People who know me personally know that I love cheesy horror movies. More specifically, I love horror movies that involve killer dolls or puppets. You would think that that would be a pretty small niche but there are actually a LOT of movies that feature killer dolls. Regardless of my fascination, I haven’t seen any of the Annabelle films because the movies really need to have a very distinct aesthetic quality that, from what I’ve seen, those films don’t possess. (Possess, get it?) Child’s Play comes close, but again it’s just a tad too polished and mainstream. Here’s the ones I like.
Puppet Master (1989)
Charles Band’s production company, Full Moon Pictures, kept the horror genre alive and kicking during it’s heyday in the 1980’s and 90’s by churning out an endless supply of killer puppet movies and I was there, lapping up every spoonful. This is the grand daddy motion picture that kicked them all off; Puppet Master. It’s probably the best example of what Full Moon was capable of and I had quite the obsession for it when it first came out. It’s definitely lower budget than the Child’s Play movies, but as far as killer dolls go, I’d take Blade, Pinhead, Tunneler and Leech Woman over Chucky any day.
Dolls (1987)
I feel like this is one that never got the attention it deserved. Stuart Gordon directed a lot of good films in the 80’s including Re-Animator and From Beyond, but Dolls is just loaded with fun characters and imagery. Not to mention, dolls that you don’t want to piss off if you know what’s good for you. The lesson of the movie is that it’s important to not lose touch with that inner child inside all of us. We shouldn’t grow up and forget the dolls we loved when we were children… OR ELSE!
Demonic Toys (1992)
Oh Boy! Demonic Toys is another real good one. A lot of these came out when I was working at a video store so my judgement may be a tad cloudy and biased. Charle’s Band’s direct-to-video label, Full Moon was cranking these types of films out fast and furiously and this one scratched all the right itches for me. It’s ridiculous and campy as well as a little creepy. (Even throws in a little gratuitous nudity. Thank you, Charles Band.) Tracy Scoggins was great in this. I met her once and told her what a fan I was so she signed a “Demonic Toys” comic book for me and only charged me $20 bucks. What a gal!
Blood Dolls (1998)
Blood Dolls is a very strange movie and involves a lot of bizarre plot devices that together to form one very messed-up movie. It has killer dolls, freaks, clowns, rock music… the works! An eccentric millionaire who wears a mask to cover his freakishly tiny head, keeps a female rock band in a cage and forces them to perform for him whenever he wishes them to. He has a butler that wears clown make up, a little person assistant, and a team of Blood Dolls (Pimp, Sideshow, and Ms. Fortune) to help smite his enemies. A lot of the focus isn’t even on the dolls in this movie because there is so much going on. It’s cheap, campy, over-the-top fun.
In addition to films about killer dolls and puppet, I also really enjoy films that feature tiny “gremlin-like” killers, such as Ghoulies, Gingerdead Man, Hobgoblins, etc. We’ll save that for another blog as it’s quite a bit to digest. -Scotch
