The Creepy Doll (2011)

Review by Mari Lynne Rupp



The synopsis of this film is Kate and Jason, newlyweds and expecting their first child, move into Jason's old childhood home. Kate, obviously has a troubled past with her family, and she just found out Jason's old flame, Samantha has been hanging about. After unpacking her childhood dolls, one of which seems to give everyone else but Kate the heebeejeebies, marital tensions rise, but we're not sure which is the true menace...The Creepy Doll? Or Kate's own suspicious mind?
Written and Directed by PJ Woodside, with Big Biting Pig productions, who also gave us "Widow" "Goat Sucker" and "Hell is Full", also starring Kristine Renee Farley, Justin Veazey and Steve Hudgins, this is a wonderful addition to the horror genre, giving us a great twist to the 'scary doll' branch of the genre.
The writing is full of relationships, with all the complications and between-the-lines readings all that entails. PJ has written a wonderful web of former relationships, misunderstandings, unrequited loves and couples with unresolved feelings. Trust a woman to use feelings, relationships and suspicious minds as a background for what has to be one of the creepiest films I've seen this year. As young bride Kate gets to know Jason's family, she seems to mistrust ex-flame and lifelong friend Samantha more and more. And the longer Kate's dolls are in the house, the more emotional and mysterious Kate becomes toward Jason and his family. Now can we assume it's just pregnancy hormones? Or are the dolls, particularly the "Creepy Doll" that Kate calls her "guardian doll" influencing her? The audience sees her continuously talking to her grandmother, giving reference to her grandmother's many sayings and words of wisdom. One particularly chilling scene, the housewarming party Kate and Jason's mother throws, Kate is painfully aware of how 'outside' the family she still is, despite being Jason's wife. The support system of Jason's family seem to have many stories with Jason and Samantha, and at the end of dinner,Jason and Samantha are in the living room, talking alone and seeming very intimate. Kate is watching this intently, as a little girl unwittingly walks into the dolls room....We hear a scream, and see the little girl flee the room, frightened to death and in tears. We've seen nothing actually happen but the menace in Kate's face as she watches her husband with Samantha, and the terror the little girl expresses is a great vehicle to put the audience on edge and begs the question, which will be the true threat, the Creepy Doll or is Kate hiding a past more troubled than she lets on?
The acting is first rate, the direction is fantastic. Some of the camera angles are a bit awkward, but the imagery and symbolism is just brilliant. The film starts out showing us a progression of photographs as we hear Kate talk about her new home and husband with her grand- mother, the photos of a happy, lovely girl with her dolls...One in particular, with strange, dark eyes....As the photos progress and the girl ages, her smile fades into a frown, until we see the grown up Kate in her new home, giving us the idea that her childhood wasn't as happy as she'd have liked.
Starring Farley and Veazey as Kate and Jason, and the wonderful Jessica Cook as Samantha who is our femme fatale, but also turns out to be the "Ahab", meaning the one who uncovers the protagonists' past, Cindy Maples and Randy Hardesty as Emily and Dick, Jason's parents who try to help Kate fit in and feel welcome to the family. Just look at the doll on the dvd case cover, and tell me you're going to watch this with the lights off....
8/10