“Toys are very loyal, and that is a fact.”
Toymaker Gabriel Hartwicke (Guy Rolfe) says this to Ralph (Stephen Lee) in response to the plucky protagonist’s endearing confession that he remembers every single toy he ever had as a child. The perfect statement that works as a general thesis for the entire film; these killer dolls offer danger only to those that haven’t earned their loyalty. Technically second in Stuart Gordon’s three-picture deal with Empire Pictures, Dolls marked a departure from what fans tended to expect when it came to the horror master. Instead of Lovecraftian gore, Gordon delivered an enduring horror fairy tale that provided as much bloodshed as it did earnestness.
After Re-Animator, Gordon had been gearing up for production on From Beyond when Charles Band presented him with Dolls. Penned by Ed Naha (Troll, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids), the killer doll tale was filmed in Italy with a fully assembled house that was repurposed for From Beyond. The premise was simple; a group of people caught in a storm take shelter at a nearby mansion. One that happens to be inhabited by a magical toymaker, his wife, and their haunted collection of dolls.
Gordon drew inspiration from the book he’d been reading, Bruno Bettelheim’s The Uses of Enchantment, which analyzed the psychology of fairy tales and how their dark horrors allowed children to work through their fears. In other words, fairy tales should be scary. Hence the perfect blend of child wonderment and gruesome horror.
The story of Hansel and Gretel plays the most significant influence on the film, beginning with the core characters venturing into the woods until they stumble upon a mysterious and remote home, alluring for the shelter it provides from the storm. Gordon sneaks in the visceral horror he’s known for with a violent early scene. A delightful vision of little Judy Bower’s (Carrie Lorraine) teddy bear ripping apart her mean stepmom Rosemary (Carolyn Purdy-Gordon) and selfish dad David (Ian Patrick Williams) before Rosemary’s nagging snaps her out of it. Inside the mansion, they meet Gabriel and his eccentric, sweet wife Hilary (Hilary Mason). The party grows more substantial with the unexpected arrival of kid-at-heart Ralph and the two rambunctious hitchhikers he’s picked up; Isabel (Bunty Bailey) and Enid (Cassie Stuart). None are aware that, like in Hansel and Gretel, the Hartwickes are witches.
Visually, the Grimm fairy tale makes an appearance during certain character moments, like when Hilary pinches Judy’s finger at dinner time, or when Judy reads the storybook during her bedtime. Mostly, though, it’s felt throughout in the morality of the central narrative. The dolls are ruthless and bloodthirsty in their kills, but it’s aimed solely at those who deserve it. In this case, it’s the mean-spirited that have long lost touch with their inner child who deserve death. As the awful adults fall one by one, the truth behind the cadre of killer dolls is revealed; they’re former shells of humans long zombified and rendered porcelain playthings of the Hartwickes.
While Gordon plays up the horror of their deaths and transformation sequences, especially the memorable VHS cover box emulating the transformation of Isabel, there’s nothing to fear for Judy – her innocence and loyalty to new toy buddy Mr. Punch provide protection. She’s immediately taken under the wing of the Hartwickes. On the cusp of serious danger, however, is grown-up Ralph. The grim realities of the death surrounding him combined with his adult sensibilities put him in the danger zone, but his inner child and bond with Judy ultimately spare him from suffering the same fate as his new travel companions.
Looking back at Gordon’s output, Dolls is an outlier. His gory sense of humor has been replaced with an overt sweetness that favors whimsical fantasy over straightforward horror – though it still delivers on that front too. With its R-rating, it’s not quite suitable for children, and yet it’s the perfect formative horror film for a younger audience in spirit. It certainly played a vital role in my formative years as a horror fan.
Fairy tales tend to exist as cautionary tales, offering moral lessons buried within the whimsical and scary. There’s a lot that the film says about basic kindness and decency, and the role parents play in their child’s life. Above all, though, Gordon’s Dolls relays the importance of keeping your inner child alive and well fed; celebrating the irreverence of youth and what made you happy as a child, toys and all. Clinging to the aspects of your personality that reacts and thinks like a child -playfulness, spontaneity, and creativity- are strengths. That Gordon conveys this through horror is demonstrative of his power as a filmmaker, too; with Dolls, he explored the challenging aspects of humanity through his inner child, wry humor and all.
