Doll Graveyard

Oh my god... From the moment this "movie" started I knew it was going to be bad. First of all the acting was just HORRIBLE! I mean come on "No daddy, I didn't mean to daddy!". If you think about the time period back then there would be many, many women figures around to take care of the girl. A nanny, or a step-mother, an aunt, or even her real mother would have been there to get her into shape. Then for the father to make the girl dig?! What was that?! And I mean when she fell she fell like what? A foot? That wouldn't kill anyone! And then for the father not to check to even see if she was alive?! Okay, now for the other lovely actors. ALL of the teenagers should have died! They deserved to. "AHHH What are we going to do?" I can tell you what to do... GET OUT OF THE HOUSE AND RUN FOR IT!!! GOD!!! HOW STUPID COULD YOU BE?! YOU JUST SAW YOUR BOYFRIEND GET KILLED (by being attacked in the crotch) AND YOUR JUST GONNA STAND THERE?! COME ON!!! And the blonde! Can you say stupid blonde?! "Where is my phone? I can't find it!" When she finally finds the dang thing she moved so slowly... YOUR SUPPOSE TO GRAB IT REALLY FAST! And you think she would learn! She did that the first time and then she got bit... You think she would say hey let me get it really fast and maybe I won't get bit again. OH! And did anyone notice that before she was bit there was blood already on her face? HOW DO YOU MAKE A MOVIE AND NOT NOTICE THAT? That and the bottle of alcohol that magically refilled itself over and over again. This was seriously bad excuse for a movie. I could go on and on about the sister, the friend who was hitting on the younger brother and don't even get me started on the doll loving boy... "I got the new Hydroman action figure" "Oh isn't that the one that turns into water?" "You know who Hydroman is too" *cough* Hydro means water honey... Anyone 9 and up knows that... GET A LIFE! And the ending?! There are three people dead in the house, the people who were just attacked by the dolls are standing over them lovingly and the doll lover turns into a dead rotting chick?! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT RENT THIS "MOVIE" IF YOU DO... I CAN'T HELP YOU ANYMORE... ITS TRULY A WASTE OF YOUR LIFE THAT YOU CAN NEVER GET BACK!

Unearthing a set of dolls in his backyard, a teen finds that they have come to life during a party with his sister and her friends being guided by the ghostly spirit of their original owner looking for revenge for how she was treated and must find a way to get away alive.

This one was quite the enjoyable and entertaining killer doll effort. Among the better qualities here is the fact that there's a lot of nice work done here on exploiting a nice overall premise to this one, which lets this one come off as a classic storyline for this kind of effort overall. The initial scene of the dolls getting buried and the accident that strands the girl with them is a great way to begin this kind of effort, and their discovery scene later on gives this the solid build-up needed to give the scenes of them on the rampage the right context to really give this a solid and engaging series of set- pieces. The fact that the dolls are allowed to wander through the house on a raging thunderstorm works incredibly well here not only at developing a solid atmosphere with the party going on letting the dolls to sneak up unknowingly on them for the bedroom encounter on the tied-up boyfriend, their ghostly taunts in his bedroom and the way they sneak into the kitchen to take out the drunken jock makes for a strong series of scenes here letting the dolls get a chance to show themselves off which has the chance to showcase the usual rather strong effects work on the dolls themselves as they're unique creations that are quite well designed. These here manage to hold this one up quite well over the film's few but still detrimental flaws here. The biggest issue here is the fact that there's very little about the dolls' actions or concept of attack that make sense here, being driven by a motivation of revenge that makes no sense why they're targeting the family specifically which is spelled out here. They're not related to the previous owner who initially caused the incident, and that means the possession attempts don't really work here for the most part as there's little about this that would make for a believable course of action. Likewise, that they seem so unafraid of the dolls makes no sense at all as there's very little that shows them being terrified of the situation and it really makes for quite a troubling and somewhat laughable series of attacks. That's certainly not helped along by the fact that the dolls themselves are quite stiff-looking and rather unconvincing in their movements, and really tends to make their scenes somewhat of a disappointment. Otherwise there's not a whole lot wrong here.

Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, drug use and excessive drinking.

Production company Full Moon is known for making good cult movies and as much as it tries to preserve the old school method of making movies with little budget and practical effects, this production company went from making decent B-movies to making bizarre movies. Series Z. Doll Graveyard is proof of this, since it has an interesting story, but not very original and even with a few clichés. The dolls come to look gloomy, especially the porcelain doll, but the low budget and few special effects make the film lack a certain charm. The effects are very obvious and you can even see the strings of the dolls in some parts. A bit of CGI or stop motion animation would have helped a bit. Aside from the poor production, it is short in length, which makes it a quick movie to digest. Doll Graveyard is one of those low-budget movies that's just there to hang out and have a little fun. My rating for this movie is 5/10.

To be made in 2005 this seemed hauntigly similar to a 90s American pie to movie full of raunchy teenagers enjoying alcohol drugs and sex. The dolls reminded me of something that would have been in a nicklelodian movie and looked like it was made in someone's backyard. I compared it to the movie "teeth" when the young man's penis was jabbed by one of the dolls and a ridiculous amount of blood spilt everywhere. Might as well have been a 90s comedy with the bad puns and boyz to men soundtrack. The characters in this movie at often times made me feel uncomfortable with their over sexual behavior and stupidity I particularly hated the stupid jock. This movie was also over the top bloody for each situation. However it was entertaining

Bdon & lis

Tame but amusing further foray in to killer puppets for Charles Band and Full Moon. Short on action and on death scenes (though those included are fairly gory) this is watchable mainly because of the cast of hammy young actors and the barely over an hour length. Story begins with 12-year old Sophia (a bewitching Hannah Marks) playing with her only friends, some ugly dolls. Her father shouts at her about everything and anything (more extreme abuse is suggested but never shown) and demands she dig a shallow grave for her puppet friends as he is fed up with them cluttering up her life. She digs the hole and then as he helps her out she falls and breaks her neck. Thus Sophia and her friends are buried 'alive' together.

Fast forward a few decades and another lonely child, this time a boy called Guy (Jared Kusnitz) moves in with his single dad and brat induced older sister. Dad pops out for a date and sister is forced to stay home and watch Guy. However she invites her two friends around (one a blonde slut, the other a very sensible, studious girl). Two dumb lads invade the house to play sex with the girls. They bully Guy and make their moves on the girls. Nice friend Terri is not impressed and joins Guy upstairs admitting that her heart melts when he strolls by. They both have a passion for puppet models and meanwhile Guy has dug up some dolls from the shallow grave out back. The dolls talk to him and take revenge on his tormentors. Can Guy break free from his new friends to save the girl who loves him? Shot on digital video the movie looks good, dolls are superb and well animated. Music is heavily criticised in other reviews but it never intrudes on the story and therefore merely acts as a backdrop to what is going on rather than - as with certain Puppet Master films - being vital to create tension. The closing song sounds very much like Charles Band's musician son Alex (from band 'The Calling') though apparently it is not him...but then writer August White is not Charles Band either ;-0