I SAW DOLLY

 

Writer/director Rod Blackhurst's Dolly, based on his novel, Babygirl, held a limited, theatrical release in March, but now makes its full-blown, chilling debut on Shudder. The movie merges elements of Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Tourist Trap and The Baby with the behavioral luridness of Ruby Jean Jensen's literary works. 

NWA wrestler Max Lindsey, aka Max the Impaler, plays the titular, hulking entity of ambiguous origin, who resides in a woodland home. When the movie commences, Dolly is seen sitting in an agitated state, much like Leatherface after he's killed the youths in Tobe Hooper's original Chain Saw. It's through Lindsey's effective pantomime that Dolly's urge to remedy her outcast state becomes clear, even if obscured by a cracked, China-doll mask and an oversized, little-girl dress.

Macy (Fabrianne Therese) is the story's protagonist, a young woman set to be engaged to a congenial fellow named Chase (Seann William Scott), whose chipper daughter (Eve Blackhurst) Macy adores. Macy is seized by Dolly when she and Chase get lost in the woods. This leads to a monstrous outcome and the fable's allegorical overlap, for while Macy desires a family, so does Dolly, albeit by forcing Macy to become her "daughter": i.e. an adult-sized infant who's wedged among the brute's grimy toys.

Macy's entrapment consumes most of the story, and one can't help but feel for her, as she's not only smothered by Dolly's repulsive affection, but must come to terms with all she's lost. (These components are, whether by accident or design, evident, Jensen tropes.)    

As Macy adapts to Dolly's creepy lifestyle, we learn she's not its only prisoner. There's a chained-up man in the house named Tobe (Ethan Suplee), but is he a jinxed victim or someone closer to the circumstance's morbid bone? His designation (though eventually revealed) doesn't matter as much as his incapacity to assist Macy, which further stresses how a mere misstep can derail a life. 

Dolly is a disturbing, doleful movie, but also fascinating and outlandish in its macabre passages. That makes it destined for cult status. Heck, I can already see the Halloween costumes and action figures the character will spawn. That's a good thing, too. The world can always use another fanciful, fictional fiend, as opposed to just another exasperating, real one.