The killer dolly movie is an interesting sub genre of the horror film. It is one that I find particularly scary. I do not like the idea of inanimate objects coming to life, especially in dolly form, although I often wonder in these films when people are doing battle with miniature menaces why they don’t just kick them away or stamp on them.
The idea of the evil doll essentially comes from films such as The Great Gabbo (1929) and Dead of Night (1945) where ventriloquist dolls turn evil. Child’s Play (1988) gave us Chucky, the first killer dolly superstar who is still going strong today. It also spawned a heap of insipid imitations that ranged from good to barely tolerable.
I have picked ten films that I hope you will enjoy reading about, and if the doll in the corner of the room starts giving you the evil eye, just grab her and chuck her out the window.
10) House of Evil (1968)
One of four dirt cheap Mexican films Boris Karloff made before he died, this is an uninspiring effort but it is notable for being one of the first films to feature killer toys.
Karloff is a rich, eccentric man who is dying. He calls his family together for a will reading. They are all despicable greedy jerks who are only after his money. After he dies, one by one, these d***head relatives are dispatched by Karloff’s murderous life-size toys. Then it turns out Karloff is alive in the basement and he plays the organ and the mansion goes up in flames.
Boris, bless his socks, tries to elevate it above the bargain bin in this amateurishly acted, ham-fistedly directed Mexican crap fest. The dialogue is terrible and doesn’t make sense. The dubbing is atrocious and renders the movie laughably campy.
There is not the slightest hint of logic and the whole film just becomes one giant snigger fest which is a shame for horror icon Karloff. He deserved to go out on a better note than this. Oh yes – and there are very lame killer dolls.
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7 Comments
I’ll tell you what used to scare the life out of me when I was very young (4 or 5ish when I first saw it) – the ‘biting dolls’ scene in ‘Barbarella’.
Not a killer dolls movie per se, but that one scene… ugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4u50HwF-8A
Barbarella is a trippy movie from beginning to end! That scene is the stuff nightmares are made of…
I don’t understand this list. You say its the best killer doll movies. But yet most of the time your saying how horrible the movies were.
Youre right. I should have left ‘Best’ out of the title of the article
A really great movie that featured a maniac doll ( I can’t say “killer” because I don’t think it actually kills – although maybe because the end is ambiguous). In any event – the doll does not appear as part of the entire movie but one of three stories of the horror anthology Trilogy of Terror in which a Zuni fetish doll is received by Karen Black’s character Amelia. Afterwards let’s just say all hell breaks loose as the doll goes on a wild rampage terrorizing Amelia. What I found most terrifying about the doll was how out of control and aggressive it was. It was like a wildcat. I remember when I first saw it as a child I was convinced dolls could posses you.
I love Doll Master. I always thought that killer dolls were ridiculous because you could either put a bunch of distance between you and it or tear it to shreds the first time it appeared… or just get a really big dog.
Has anyone heard of Robert the Doll? Probably the source of inspiration for all killer doll movies. Creepy.
I absolutely agree about the ridiculousness of dolls as enemies. If they came near me, I’d just stamp on them or kick them away.