Sometimes, fairy tales can bring the pain.
Dolly depicts the demented fairy tale of a menacing, masked monster that kidnaps and kills its victims, who are otherwise collected as toys at an isolated cabin in the woods. Brought to life by multi-hyphenate filmmaker Rod Blackhurst and Max the Impaler (on loan from the NWA, the National Wrestling Alliance), this feature film debut (for both of them) brings grimy, unpolished terrors to the big screen in the vein of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
The storyline of this indie horror hit, which is distributed by IFC Films and Shudder, is depicted as a dizzy camera, body-horror fantasy with not a whole lot of dialogue. That kind of minimalistic storytelling forces the viewer to pay close attention to the action on the screen, which mainly focuses on three characters (Sean William Scott’s Chase, Fabianne Therese’s Macy and the aforementioned Dolly, portrayed by Max the Impaler).
Read Jason’s #HauntLife review of the film: Dolly is a Modern Echo of Classic Horror
Depicted as a sympathetic character, to a degree, Dolly is definitely an unsettling mother figure who has more similarities to Leatherface than any other baddie in recent years. That’s a powerful comparison that leans heavily into Max’s strength and fury, but not their vocal skills — Dolly’s silence speaks volumes, but the wheezing and grunts are totally understood by this asthmatic.
Painful to watch at times — the body horror is fast and furious — the movie is messy, full of brute force and brimming with broken innocence, Dolly definitely makes a lasting impression.
And it was even filmed locally, within Tennessee! I wasn’t previously aware of that fact, but I am incredibly impressed with the final product and always happy to promote local filmmakers.
The film’s writer-director-producer (Blackhurst) and star (Max the Impaler), on tour promoting their movie and following it up with a Q&A session with audiences, recently visited Knoxville for an early screening.
They discussed developing the character’s killer role together, filming outside Chattanooga, Tennessee on a microbudget and possibly foreshadowing Dolly as a franchise in the future… to learn more, please watch our quick video.
If you like fairy tales that offer a punch in the gut from time to time to its audience, make sure to check it out! Dolly exclusively premieres in U.S. movie theaters nationwide on Friday, March 6th.