There are horror movies that are objectively good, but not necessarily tonally appropriate for throwing on near Halloween. Then there are movies that play things relatively safe, but ooze Halloweeny vibes. Dolly firmly, unabashedly belongs in the latter. Shot in 16mm, fuzz and scratches galore. Credits appear in chunky font that feels ripped straight from the cover of a Stephen King novel he doesn’t remember writing. I sat in my theater, bathed in a warm glow of text so red and soft you wanna hug it. I was sold from the very beginning. All scored by Nick Bohun (Creep Box) with a phenomenal series of late 70s horror synth drone tracks.
A trailer I found on YouTube sold Dolly to me as a Shudder-funded indie horror movie with a Film Threat review claiming it’s “The scariest movie yet in the great chainsaw massacre tradition.” I haven’t stumbled across a slasher pitch that appealing since In A Violent Nature, and that knocked my socks off. I damn near punched the air when I realized IAVN2 had a trailer before Dolly.
I may not have seen past the first thirty minutes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but I am firmly in the target demographic for Dolly. I’m in my thirties, a movie dork, and would rather watch ten 3.5/5 Shudder Originals trying something funky than one four-quadrant mega-franchise horror movie.
After all: it’s horror. It should have the guts to do weird shit, on occasion.
Dolly lives for the weird shit. For better or worse.
Continue reading “Dolly: Some Assembly Required”
Gavin Gaddis Reviews 