so serious that it because a barrel of laughs!

Same old plot...

[nasar-640-371545 · 3/10 · 20 February 2021]

Very comical.....we laughed all the way...at the 2 male (useless dump) uztaz behind a modern women shaman wanting for her to the job...might as well hide beneath her skirt. In the end all can't do a proper job....ha ha ha ha......dump direction!

Sara Wijayanto rocked!

[ini_ynti-22457 · 7/10 · 28 October 2019]

I think this movie was good and scary as it was supposed to be but I can't give it a higher rating than three and a half stars because some details of this movie looked so much like the life of Ed and Lorraine Warren from The Conjuring. And the doll itself maybe is a resemblance of Annabelle but I haven't watched it so I gotta watch it soon. Also I couldn't fully agree about Daniel's past deed that angered Uci the most. I think It should've just stop at the tree cutting.

Horrible!!!

[fernandate · 1/10 · 31 March 2019]

This movie is horrible. Don't waist your time watching it. The actors are terrible. Their performances are very bad. 👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼 Is not scary, it's stupid

I do not recommend the movie

[olcayozfirat · 2/10 · 2 March 2022]

2016 Indonesian horror movie. Yes, we have come this far. The movie is the classic cursed doll movie. All known clichés are present. Some scenes are better than I expected. Two things are interesting in the movie.

The first is that Indonesians are Muslims and their prayers. We see this more especially in episode 2.

The second is that Indonesians do not die with 5-10 knife and scissor blows.

Indonesian not Chinese

[vince.smith · 10/10 · 17 October 2019]

Some reviewers think this is Chinese it is not it is Indonesian. Excellent film far superior to what is coming out of the USA at the moment.

A movie that try's way too hard to be like The Conjuring and Annabelle.

[HorrorDisasterGuy-90617 · 3/10 · 1 July 2023]

I found this to be a weak supernatural doll movie. The story is like if you take both Annabelle and The Conjuring and combine them together. It's mostly just the poor man version of Annabelle that isn't told well and is rather predictable. The movie has a pacing issue with scenes happening too quickly or dragged on a little bit too long. It even copies scenes from The Conjuring like the opening and the wardrobe jump scare. Even the creepiness factor is a mix bag with the movie have a decent atmosphere and creepy backstory of the doll, but it mostly uses cheap jump scares throughout. The climax itself is a mixed bag that is somewhat suspenseful, but it drags on too long. But the movie itself has an unexpected twist to it, and I didn't see it coming.

The Doll

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 12 August 2023]

Directed by Rocky Soraya, who wrote the film with Riheam Junianti, The Doll starts when Daniel (Denny Sumargo) and his wife Anya (Shandy Aulia) move to a new city thanks to his new job. The first person Anya meets is Niken (Vitta Mariana Barrazza), who believes in the supernatural. She also gets a doll from her husband's new job after he destroys a sacred tree - I guess that's some kind of benefit - but said doll is connected to the occult power that Niken feels and wants revenge. Also - both Niken and Daniel have dealt with the doll before, a strange toy that once belonged to a little girl named Uci. She and her family was killed in a robbery and now her spirit is inside her former doll.

There are some not bad CGI crows, some fun gore and sadly, a plot that goes on way too long. But hey, the scene where the doll attacks Anya while she's trying to take a bath is pretty scary, which is more than you'd get from an American movie trying to be Child's Play. Or Annabelle.

The Doll had a sequel in 2017 and 2022. It's a mark of how much I liked this that I wouldn't mind watching either of those.

Just once enough

[alia27 · 4/10 · 16 May 2022]

I picked this movie for the a long weekend's choice as it's said that the 3rd sequel will be released this year. I believe I've watched it few years ago but not sure it was memorable enough to make me intentionally re-watch it in 2022. The Doll (2016) is one of those cheesy creation by Indonesian that finally caught my full attention in the last 10 mins (at least) after the appearance of Sara Wijayanto, tbh. I decided to grasp the entire lame conversation and plot in the first 20 mins but still can't help dozing off because its raw execution of scenarios, irrational bridging, or even the poor roles. So, I jumped the cursor to the last 20 mins and finally, a fruitful stories to witness.

I usually don't count the stars I gave to rate a film but as a proud Indonesian, I felt obliged to address my reviews for a better execution of horror movies in the future, especially in collaboration with the best production house and movie stars like this one.

1st star = for the actors choice and location 2nd star = for the adopted and adapted scenes from conjuring series. Yes it was smooth anyways, but I love horror genres and conjuring universe is one of a hail series deserved to re-watch, thus I recognized "that" parts you used and re-created 3rd star = for the special effects and logical impact during the thrilling scenes only 4th star = for a light moral value by Mrs. Sara as usual. I love DMS, might this be a biased comment but her narratives were virtuous for us who still alive.

I previously planned to watch the 2nd sequel, The Doll 2, but seeing the first one was kinda like this, I might re-think first.

Despite its potential, the movie has more misses than hits

[kevin_robbins · 4/10 · 4 January 2024]

I recently viewed the Indonesian 🇮🇩 film The Doll (2016) on Netflix. The plot revolves around a construction worker who, after finding a doll, unwittingly brings it home to his doll maker wife. However, his mistake becomes apparent when he discovers the doll's dark past-once owned by a little girl brutally murdered with her family. Now, the doll possesses a sinister mind of its own.

Directed by Rocky Soraya (Indigo), the film features Shandy Aulia (Tarot), Sara Wijayanto (Tarot), Denny Sumargo (A Man Called Ahok), and Demian Aditya (Sabrina).

Despite its potential, the movie has more misses than hits. The dialogue and character interactions feel cheesy, resembling a made-for-television production. The horror elements lack the intended intensity, with underwhelming scratches, uncreepy messages behind the doll, and disappointing CGI vomit. However, the transformation of the doll into a ghost is incredibly well done, showcasing scenes that, with better use of the effect, could have elevated the movie to gem status. Despite its flaws, I plan to watch the sequels.

In conclusion, The Doll falls short of its potential, earning a score of 4/10. Still, if you're seeking something different, it's worth watching once.

Parts are good. Only parts.

[el7 · 4/10 · 15 August 2020]

The Doll is structured a lot like The Conjuring, with a cold open about some young people dealing with an unwanted guest in the form of a haunted doll, and the two paranormal investigators who agree to help them out. Then, instead of seguing to a different case, the movie swerves forward in time to a different family encountering the same haunted doll, which is a more cohesive way to manage the story. The movie also does a good job of setting up the reason why the husband is so reluctant to listen to everybody telling him to watch out for that doll. He has very compelling memories of his own haunting him and countermanding anything he's hearing about not messing with the doll. But then the movie spends far too long on scenes that don't add anything to the story. Instead of increasing the tension, they drag the story out. The joke about whether the husband farted or it was a haunted doll was only cute the first time. There are also way too many spooky scenarios that play out in the exact same way, defusing any tension after the second time it happens. The best spooky scenes actually involve the manifestation of the little girl reputedly haunting the doll; not the doll itself, upon whom the camera lingers far too often with literally nothing happening. A number of set pieces are reminiscent of The Conjuring, and you'll recognize them when they start, but there are some good scenes that are not from that franchise. If you have this on in the background while you're doing something else, pause what you're doing when the scene in which the wife discovers a child outside in the rain and mistakes her for the neighbor's kid comes on -- that one is quite good and worth paying attention for. The practical effects in this movie are very good. The CGI is not. Did there need to be exploding bats in one scene? I don't think that there did, especially when they came out looking like that. The paranormal investigators return, and the movie kind of kicks into gear again, albeit with too many fake out endings. All in all, I think the movie would have been a lot better pared down to a leaner hour and twenty minutes. It's far and away not the worst horror movie I've ever seen, though.

Terrifying story, creepy doll, great plot twist, an excellent Horror tale.

[nitzanhavoc · 8/10 · 22 January 2019]

With the exclusion of Chucky, I've always found tales revolving around creepy possessed/supernatural dolls to be quite scary, be it in text or on the screen. Dead Silence by James Wan (the Wan and only) is one of my favorites and the famous namesake of Anabelle was in my opinion the best and most horrifying feature of the film. Therefore, after the Netflix buzz around the new Sabrina film, I was quite excited that the first two titles were also available, so I could watch them in proper order.

The vast majority of features in The Doll are truly great. The story is interesting, compelling and suspenseful. The pace is right on the spot from the exposition and build up, through the overture and to excellent final plot twist (which succeeded in catching me completely off guard despite it being rather cliché). The antagonist is terrifying despite rather sloppy CGI (which is only apparent enough to be noticeable during the final scenes). The scenes are well made and compelling. The characters are authentic, realistic and relatable and the acting is professional and on the spot despite being less than impressive. Even the soundtrack is awesome.

On the other hand, I couldn't ignore the less enjoyable features, especially the vast amounts of all too familiar clichés, some of which had been specifically taken from the "The Conjuring" anthology. Additionally, there's the exaggerated use of cheap jump scares, despite the fact that they were well executed and absolutely achieved their goal of making me jump in my seat. Also, I personally found the gory parts to be completely unnecessary, not being a fan of gore and excessive amounts of blood for their own sakes. Some films are based on those features and are made specifically for fans of gore, but this one isn't and has absolutely no reason to attempt to be. However, the worst feature of the film is by far the complete lack of logic and realism in some of the scenes, all for the sake of fitting the plot. Like a guy suffering multiple deadly stab wounds only to shake it off when necessary, then collapsing exhausted when the plot needs him to. A very amateurish feature in a film that's otherwise anything but.

All in all, The Doll is an excellent film which for me delivered everything I hoped it would, and then some. While not a masterpiece it's good enough to be considered great and one of the best Horror films I've watched this year (and by far the best Indonesian Horror film I've watched to date, though I haven't watched that many). I can only hope the next two titles of the trilogy are as entertaining and terrifying.

Solid but overall flawed genre effort

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 8/10 · 20 May 2019]

After moving into a new house, a man and his wife looking to settle down in a new neighborhood after his promotion finds themselves continually coming upon a strange doll from his job, and when they discover the strange secret behind it calls upon a spiritual healer to save themselves.

This one might be somewhat formulaic but still has some enjoyable elements. The film does really well with the idea of building up what is really wrong with the doll and whether it's alive or not. The opening scene of the children recounting their history with the doll and how it continually reappeared around the house before attempting to injure the son sets the stage for the later scenes of the couple encountering the object. Based on the intriguing idea of coming into their lives through his job when he destroys the sacred tree, the supernatural action that results from this setup offers some fine chills here. From her continually being spooked by strange noises or the wind manipulating doors around them to the devilishly creepy game of hide-and-seek it continually seems to want to play, these scenes manage to offer up some genuinely thrilling moments. The thrills are no less intense once the film brings in the spiritual healer. There are some great scenes here that rightfully encourage her into the story, as the spirit attacking her while taking a bath or during their attempt to sleep at night despite both instances having found nothing attacking her while checking up on what's happening are given genuine and logical cause for concern. The rituals that are performed during the communication session provides a great starter for the occur later on at the house where there's the introduction of the possession angle. Targeting the mediums' young daughter as a playmate or coercing friends to commit harm to themselves signals the start of the more terrifying actions in the house such as the bats attacking the couple to the spirit targeting and then possessing the wife in order to launch several gruesome actions all in the name of revenge. The exorcism that follows is just as enjoyable and has a lot to like about it, which along with the fine gore in the bloody kills gives the film plenty of positive points. There are some pretty big flaws with the film. Among its main issues is that most of the scares here, while generating a fine horror atmosphere and come off well in concept, just seem wholly familiar and routine in execution. The idea of the cursed doll creating terror by opening locked doors, slamming windows or breathlessly whispering in the darkness do manage to provide some fantastic horror ideas only because that's how the majority of the genre's films work. Also not helping these scenes is the absolutely awful and laughably bad CGI work, which reduce many supposedly chilling scenes into obvious CGI-rendered sequences. These issues are rather problematic and troublesome overall. Still, the biggest problem in the film is the overall lagging story. This rambles on far longer than it really should, introducing plot-points that either doesn't need to be there or just rambles on way too much in the finale. Overall, there are a few flaws that do hold this one back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.

Annabelle meets The Grudge: A fun and well-made horror.

[rebelfemme2 · 8/10 · 29 April 2022]

Centered around haunted dolls but with the added terror of accompanying demons, this film series delivers. I stumbled upon these films on Netflix and really enjoyed the whole series for my Friday fright night. It's shot in a sort of Lifetime movie way so you might not imagine that it will be as creepy as it is. But if you allow yourself to go with it, it will scare the mess out of you. I don't like dolls anyway so that added to the scares for me. I also will never be able to live or be alone in a house with open windows that look outside either. It's sort of "Annabelle" meets "Ju-On".

Barbie!!

[Bali_Loke · 9 April 2020]

I liked this movie. Yes, The Doll is scary. Valeria Lukyanova is great in this movie, but honestly so is Anthony del Negro. The outwardly cold psychopath that Natasha turns out to be, in the movie is placed into the context of two ordinary kids who live together. Anthony goes through a breakup, gets dumped, and Natasha is pretty much terrifying. This movie is sort of like a serious attempt at making the Movie 43, with Emily Rose, into a horror film, if the lead actress was'The Human Barbie'. I think that The Doll might be the beginning of something wonderful! I'll tell you how I take my coffee, with Valeria Lukyanova in it.