American Dollhouse is John Valley’s little Christmas slasher that has been making its way around the festival circuit in 2026, with a release coming soon.
A Christmas Nightmare With a Very Nosy Neighbor
Sarah returns to her hometown after inheriting her childhood home, hoping to sort out her life after a difficult period involving addiction, debt and the death of her mother, but unfortunately, the neighbor isn't exactly the welcoming type - Sandy becomes increasingly obsessed with Sarah, partly because she bears an unsettling resemblance to Sandy's deceased mother.
Director John Valley has also been fairly open about what he was trying to do with American Dollhouse, where he has talked about drawing from older slashers including Psycho, Peeping Tom and Black Christmas.
The film also comes from a very independent production background - it was shot and produced in Austin with an Austin-based cast and crew, with Roosevelt Film Lab behind the production. David Axe, Samuel Butler, Shane Greb, Christian Sosa and Jon Wroblewski produced the film, while Taylor Camarot handled cinematography and Samuel Butler edited it.
Valley previously directed The Pizzagate Massacre, and American Dollhouse is his second feature.
The Festival Run
American Dollhouse premiered at SXSW in March 2026 and subsequently played other genre festivals, including the Overlook Film Festival and L'Étrange Festival in France, where the latter screened the movie in September as part of its 2026 program.
The festival response has been fairly varied, which is hardly unusual for an indie slasher - some reviews have praised its gore and old-school horror approach, while others have found it less successful in developing its characters and ideas.
American Dollhouse currently does not have an official or locked theatrical release window.
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