by Jesse Miller, MoreHorror.com

Inanimate objects come to life in Stuart Gordon's's Dolls, a gothic horror film. After their car gets bogged down during a violent, approaching storm, a family seeks refuge in a spooky old house owned by an even spookier old couple.

This family consists of a horrible step-mother (Carolyn Purdy-Gordon), an even more horrible father (Ian Patrick williams) and their cute and bubbly young Daughter Trudy (A young Carrie Lorraine).

The owners, Gabriel and Hilary (Played by Hilary Mason and Guy Rolfe) take them in graciously. Early on, Gabriel reveals to Judy that he is a Dollmaker and has been for years. Indeed, the house is littered with an assortment of dolls, all shapes and sizes.

It's not long before there are more unexpected guests - A young, naive business man Ralph and two female hitchhikers he picked up from the storm - these two huge irritations threaten to dispel the mood and derail the film.

So, lucky for me - the dolls come alive early…and the horror unfolds. Yes, there are a lot of similarities here with 1988's Child's Play. But where Child's Play walks the line between Horror and Comedy, "Dolls" is a pitch-black gothic horror.

Where Brad Dourrif gave personality to Chucky, these dolls have little identity and thus become far more un-nerving. Even the stop-motion effects combined with mechanics from Giancarlo Del Brocco and John Vivian Brunner give the dolls a jagged movement that is disturbing.

At times an unintentionally hilarious script provides amusement for some campy, melodramatic performances from the parents and hitchhikers while Stephen Lee and Carrie Lorraine give notable performances for being the two main decent characters.

Guy Rolfe and Hilary Mason are magical - no pun intended - as the old couple playing off each other well, bringing out a pitch black sense of humor and morbid mood whenever they are on screen together.

The occasional silliness didn't distract me from the atmosphere of the film - from the eerie use of lighting to cast shadows in the attic, to the supernatural mystery. And no matter how overused - the setting is perfectly charming: Thunderstorm, creepy old house - it gets me every time.

The film plays out like a Brothers Grimm Fairy tale, with the rotten step-mother and father, themes of innocence and greed and the magic spoken of by Gabriel and Hilary - and indeed their true identity. Hansel and Gretel is even read by Judy early on in the film.

Stuart Gordon indulges in the dark humor, moments of cringe-inducing gore and eeriness and crafts an underrated little horror film.

Dolls was one of the first fill of its kind, starting a long list of killer-doll films. My opinion? Track down this film. It's great entertainment with plenty of thrills, atmosphere and frights.

Dolls

Written by: Ed Naha
Directed by: Stuart Gordon
Starring: Guy Rolfe, Hillary Mason, Stephen Lee and Ian Patrick Williams