Dolly is directed by Rod Blackhurst, and the cast includes Fabianne Therese, Russ Tiller, Kate Cobb, Eve Blackhurst, Michalina Scorzelli, Ethan Suplee, Seann William Scott, and Max the Impaler.
TL;DR: Two people go on a getaway, where one ends up tortured by a masked maniac - it’s gruesome, sometimes clever, sometimes ridiculous, and I think it’s worth a watch if you don’t mind feeling grossed out., as it is certainly a movie doesn’t waste time being polite. [Dolly trailer, images, posters, clip]
Characters and Performances
Fabianne Therese plays Macy, and I thought she did a good job carrying most of the movie, where she’s the lens through which we see Dolly’s terror, and she really helps the absurdity of being treated like a baby land properly, while Seann William Scott also shows up in a minor role, and I can’t say he’s necessary, but he adds a little weird charm in small doses.
Max Lindsey (Max the Impaler) as Dolly is the real revelation though, and he worked much better than I expected, and he makes Dolly feel like a living, horrifying presence rather than a person in a costume, and both the mask and costume are intentionally grotesque too, which means you’re looking at someone terrifying and absurd at the same time, and I think that balance is tricky to pull off, but Lindsey does it.
Then there’s Tobe, played by Ethan Suplee, who feels like a wink to anyone familiar with the horror canon - a very on the nose homage - and sometimes the movie teeters too close to being derivative, but it sometimes works and you can tell the filmmakers know what they’re borrowing from and are using it for effect rather than lazily copying.
Read some more horror movie reviews:
The Story and Scares
The plot is simple, which is fine for this type of movie, where Macy and her boyfriend end up in Dolly’s grasp, and the film alternates between slow, creeping dread and moments of outright horror, where some rules are clear, but other things remain mysterious, and that uncertainty adds some weight to it all.
We do get some CGI involved, which is so conspicuously fake that you might end up laughing a bit, but it's funny in a bleak way, though.
Dolly isn’t subtle about the gore either, which is great, as blood and dismemberment appear frequently, and it’s unpleasant and I loved it, so if you're a fan of that sort of thing, Dolly might be worth watching just for that.
But we also get discomfort beyond just the blood too, as the dynamic between Dolly and Macy is unsettling, as the idea of someone reducing another person to a helpless, infantilized state is psychologically disturbing, and it’s the mental aspect of the torture that made parts of the film hard to watch, but I thought the filmmakers handled this with care in terms of performance, though the implications of some scenes can be heavy.
So consider yourself warned.
Tone and Style
The pacing works fine here, and while some scenes drag a little, the lingering sense of dread it feels is well done, while the choice to shoot on 16MM adds a lot too, as there’s a texture to the film that makes the woods feel like a trap rather than just a setting.
Light and shadow are used well, especially in sequences where Dolly is lurking, and I also liked the small practical touches - the way the mask moves, the props, the way Dolly interacts with the environment - which all add something little to a very simple premise.
Where It Falls Short
Dolly does have some obvious flaws though.
As I mentioned, the CGI moments can be jarring, and a few of the scare setups are predictable or overly derivative, while some character beats feel convenient rather than earned, and the boyfriend’s arc, as while necessary for the plot, it could have been better
The most obvious tension for me though came from balancing homage with originality, as the nods to horror classics are everywhere, and sometimes it works, other times, it reminded me that the movie doesn’t fully escape the shadows of its influences.
Or maybe it just doesn't want to.
Final Thoughts
Dolly is intense, and occasionally absurd, but I liked it for what it was, and if you can handle extreme gore and psychologically unsettling scenes, I think it’s worth a watch, and it’s one that does enough right to stand out, even if not entirely bringing much new to the table.