DOLLY Review: The Texas Chain Saw Clone Would Be Better Left in the Toy Box

A romantic couple’s weekend in the woods turns dangerous when they cross paths with a reclusive psychopath in a porcelain mask in director Rod Blackhurst’s Dolly.

Chase (Seann William Scott) and Macy (Fabianne Therese) have been dating for a while now and it’s getting pretty serious. He’s a single Dad whose former partner passed away and he’s finally ready to pop the question, Macy, however never planned on being a mom and is less certain of their long-term future. When their getaway is interrupted by what appears to be a hulking psychotic woman wearing a porcelain kewpie doll mask, Chase is attacked and left for dead while Macy finds herself trapped in a hidden house of horrors, and both of them must fight for their lives if they have any hope of getting away from Dolly.

From the first frames of Dolly, it is instantly clear that Blackhurst, who also wrote and produced the film in addition to directing, is a big fan of Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The deliberately dingy 16mm photography presents a convincing throwback vibe that proves to be immediately soothing and appropriate for the grimy atmosphere that is clearly the goal. However, the film never manages to break free from the homage instinct, instead rehashing a lot of elements from similar ‘70s downers without adding much to the conversation.

When we are introduced to our protagonists, there is a very clear dichotomy of personality between Chase and his beloved. While he is a dutiful and loving father, Macy’s attitude toward children seems to extend to her attitude toward everything, she is dismissive, ill-tempered, and just generally unlikable from the jump. Though it is not a requirement that a lead character be a sweetheart, it does end up making it difficult for the viewer to attach themselves to her emotionally when she suddenly becomes the focus of the story, as Dolly abandons Chase for a vast chunk of the film’s second act.

We follow Macy as she finds herself locked inside an isolated house in the woods being treated like a baby by Dolly (pro wrestler Max the Impaler), complete with crip and diaper changes. Any behavior that doesn’t present like that of a toddler is punished with violence. The film transitions at this point to a series of tortures that Macy must endure with very little rhyme or reason attached. We don’t learn much about Dolly or her background, though there is a casual attempt at backstory from an otherwise inconsequential character that doesn’t really go anywhere, and there isn’t much reason to care about either Macy or Dolly. The only character who had managed to elicit any sympathy was Chase, and he’s nowhere to be seen.

It all adds up to a less than stellar Chain Saw clone that feels closer to something like Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects, but with none of that film’s pathos or interest in character. Clocking in well under eighty-five minutes, Dolly still manages to drag, mistaking atmosphere for story in many cases, and by the time it was over all I could think of was that I’d rather have watched Hooper’s original than this pale imitation.