Dolly Dearest (1991)

An American family moves to Mexico to fabricate dolls, but their toy factory happens to be next to a Sanzian grave and the toys come into possession of an old, malicious spirit.

Director:

Maria Lease

Writers:

Maria Lease (screenplay), Maria Lease (story),

Stars:

Denise Crosby, Sam Bottoms, Rip Torn

3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Denise Crosby	...	Marilyn Wade
Sam Bottoms	...	Elliot Wade
Rip Torn	...	Karl Resnick
Chris Demetral	...	Jimmy Wade
Candace Hutson	...	Jessica Wade (as Candy Hutson)
Lupe Ontiveros	...	Camilla
Enrique Renaldo	...	Estrella
Alma Martinez	...	Alva (as Alma Martínez)
Will Gotay	...	Luis
Rene Victor	...	Nun at the Convent
Luis Cortez	...	Peter
Jaime Gomez	...	Hector
Brass Adams	...	Bob Larabe

Storyline

An American family moves to Mexico to fabricate dolls, but their toy factory happens to be next to a Sanzian grave and the toys come into possession of an old, malicious spirit.

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Plot Keywords:

mexico | toy | dynamite | slasher | gothic | 

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Taglines:

It's time to play...

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horror violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

18 October 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Boneca Diabólica

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Channeler Enterprises, Dolly Dearest Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the production-used dolls was auctioned off on eBay.

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Goofs

In the opening scene, a wire pulling either the stone slab or the stuntman is clearly visible when the stone slab crushes the guy to death.

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Quotes

Jessica: I want my dolly!

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Connections

Referenced in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch: Good Will Haunting (1998)

User Reviews

Reasonable Rip-off of "Child's Play"

In Mexico, an archaeologist releases the evil spirit of a devil child from a tomb of an ancient tribe called Sanzia that worshiped Satan on Earth and dies in an accident. Immediately after, an American family with two children arrives to live and reactivate a factory of dolls in a site nearby the archaeological field. Elliot Read (Sam Bottoms) invested the savings of his family in this business to manufacture dolls. He finds many dolls left by the previous owners of the factory, and gives one of them, which is possessed by the fiend, to his daughter Jessica Read (Candy Hutson). The girl changes her behavior, speaks an ancient language and the maid tells to the mother Marilyn Read (Denise Crosby). Meanwhile, the archaeologist Karl Resnick (Rip Torn) arrives to investigate the finding of his colleague. However, the demon has been already released.

"Dolly Dearest" is a clear rip-off "Child's Play" franchise, but is not as bad as the expectation a reader may have with the IMDb Rating of 3.8. Indeed it is a reasonable horror movie, with characters and situation well developed for this type of movie. Denise Crosby plays again the role of a mother new arrival in a different environment that faces problem with his daughter, recalling her performance in "Pet Sematary" (1989). There are some accidentally funny scenes, like for example when Elliot Read is stabbed on his thigh and runs like a hell when the factory is blowing up but in general "Dolly Dearest" is watchable and entertains. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Boneca Assassina" ("Killer Doll")