If there’s one topic we tend to discuss with mainstream films that we don’t with low-budget horror titles, it’s the concept of collaborations. We’ll go on and on about Spielberg and Williams, Scorsese and De Niro, Herzog and Kinski, Burton and Elfman and/or Depp, but we never really apply that to the low-budget space.And maybe that’s because part of the charm of low-budget efforts is the Mark Borchardt of it all; a single human being’s Horatio Alger-like defiance of gravity that produces not just a movie, but occasionally, a goddman classic. People like George Romero, Charlie Kaufman, Peter Jackson, Sam Raimi, and Roger Corman.But there are notable collaborations in this space that we don’t discuss enough, and if there was ever a filmmaking run that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves, it’s the six-film partnership of producer Charles Band and director Stuart Gordon. Together, they made a decade of legendary titles, starting with Gordon’s historic debut, Re-Animator, in 1985, which was followed by From Beyond, Dolls, Robot Jox, The Pit and the Pendulum, and finally Castle Freak, in 1995.The first three movies - Re-Animator, From Beyond, and Dolls, could be considered Empire Films’ holy trinity (sorry Ghoulies fans), in the same way that Puppet Master, Subspecies, and Trancers are considered the holy trinity of Band’s second company, Full Moon.With all the ink that’s been spilled about Re-Animator and From Beyond, it’s curious that Dolls feels like the forgotten child. It remains, in my opinion, the finest hour of not only this partnership, but maybe the entire Empire Films/Full Moon output, which is still going today.[gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Dolls9.jpg|,https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Dolls10.jpg|"]Dolls was technically Gordon’s second film for Charlie, but released after From Beyond because of the number of stop motion shots that had to be completed. It even shared a lot of From Beyond’s sets, which impressively don’t feel reused.It’s the story of six strangers who take shelter from a storm in the mansion of an elderly doll maker, Gabriel, and his wife. There’s the Bower family (David, his young daughter Judy, and his wife Rosemary, Judy’s not-so-kind stepmother). They’re soon joined by the young-at-heart Ralph and the two punk rock criminal hitchhikers, Isabel and Enid, who he picked up in the storm. The mansion is stacked with Gabriel’s Victorian creations, and as the parties settle in for the night, the tiny terror begins.Mostly a single-location film, Dolls puts every inch of its budget on screen. It drips in atmosphere, as if Gordon made his version of every Universal monster or William Castle film he grew up on, where the weary traveller enters the dark castle full of monsters. Compared to Gordon’s first two efforts, and Band’s productions overall, it’s a pretty gentle film. While there are a few moments of gore, it prefers to keep itself firmly rooted in the spooky lane, letting the shadows and production design deliver the thrills, rather than the make up. There’s also a lack of sex and nudity, another mainstay of Band’s films.There’s a real craftsmanship to the film, a confidence. Many of the crew had worked on previous Band efforts, including composer Richard Band, cinematographer Mac Ahlberg, and editor Lee Percy, and all are doing level best work here. But what really makes the film shine is the stop-motion animation of David Allen, one of our last great stop-motion giants, trained under Ray Harryhausen. Like all gifted animators, Allen gives his creations true personality. From his first shot - a disembodied doll head blinking and smiling on a shelf - to an all-out 20-doll assault, each scene is a master class.[gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Dolls1-1.jpg|,https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Dolls6.jpg|"]But we should also discuss the acting, starting with Carrie Lorraine, who plays the imaginative Judy Bower. Child actors are pretty hit-or-miss in horror films, and specifically indie horror, but Lorraine carries the movie with bright optimism in dark times. It’s a real shame she wasn’t given more opportunities after this.Guy Rolfe (who would later go on to play the titular puppet master Andre Toulon in the later entries of that franchise), gives a performance equal parts menacing and kind. Ian Patrick Williams and Carolyn Purdy-Gordon shine as terrible, bickering parents. Purdy-Gordon probably gives the best live-action Evil Stepmother we’ll ever get. Also a shame that they weren’t paired more. They’re just as interesting to watch as Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton.Stephen Lee, who plays the affable Ralph, would go on to have the biggest career of this cast, guest starring in every TV show you watched in the 80s and 90s, plus movies like RoboCop 2. Sadly, a heart attack would claim him in 2014, at the age of 58. One other bit of trivia - Bunty Bailey, playing Isabel, one half of the punk rock criminal duo, is probably best known for playing the girlfriend in A-Ha’s iconic 'Take On Me' music video.[gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Dolls7.jpg|,https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Dolls3.jpg|"]What I love about this movie is that, at its heart, Dolls is about kindness, about not losing the wonders of childhood to the trials of adulthood, about the special friendships we share with our inanimate (?) friends in the early years of our lives, all wrapped up in a beautifully shot, confidently directed production with some of the finest stop motion animation ever featured in a horror film.If it weren’t for some of those fleeting gory scenes, it would actually be the perfect entry-level horror film for a pre-teen. And you know, it may be now. The movie was released in 1987, almost 40 years ago, so it may work just fine for that budding horror fan in your life.I’ve had the pleasure of publicly screening Dolls a few times, and every time, those screenings end with a room filled with new fans. So, if you have some time, perhaps tonight is the night to take shelter from the storm and spend some time with Gordon’s Dolls.Written by Stephen Tramontana
https://youtu.be/yCGw6Og3f0M?si=EYQ6LPNe8S4T6h-m
