Ralph: Ya know, I can remember every toy I had as kid.
Gabriel: And they remember you, Ralph. Toys are very loyal, and that is a fact.

Does anyone remember a time when horror movies were more fun? I don't mean to come off as a psychotic, but honestly horror has always been the root pleasure of my childhood. I was raised on zombies, homicidal puppets and slashers. I used to dream that Freddy was my best friend. Yes, I am definitely coming off as psychotic now, surely. Now, having said all that I must say that it was rare that any horror films scared me. Even rarer was the occasion where one that did in fact scare would ever be looked at again. Yet, Dolls was one that accomplished that feat. I hated and loved it at the same time. As a child, my house was filled with small statuettes and dolls that looked exactly like the dolls featured in this film. Knowing that, you can easily imagine how uneasy this would make any kid.

Slashers I could handle, but dead-eyed dolls were the straw that broke the camel's back. But, as terrified as I was, I always came back and watched it again. This movie actually got a lot of play around my house. So, this morning when I caught it on I decided it was time to face my fears. True, the little statuettes are all gone, so maybe I'm not being as brave as one may think. So, I sit with a chicken and fried onion sandwich and embrace the darkness. For better or for worse. I must say, even after all this time, I still love the beginning. Our main character, a innocent girl, is being nagged and picked on by her father and stepmother. They cruelly take her teddy, throwing it away. Bastards. But wait, the bushes are moving... what could it be? Oh look, it's teddy! And boy, has he grown. At first he's merely a giant teddy, but he soon rips out of that skin revealing were-bear underneath.

Gotta love a kid with imagination, eh? Anyway, it's raining and they all head to the house they just broke down in front of. They break in, but of course the kindly old couple inside won't hold it against them. The other denizens of the house may though. Before long, a bewildered portly fellow also shows up with two young women who seem to be Sex Pistols fans. So, we have the nice old couple, a sweet little girl, a chubby guy who's a kid at heart and we have the four assholes. I wonder who may get killed? The gore is not overdone, but isn't bad at all. The dolls themselves range from excellently done to so-so. The Mr. Punch dolls steals the show though, as he's the only one you really get to see do some major fighting. He'd be right at home with the Puppet Master puppets. The cast themselves played their roles well, though I feel the father's fit at finding his wife's body was a bit underwhelming and could've used a bit more emotion. I mean, come on, you're holding her dead body. That's kinda traumatizing, so act it at least.

My major problem with the whole thing is actually the dolls tact. They're killing bad people, I know, but couldn't they try not to do it in front of the little girl? Let's try and let her retain some of her innocence. Other than that, some of the dolls were kinda crappy but it's really a minor issue when you consider the sheer number of the things in the film.

It's the scariest time of the year and while this movie doesn't put the fear into me that it once did, it's still a guaranteed good watch. Stuart Gordon rarely let's me down.

• Won the award for Best Special Effects at the 1987 Fantafestival.
• For the scenes in the attic, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon portrayed the character of Isabel. Bunty Bailey had already been let go by the time the attic sequences were shot.
• This film was actually shot before Stuart Gordon's next film, From Beyond (1986), and was shot on the same sets but was released almost a year afterwards due to all the doll effects in post-production.
• Guy Rolfe had to bleach his hair white for this film. And he wasn't particularly happy when his hair originally came out yellow.
• The close-up shot of Enid grabbing her 'Boy Toy' belt was actually Carolyn Purdy-Gordon's niece filling in for Cassie Stuart, who was not available at the time for the shot.
• The whispering sounds of the dolls were done by a group of Stuart Gordon's best friends and family including his kids and his wife Carolyn Purdy-Gordon.
• Because Empire Pictures wanted the film to be more like Stuart Gordon's previous film, Re-Animator (1985), additional gore footage was shot in the death of Rosemary. In one shot, it was filmed where one doll used a pitchfork to pull out some of her intestines. The footage was eventually scrapped when the filmmakers' decided that the scene didn't really fit the tone of this movie.
• Stuart Gordon was, at one point, very interested in directing a sequel to this film. The initial storyline would have followed Judy and Ralph back to Boston in which Ralph would have indeed married Judy's mother and they would all become a family. Until, one day Judy would received a box sent from England which inside would contain the toy makers, Gabriel and Hilary, as dolls.

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