Dolly Dearest
Dolly Dearest
R | 18 October 1991 (USA)
Dolly Dearest Trailers

An American family moves to Mexico to fabricate dolls, but their toy factory happens to be next to a Sanzian grave and the toys come into possession of an old, malicious spirit.

Reviews
SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen
Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Leofwine_draca As you may have already guessed, CHILD'S PLAY is the influence for this lamentable C-grade horror movie which doesn't even have the decency of including any of the genre staples (eg. sex or violence) which would have made it more of an exploitation piece. Instead, we're treated to long sequences where little occurs (eg. the first half an hour), terribly wooden acting and a clichéd script which also draws in influences (or to put it plainly, rips off) from POLTERGEIST and THE EVIL DEAD. The best thing about this boring, cheaply-made effort is that I didn't have to pay to see it! At least it keeps a straight face throughout, which means that it's better than abysmal fare like the LEPRECHAUN series or that abomination, RUMPLESTILTSKIN. Sadly, though, the deadly serious tone only provides a couple of unintentional chuckles throughout the film.Things open with some of those poor computer effects standing in for an ancient Mexican evil force that immediately possesses a factory of dolls. The box makes this sound impressive, until you realise that there are only about four dolls in the "factory" (more like a run-down shed). After this we are introduced to an all-American family. These are a mixed bunch. Firstly we have the terrible actress Denise Crosby. For Denise, this was another step down in her career, which had previously gone from STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION(a popular, mainstream cult television series) to PET SEMATARY(a just about passable Stephen King adaptation). After this, things could only get worse, and the last I know of her, she was shedding her clothes for some erotic cable series.Her husband is an irritating, mindless idiot who must be blind not to notice the "odd" things going on in his household (daughter speaking in strange tongues, child's strange attachment to doll, son's obsession with archaeological site). He is played by Sam Bottoms, a wooden nobody. The daughter is an irritating, whining little girl, but the son is a likable geek. Another desperate actor appearing in the cast is Rip Torn, who plays a John Rhys-Davies type role of an intrepid archaeologist - at least HIS career could only go up from here.There is only one gore scene of note in the film, a painful moment where a man gets his hand caught in a sewing machine. There are three deaths in total. One occurs at the beginning, with a man getting crushed under a stone door. The second man has a heart attack (?), and then a woman gets electrocuted. Big deal. The film doesn't even offer up much in the way of doll rampage, with the limited special effects of an animated doll only appearing briefly throughout the film - what a rip off.Seriously, the best thing I can say about this movie is that it's short, and also at least the dolls don't keep coming back to life - once they're dead, they stay dead, which doesn't prolong the agony. A few of the scenes in the Mexican tomb are all right as well, particularly the discover of a desiccated, goat-headed corpse. And check out some of that hilarious dialogue, like "My daughter is possessed by a 900 year old goat-head, damn it!". All in all, though, this is a colourless affair, and one to be avoided like so many others, unless you're REALLY stuck for something to see.
atinder And I Just re-watch Dolly Dearest 1991I had only seen it once before, it thought i liked but I could remember how it's ended, I liked how the plot started and the movie made some tense moments, I loved Mirror scenes, where get to see doll standing and again she was gone.The doll it's self was very creepy and I thought kill scenes were really well done, it still work these days .But felt some of script was bit weak in some parts of the movie, made it's feel a bit outdated and I found the ending a little rushed.I would not mind if this movie gets remake but it's not of best killer doll movies, well it was not as fun as Chucky or even The Dolls, were fun watch, I didn't really find this movie that funThe acting was decent. 6 out of 10
Richard Wheeler Dolly Dearest,however, comes across to most people as a "Child's Play Rip-Off" and a "Cheesey Low-Budget Horror Movie" when in fact, it's neither of what they think it is! Dolly Dearest is actually a very clever film produced with original ideas. It doesn't copy Child's Play that much because, the Dollies are not killer dolls, they are possessed by a devilish spirit that "wants children and would do anything to spread it's word to the children". Therefore, the evil spirit takes the form of toys because, it knows that children love dolls (mainly little girls). And it is an easier way to get to children and possess them and turn them into the "Sanzia Devil Child", just like what happened to little Jessica in this movie.If my review doesn't agree with you, that's OK! Because you are entitled to your opinion. If you don't, I suggest you watch it a couple of times and let your imagination run wild because, I think the idea of this film is mainly left to the imagination.
Claudio Carvalho In Mexico, an archaeologist releases the evil spirit of a devil child from a tomb of an ancient tribe called Sanzia that worshiped Satan on Earth and dies in an accident. Immediately after, an American family with two children arrives to live and reactivate a factory of dolls in a site nearby the archaeological field. Elliot Read (Sam Bottoms) invested the savings of his family in this business to manufacture dolls. He finds many dolls left by the previous owners of the factory, and gives one of them, which is possessed by the fiend, to his daughter Jessica Read (Candy Hutson). The girl changes her behavior, speaks an ancient language and the maid tells to the mother Marilyn Read (Denise Crosby). Meanwhile, the archaeologist Karl Resnick (Rip Torn) arrives to investigate the finding of his colleague. However, the demon has been already released. "Dolly Dearest" is a clear rip-off "Child's Play" franchise, but is not as bad as the expectation a reader may have with the IMDb Rating of 3.8. Indeed it is a reasonable horror movie, with characters and situation well developed for this type of movie. Denise Crosby plays again the role of a mother new arrival in a different environment that faces problem with his daughter, recalling her performance in "Pet Sematary" (1989). There are some accidentally funny scenes, like for example when Elliot Read is stabbed on his thigh and runs like a hell when the factory is blowing up but in general "Dolly Dearest" is watchable and entertains. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): "Boneca Assassina" ("Killer Doll")