What is horror? Is it what scares us? Makes us uneasy? Or is it the thing that makes our skin crawl as we recoil with revulsion? With disembodied doll parts, swarming flies and an unmistakeably foul atmosphere, Rod Blackhurst’s Dolly opts firmly for the latter from its opening scene and doesn’t relent for 82 minutes.
For lovers Chase (Seann William Scott, American Pie) and Macy (Fabianne Therese), a proposal at a scenic lookout spirals into nightmare when they’re attacked and Macy is abducted by a grotesque, oversized doll determined to raise her as its own child. Stripped of agency and trapped in a decaying domestic hell, Macy quickly realises that survival means playing along.
Have I mentioned how genuinely hideous her captor is?
Played by Max the Impaler, Dolly is awful in every detail: the cracked doll’s-head mask, the socks and heavy boots, the unsettling Red Riding Hood-esque babydoll top and pantaloons. The limp, blonde hair. The missing eye. It’s a carefully curated catalogue of wrongness and credit is due to the costume department.
Let’s talk about fear. I like scares and always jump at the chance to go to horror mazes and attractions. The closest I’ve ever come to genuine fear (not exhilaration) was at the London Bridge Experience, navigating a tunnel packed with mannequin limbs. So I already have form. It didn’t take long for that discomfort to transfer to Dolly’s parade of broken porcelain and grime-soaked costumes.
And there is a lot of grime. Filth. Rot. I watched most of this film with a grimace on my face. I’m not entirely convinced it’s gone.
Rancid food. Sour milk. Stitches pulled with cotton and no anaesthetic.
That jawbone.
Through it all, Dolly keeps coming, seemingly unassailable. Max the Impaler is magnificent in their portrayal of Dolly. For a character who never speaks and performs behind a fixed doll’s head, Max projects a world of menace and torment.
Love or Fear?
When I rate a film, I always weigh how much I loved it. Sometimes technical flaws fade because the film filled a deep, emotional need. I didn’t love Dolly so much as I feared it. Properly. And on that level, it absolutely delivers.
The weakness lies in the script. You’ll learn more about the plot from the logline than the film itself and the refusal to dig deeper into Dolly’s origins or motives becomes frustrating. I also didn’t love the ‘Father’ aspect.
But moving past those two weaknesses, Dolly still delivers sustained, sensory horror.
For sheer vileness, Dolly earns an excellent four out of five stars. I hope that this film signals the beginning of a long and fruitful run in horror for Max the Impaler, and I’ll be keeping a close watch on what director Rod Blackhurst does next.
★★★★☆
Scares ★★★★★| Love Fear ★★★★★ | Design ★★★★★ | Acting ★★★★☆ | Plot ★★☆☆☆
Dolly will be in UK Cinemas from 6th March
