Young Judy Bower (Carrie Lorraine) is traveling down a country road with her neglectful father, David (Ian Patrick Williams), and her abusive stepmother, Rosemary (Carolyn Purdy-Gordon), on a vacation trip. As they are driving a sudden storm comes up and the car gets stuck in the mud. Unable to get the car out they make their way on foot to a large rambling house. They knock on the door, but no one answers. They find an open cellar window and climb into the basement.
The three bedraggled travelers are confronted by someone with a shotgun. The owners of the house are Gabriel and Hilary Hartwicke (Guy Rolfe and Hilary Mason). The older couple takes David, Rosemary and Judy to their kitchen to warm up and have some hot soup. While they are chatting, the kitchen door bursts open and three people rush in. Ralph Morris (Stephen Lee) is a happy-go-lucky American who picked up two British hitchhikers, Isabel (Bunty Bailey) and Enid (Cassie Stuart). They stopped at the Hartwicke mansion when their car also got stuck in the mud.
Gabriel and Hilary welcome the newcomers and offer everyone a bed for the night. Gabriel is a doll maker, so all the rooms are stuffed with various dolls. When Gabriel learns that Judy’s teddy bear was lost in the woods he gives her a harlequin doll named Mr. Punch to keep her company during her visit. Judy is elated with the doll.
Ralph and Judy are kindred spirits who enjoy the Hartwickes' toys and become friends. The others are rude and entitled. The visitors soon learn that there is something special about the dolls. The dolls are alive. With minds of their own, the dolls decide that most of the visitors are evil. Only Judy and Ralph appreciate the dolls and live life with child-like wonder. The others are expendable.
“Dolls” was released in 1987 and was directed by Stuart Gordon. It is a rather low budget American horror movie with dark comedy and supernatural elements.
This wasn’t a bad little horror story. The plot isn’t complicated, but it is quite creepy. Dolls are creepy in general anyway and the creaky old mansion is loaded with them. All those eyeballs staring at you. The comic vibe adds a light-hearted feel to the film that ends up enhancing the blood and gore.
At one point a sequel was suggested, however, the production company, Empire Pictures, went out of business. The producer, Charles Band, then started Full Moon Productions and instead returning to the “Dolls” premise, launched the “Puppet Master” series of films.
The doll effects were created using a combination of puppets, marionettes, stop-motion animation, and animatronics.
Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, who plays Rosemary, is married to director Stuart Gordon.