Shudder’s new horror film, Dolly, hits theaters this week, and it’s a delightfully gruesome and throwback-feeling movie reminiscent of 1970s horror. Directed by Rod Blackhurst and inspired by his 2022 short, Babygirl, Dolly offers a welcome return to genuinely frightening doll horror, especially after the recent M3gan 2.0. It blends the unsettling innocence of creepy toys with a classic, imposing villain, creating a truly memorable new addition to the horror genre.
Dolly centers around Macy (Fabianne Therese), a young woman whose only fault, along with her boyfriend (Sean William Scott), is her attractiveness – a common trope in horror films. After a romantic getaway in the woods, Macy is kidnapped by a towering, monstrous woman who wears a giant doll’s head and wants to raise Macy as her child. The resulting 83-minute film is a throwback slasher that relies on familiar horror elements and features plenty of gruesome scenes, making for a wildly entertaining experience.
Rating: 3 out of 5
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Max the Impaler’s Dolly is a great villain | A little light on story |
| Delightfully depraved and gory | The twists are all very conventional, and it feels quite familiar at times |
| In place of scares, there’s a lot of good old-fashioned Tobe Hooper-like nastiness |
Dolly is the Best Thing About Dolly
I’m easily scared by creepy things, so even surrounded by old dolls in a safe, well-lit room, I’d be terrified. There’s something deeply unsettling about lifeless eyes and porcelain faces on something meant to represent childhood innocence. That’s why the new horror villain, Dolly (played by wrestler Max Lindsey, also known as Max the Impaler), immediately felt frightening. She’s clearly inspired by characters like Leatherface, with a touch of the silent, disturbing style of Art the Clown, and a hint of the unsettling persona of Mankind from professional wrestling.
The character Dolly is a bizarre mix of childlike innocence and disturbing behavior. She’s like a toddler who loves her doll, but occasionally gives in to destructive impulses, damaging or dismembering it. It makes you wonder if this reflects a natural human tendency towards cruelty that we learn to control as we grow up – though that’s a bigger conversation for another time. The actor, Lindsey, portrays Dolly as a very young, large child with intense, unsettling maternal instincts, culminating in a shockingly strange scene of attempted breastfeeding. While her appearance and actions could be excused as childish, she’s surprisingly strong and capable of defeating adult opponents.
Fabianne Therese, playing Macy, is the second most prominent character, mainly as the focus of Dolly’s unsettling attention. While Scott is a recognizable face, he’s largely a supporting character. Therese delivers a strong performance, convincingly portraying Macy’s distress, even though the physical confrontation with Dolly feels uneven. I had minor issues with her role in the final scene, but considering the limited amount of screen time she has, she does a commendable job. Ethan Suplee also shines as a character added later in the story.
Dolly is as Fun as it is Deranged (Without Doing Much New)
Dolly isn’t a groundbreaking or complex film. It relies heavily on familiar story elements and exaggerated characters, and its visual style is clearly inspired by the work of Tobe Hooper from the 1970s. The filmmakers used a 16mm camera and clever filming techniques, especially when depicting violence. Similar to how Rob Reiner hinted at the gruesome ankle injury in Misery to shock audiences, Dolly uses close-up, slightly blurred shots during intense moments to maximize the impact.
As a horror fan, if you’re into really messy, over-the-top gore and movies where the characters don’t have much control over their fate – which honestly makes it even more unsettling – then Dolly is right up your alley. It’s got that same weirdly funny, disturbing vibe as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and other similar films, and I think it works because both Dolly and Leatherface feel like these twisted clown figures. The practical effects are fantastic, especially the makeup they did on Sean William Scott – he really goes through it! And the CGI when they did use it blended in seamlessly. Okay, the story isn’t super deep, and it’s mostly just a long, stressful chase, but sometimes that’s all a great horror movie needs, you know?
As a horror fan, I’m so glad a service like Shudder exists because of movies like Dolly. It’s a really fun, old-school throwback to those late-night, delightfully cheesy horror flicks. And thankfully, it’s under 90 minutes, so it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Okay, the twists aren’t that surprising, and it definitely feels like it’s borrowing from other great horror movies, but honestly? That didn’t bother me. Dolly herself is just a wonderfully unhinged character, and I’d absolutely watch her cause more mayhem anytime.
The movie Dolly comes out in theaters on March 6th. Are you planning to see it? Share your thoughts in the comments and join the discussion on the ComicBook Forum!
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2026-03-05 20:15