Dolly

Dolly is the scariest movie yet in the great Chainsaw Massacre tradition. Blackhurst understands that little porcelain broken dolls are scary, while a great big porcelain broken doll is horrifying. So, having a Leatherface-type maniac dressed in doll parts makes all the torture and atrocity extra intense.

And extra intense is the name of the game here. This is so scary that I can see challenges where folks get dared to try it. I will let you know right now that most audiences out there would run screaming if they tried to watch Dolly. I have seen all of the most frightening movies ever filmed, and even I didn’t think I would be able to take it during some parts.

The gore is practical and absolutely superb, with the splatter definition of superb being “completely f*****g disgusting.” If you prefer rubber to computer-generated, like I do, you have walked into the right place. I saw things so extreme here that it would cut my fingers if I tried to type it. That it gets into the wet stuff at a very quick pace is also commendable, as are the developments that occur in the sinister dollhouse in the forest. The splatter is ferocious, even if the body count is not high. Blackhurst also makes film history with some excellent moves in stunt casting. I was very surprised to see Scott, whose Dukes of Hazzard and American Pie movies were a guilty pleasure of mine years ago.

“This is so scary that I can see challenges where folks get dared to try it.”

Blackhurst pulls off with Scott a turn at special guest star stunt casting that is near the same level as Eve Plumb’s cameo in Blue Ruin. You will be surprised over and over again by how his character progresses in the storyline. The ultimate casting choice was the genius decision to have wrestler Max the Impaler play the giant doll-head monster.

Their performance as a deeply disturbed madwoman is as revolutionary as Gunnar Hansen’s was for the original Leatherface. The tics and gestures that are common amongst the insane are recreated here with disturbing accuracy, to the point where it should be studied in schools. They also know how to steer the ghastly doll outfit around for a maximum dread factor, so I hope they return, as this is a slasher that should obviously be franchised. Blackhurst also gives us a taste of how nuts he can get behind the camera near the end, as there are some highly stylized flourishes that add a surreal feel to the third act, similar to Boyle’s The Island. I never thought anyone could make a shovel as lethal as a chainsaw, but here we are.

Had the scope been expanded a little and the final moments not locked up by tradition, this would be a perfect horror movie. As it stands, Dolly is the new porcelain face of the new extremes of how far slasher horror can go. Horror fans should jump on it immediately; everyone else should run for safety.