Indonesian Doll Trilogy

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In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated 1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going to review every single movie I see.  I’m going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future).  You can always ask me why I gave the ratings for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses under the ‘About Me’ section).

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The Doll                       OK

The Doll 2                    EH/OK

Sabrina                        EH

I saw, not long ago, that Sabrina was a new evil doll movie on Netflix but luckily I found out it was actually the third film in an Indonesian trilogy that began with The Doll and The Doll 2.  The Doll and The Doll 2 weren’t available at the time, even online, so my OCD wouldn’t allow me to watch Sabrina right away, but they recently became available on Netflix, so my marathon began (yes, there are subtitles for those not fluent in Indonesian).  Besides the OCD reasons, luckily I did wait as some characters reappear in each successive entry in addition to certain scenes being referenced (the films were all released a year apart beginning in 2016).  These movies are more Annabelle than Child’s Play.  The doll just happens to be present in each film generally having the same plot---there’s a doll, there’s a demonic presence, lives are ruined, revelations indicate humans are the real monsters.  The doll in The Doll resembled a trashy, gothic Cabbage Patch Kid while the better looking (but still creepy) Sabrina doll was introduced in The Doll 2 and appropriately returned for the eponymous threequel.  Indonesians certainly did their homework in watching American horror cinema but apparently didn’t attempt to improve upon it, even going so far as including fake jump scares; and brevity definitely isn’t their strong suit as each of these exceeds 100 minutes with the last 2 barely shy of two hours!  They all certainly seemed as long as they were too, if not longer!  None were exactly low-budget (in the general sense; there’s a poorly staged car accident in The Doll 2) and they were all bloody when they wanted to be, but they were all subpar demonic possession movies instead of actual evil doll movies.  Sure, I was reminded of Child’s Play 2 and Dolly Dearest just once separately throughout the entire series, but I was more often reminded of other films like Poltergeist, Paranormal Activity(s), The Evil Dead, and just about every other demonic/possession flick.  There was even a “jealous female trying to ruin domestic bliss” subplot á la Fatal Attraction and The Hand that Rocks the Cradle at the end of The Doll 2!  My ratings make it appear they get weaker each time, but none were entirely worth it, although if you’re an ‘evil doll cinema enthusiast’ like myself, you’ll probably want to watch them strictly for your enthusiasm while everyone else will think they’re as lame as their American counterparts.  Wait, didn’t I complain they weren’t actually evil doll movies?  Oh well, there’s a doll in them and that’ll still probably make you ‘evil doll cinema enthusiasts’ curious, but don’t blame me if you’re disappointed though!  1/31/2019

Bonus Haiku Review(s):

Folklore:  Season One               EH

Objective review:

Six eps.  HBO.

Six different Asian countries.

Anthology show.

Subjective review:

How disappointing.

I like anthology shows.

Not this one.  Bummer.

Episodes:

            A Mother’s Love            EH/OK

            Indonesian one.

            Chilling but derivative.

            Wewe.  Kidnapper.

            Tatami                           B

            Japan.  Curses.  Deaths.

            The Grudge-ish.  Only it’s worse.

            Too slow.  Too empty.

            Nobody                        EH/OK

            Singapore.  Dead girl.

            Raped.  Murdered.  Back for revenge.

            Formulaic.  Lame.

            Pob                               OK/G

            Thai one.  Wasn’t bad.

            Hungry ghost.  Literally.

            There’s a Caucasian.

            Toyol                            EH

            Not sure which country.

            Gorgeous shots.  Demon baby?

            Confusing for me.

            Mongdal                      OK

            Korea.  Teen boy.

            Psycho.  Unrequited love.

            Death.  Ghost.  Dark.  Okay.  2/4/2019

Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):

Bushwick:   OK/G

Galveston:   OK

The Guilty:  OK/G (more G than OK)

Velvet Buzzsaw:  EH

---Sean O.
2/5/19