Dolls in Horror

Dolls and clowns.
That’s what I find VERY scary.
There’s a fascinating history about the hows and whys dolls scare people. Some believe that because they look so human, that we can’t balance this with fact. The fact is that dolls are plastic toys, originally made for little girls to practice their social niceties on. Not to mention the fact that dolls do NOT age well. While humans get better with age, dolls tend to get creepier and creepier looking–hair breaks and falls out, skin loses color, eyes stop working, etc.

I’ve posted many times about my third grade experience watching Poltergeist, and how that stupid clown scared the shit out of me. But what about dolls? In 1987, a little horror movie called DOLLS, was released. If you’ve never heard of this little gem, I’ve posted the trailer below. Now I dare you to tell me this isn’t scary!

DOLLS
A group of motorists, including young Judy Bower (Carrie Lorraine), her horrible father (Ian Patrick Williams), her evil queen of a stepmother (Carolyn Purdy-Gordon) and a meek businessman named Ralph (Stephen Lee), become stranded at a spooky mansion during a nighttime thunderstorm. The house’s strange owners (Guy Rolfe, Hilary Mason) offer overnight lodgings, but with the dastardly intentions of making their visitors the playthings of their murderous toy dolls.

Want a few more scary doll movies?

MAY
Young misfit May (Angela Bettis) endured a difficult childhood because of her lazy eye. And though contact lenses have helped May adjust as a young adult, her deep-seated awkwardness remains a problem. Adam (Jeremy Sisto), a young man obsessed with fixing wrecked cars, takes a shine to May’s oddball ways. But May’s strangeness ultimately drives him away, leaving her open to the advances of her co-worker Polly (Anna Faris). When Polly dumps her too, May’s emotional instability turns violent.

CHILD’S PLAY
Gunned down by Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon), dying murderer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) uses black magic to put his soul inside a doll named Chucky — which Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks) then buys for her young son, Andy (Alex Vincent). When Chucky kills Andy’s baby sitter, the boy realizes the doll is alive and tries to warn people, but he’s institutionalized. Now Karen must convince the detective of the murderous doll’s intentions, before Andy becomes Chucky’s next victim.

DEAD SILENCE
After his wife meets a grisly end, Jamie Ashen (Ryan Kwanten) returns to their creepy hometown of Ravens Fair to unravel the mystery of her murder. Once there, he discovers the legend of Mary Shaw (Joan Heney), a murdered ventriloquist whose eerie presence still looms over the town. As he desperately digs for answers, Jamie encounters the curse that took his wife’s life and threatens his own.

THE BOY
A young American named Greta (Lauren Cohan) takes a job as a nanny for an 8-year-old boy in a remote English village. To her surprise, Greta learns that the child of her new employers is a life-size doll. They care for the doll as if it was human, which helps the couple to cope with the death of their own son 20 years earlier. When Greta violates a list of strict rules, a series of disturbing and inexplicable events bring her worst fears to life, leading her to believe that the doll is alive.

ANNABELLE
John Form (Ward Horton) thinks he’s found the perfect gift for his expectant wife, Mia (Annabelle Wallis) : a vintage doll in a beautiful white dress. However, the couple’s delight doesn’t last long: One terrible night, devil worshippers invade their home and launch a violent attack against the couple. When the cultists try to summon a demon, they smear a bloody rune on the nursery wall and drip blood on Mia’s doll, thereby turning the former object of beauty into a conduit for ultimate evil.

Source for summaries: http://www.imbd.com