Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Nov 18, 2005 13:20:35 GMT -5
Plot:It's 1905 when 12 year old Sophia plays all by herself in her big, creepy house with only four handmade dolls as friends. When her abusive father has finally had enough, he forces her to bury them in the backyard. But, after she "slips" and breaks her neck, dad buries her right along with the dolls. 100 years later, the Fillbrook family moves into the very same house. Guy Fillbrook finds the buried dolls while playing in the backyard. Much like Sophia, Guy has no friends and is the constant source of harassment from Tom and Rich. After Sophia's spirit possesses the dolls, they come to life, protecting Guy from further harm. One night, Guy's sister DeeDee, has a party with her best friends Terri and Olivia. After smoking and drinking with the boys, the dolls stand up for Guy once and for all, violently showing the nasty teenage boys who's boss With no testosterone left to protect them, the girls fight to the death.
Cast:
Anna Alicia Brock
Kristyn Green
Jared Kusnitz
Brian Lloyd
Brian Lloyd
Ken Lyle
Gabrielle Lynn
Hannah Marks
Scott Seymour
My Thoughts:Better than "Retro Puppetmaster".
Review:The last movie of Charles Bands to feature killer toys was "Retro Puppetmaster" and it wasn't exactly a pleasureable experience.Now with a new company behind him,Charles Band plans to return to the old Fullmoon form with new horror films featuring killer toys.The most recent being "Doll Graveyard".In the early 1900s,a young girls wicked father makes her bury her dolls as punishment for playing in a part of the house where she wasn't supposed to be playing.Upon accident,after burying her dolls she slips into the grave,breaking her neck.Her dad being the kind,loving father that he is (sarcasm),decides to bury his daughter with the dolls making sure no one can finger him for any involvement.Fast forward to present day,a teen named Guy whos into action figures and things of that sort,finds the previously buried dolls in his backyard while doing chores.Apparently the dolls had managed to dig their way close to the surface hence why Guy doesn't have to do much digging to find them."Doll Graveyard" unfolds in typical fullmoon killer doll movie fashion.The dolls awaken soon after being taken into the house,and in bloody yet effective fashion,start offing some kids that Guys sister DeeDee invited over for a party while their dad was out of the house.Nothing new about that,but what is new is the story.For a few minutes,you think the dolls are going about on their own,but apparently the dolls carry the spirit of the long dead Sophia,who tries to take over Guys body and shes the one who wills the dolls to kill DeeDees friends who are pretty much all assholes except for one girl who takes a liking to Guy.So whats Sophias motive? She wants to make sure everyone is out of the way so she can be reborn through Guy.Seems like a very malevolent thing for such a nice girl as Sophia to do,but hey if your final memories were of your bastard father forcing you to bury your favorite toys and then you along with them,I guess you'd come back as the opposite of nice too.The dolls are pretty nifty looking,not as cool as the puppets from the original "Puppetmaster".but they certainly stray from the norm.We get one soldier doll with a spiked hat,one babydoll with a crooked mouth and sharp teeth,a zulu warrior doll that wields a spear,and a samurai doll that swings a mean samurai sword.The kills are pretty cool and bloody featuring eyeballs ripped out,pieces of flesh bitten off,and one kill which as a guy made me cringe.As with almost every horror movie ever made,"Doll Graveyard" boasts the usual stupid cliche scenes.Despite knowing the dolls are crawling around the house,characters leave other characters alone in huge rooms,one character returns to said room a minute later ALONE MIND YOU to retrieve something and takes their sweet time doing it and ends up getting attacked by a doll for the second time.I know scenes like this are necessary to set up certain moments,but I wish I could go through atleast one horror movie without cliche moments such as those.A thunderstorm even makes an appearance early in the film.Another huge horror movie cliche,but oh well,I have to admit I'm a sucker for horror movies set to a nice loud thunderstorm.Despite it's few glaring plotholes,and cliches,still,"Doll Graveyard" which clocks in at about an hour running time,is a pretty good B horror movie.
Pros:Good kills,cool looking dolls,thunderstorm setting which added to the mood of the movie nicely.The ending was an unexpected turn of events which I liked.The acting was pretty good for this type of movie.
Cons:A few plotholes and I felt the film was way too short.
Overall:Your run of the mill killer toy movie from Fullmoon that introduces some fresh elements to the story,and a group of really bizarre looking yet cool villains in the dolls.Thus making it a run of the mill killer doll movie,with a few good exceptions.If you're looking to kill an hour and you're a fan of that killer toy B movie genre,you might just find what you're looking for in "Doll Graveyard".