In the woods, a mother cried, and wished for a love, long denied.
She soon appeared, a child of grace, ‘til evil struck with his dark embrace.
The girl now hides, behind a mask. To raise her own, long at last.
That’s about as much backstory as you’ll get about Dolly, the main antagonist in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre-inspired and aptly-titled… Dolly. The rhyme that opens the film sets the stage for a gritty folk horror tale that doesn’t skimp on the nastiness, but a slight script prevents this grueling little throwback from being anything more than a “fun” time at the movies for genre enthusiasts.
Dolly sees Chase (Seann William Scott, The Righteous Gemstones, Goon) take his girlfriend Macy (Fabianne Therese, Southbound) to the woods for an afternoon marriage proposal at a gorgeous scenic overlook. Despite the rather ominous sight of hundreds of antique dolls pinned to the trees along the path, they press on. Before Chase can pop the question, the couple hears the jingle of a music box playing in the distance. Deciding that they just have to go investigate this strange noise, the couple finds Dolly (NWA wrestler Max the Impaler), a deranged, monster-like figure who kidnaps Macy with the intent of raising her as her “child.”
Director Rod Blackhurst expands upon his 2022 short BABYGIRL with Dolly, but not by much. Clocking in at a scant 76 minutes sans end credits, there isn’t much fat on this thing, but there isn’t much meat on it either. Not helping matters is that Blackhurst arbitrarily divides his film into seven(!!!) chapters. The intent is to frame Dolly as a dark fairy tale, but it’s a gimmick that is as unnecessary as it is distracting.
The influences of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, as well as films from the New French Extremity movement, are evident. Shot entirely on 16mm, Dolly certainly looks great, with the grain adding appropriate levels of grime to the proceedings, but homages to TCM can be egregious. Be it Macy diving head first out of a second-story window, the foyer being a near replica of that famed TCM house or the haunting final moments, Dolly loves to remind you about that classic film, but it’s not always to its benefit.
Where Dolly falls short in the script or originality departments it more than makes up for in the technical department, especially in the sound design and the practical gore effects. Every fleshy squelch and bone crack is not only heard, but felt, making the violence hit when it needs to. It’s impressive foley work, but Blackhurst doesn’t achieve this with wall-to-wall kills (there aren’t enough characters). Rather, he relishes in body horror.
Fabianne Therese as Macy in Dolly
Once Macy enters the Haus of Dolly, she is subjected to a number of horrendous acts, be it getting her soiled “diaper” changed or being force-fed Dolly’s breast for an afternoon feeding. The rest of the film alternates between sequences like these and Macy’s failed escape attempts, with little room for character development or lore-building. Blackhurst is clearly aiming for shock here, and he mostly succeeds. Macy spends much of the runtime being debased by Dolly, but Blackhurst shoots these sequences in such a way that it doesn’t feel too exploitative, letting your imagination do most of the work. Thankfully, Therese makes for a charismatic lead that carries you through these hard-to-watch moments.
Scott, meanwhile, imbues Chase with a significant amount of pathos in his limited screen time. He is separated from Macy for most of the film, and the few times we cut back to check in on him are brutal and, unexpectedly, a little humorous. To say anything more would delve into spoiler territory, but suffice it to say that the American Pie actor’s role will likely be the main talking point for most viewers.
The Dolly character is a bit of a mixed bag. She is an intimidating figure, courtesy of Max the Impaler’s imposing physique. The nonbinary and transmasculine actor channels a few different versions of Leatherface (it’s impossible not to think of the controversial depiction of the character in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation), but because the actor is hidden behind a The Hills Run Red-style porcelain doll mask for most of their screen time, it prevents their performance from making much of an impression. You can see bit of Art the Clown’s influence in some of Dolly’s goofy physicality (adding to the aforementioned comedic beats), but those moments are few and far between. There’s just not much there to distinguish Dolly from the many other masked serial killers that have graced the silver screen over the decades.
The press notes for the film state that a sequel/prequel delving into Dolly’s origins has already been written and slated for production (why those origins weren’t included in this film is anybody’s guess), so we’ll have to wait until then to find out more about the titular baddie. The question is: do you want to? Dolly musters just enough good will to make the answer to that question a “yes,” but one hopes Blackhurst delivers a more layered, original script than the one for Dolly.
Dolly made its world premiere at Fantastic Fest. The film does not currently have a release date.
The post ‘Dolly’ Review – Gritty Folk Horror Tale Revels in Bad Taste [Fantastic Fest] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
