Dolls (1987 film)

Dolls
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Stuart Gordon
Produced by	Charles Band, Brian Yuzna
Written by	Ed Naha
Starring	Stephen Lee Guy Rolfe Hilary Mason Ian Patrick Williams Carolyn Purdy Gordon Cassie Stuart Bunty Bailey Carrie Lorraine
Music by	Fuzzbee Morse Victor Spiegel
Cinematography	Mac Ahlberg
Edited by	Lee Percy
Distributed by	Empire Pictures (1987, original) MGM (2005, DVD), Shout! Factory (under license from MGM) (2014, Blu-Ray)
Release date	March 6, 1987
Running time	77 minutes
Country	Italy United States
Language	English
Budget	$2 million
Box office	$3.5 million

Dolls is a 1987 Italian-American horror film directed by Stuart Gordon, produced by Charles Band and Brian Yuzna and was written by Ed Naha. It stars Stephen Lee, Guy Rolfe, Hilary Mason, Ian Patrick Williams and Bunty Bailey. In the film, during a harsh thunderstorm, a group of six people arrives at the mansion of a pair of an old puppetmaker and his wife. The film eventually reveals that the puppetmaker's puppets in the house are actually cursed immoral people who had been killed and imprisoned in puppet bodies for years in order to pay for their crimes.

The film was released on March 6, 1987 and was a major commercial failure, grossing $3.5 million worldwide against budget of only $2 million.

A violent thunderstorm strands six people in the gothic English countryside: little Judy, who is traveling with her selfish, uncaring father, David Bower, and her callous, arrogant stepmother Rosemary. They are accompanied by Ralph, an amiable, mild-mannered businessman, who has given a ride to Isabel and Enid, two British punk rock girls who are hitchhiking. They all wind up at a mansion inhabited by Gabriel and Hilary Hartwicke, a kindly elderly couple who appear to be toy makers; their house literally abounds with dolls, puppets, and other beautifully detailed toys. They give Judy a new doll, Mr. Punch, after she had been forced to give up her old teddy bear by her cruel stepmother before they arrived at the house. The Hartwickes invite the stranded travelers to join them for dinner and stay as guests until the storm ends.

One by one, the overnight guests (excluding Judy) are attacked by dolls, who turn out to be cursed, immoral people that have been killed and imprisoned in toys to pay for their crimes. The first to suffer the wrath of the dolls are the two female punks, for trying to steal antiques from the house they believe to be valuable: Isabel, who's beautiful but rude and vain, is brutally beaten by the dolls, who smash her head into a wall before dragging her into the attic to become one of them; Enid is shot by a group of toy soldiers after finding her nearly transformed friend and attempting to escape. For her constant berating of her stepdaughter, Rosemary is ambushed and stabbed repeatedly by the toys before leaping to her death out of the window into a mutilated mess. Her body is brought back to the bedroom, where she is found by her husband. Thinking that Ralph murdered her, David prepares to kill him.