Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

GL84 Struggling with a murder case, a lawyer decides to pass along a hand- crafted dummy to her daughter who begins acting strangely around the doll, and when they realize the doll's a damaging influence try to stop it before more are hurt.There wasn't a whole lot to this one that stood out. One of the pluses is the fact that there's a really freaky-looking doll this, which is the norm in these kinds of films. The wood-stained finish, complete with grain marks and the huge, super-expressive eyes are quite memorable giving it something that is unique, scary and quite imposing. That it's tied in with the fun to be had from the fact that it mixes it with the popular legend about the doll gives this more good points, making the last half a lot more suspenseful by giving it a more horror-based twist. This makes for some tense moments as it uses the legend for this style which is its best feature. The action and setting are both top-notch as there's an incredibly tense, thrilling chase through the darkened hallways in the house with the thunder crashing around them trying to escape from a killer who keeps popping out of everywhere with a butcher knife for what is easily the highlight here which really uses the exploits of a killer doll quite well. Although there's not a whole lot of them, the kills do lead to some rather nice scenes as these here are the film's best points while this one had a few flaws to it that do hold it down. The main thing here with this is the incredibly dull beginning which has very little to it that is even remotely close to exciting. There's two really irritating story lines that bring up nothing but those tactics, as the trial is made up of the appeal process mainly without giving anything to get into these, and they're so drawn-out and lifeless because of that. Then it segues into the family drama at home which isn't all that great since it's never interesting to see people going insane which really hurts the scenes of the daughter slowly being taken over since it takes a lot of time going through the different stages before the obvious happens. Along with the film's tendency to fall into clichés at times, another big issue here is that the film spends so much time on other stuff it utterly fails in providing it's killer doll much opportunity for killing. The body count here is really low for this kind of film, barely etching out a handful despite there being a rather hefty amount that could've been knocked off. That also leaves it really drier than it should've been and barely manages to spill some during its encounters with the rest being left for wounds that are inflicted but non-fatal ones, and all of these here drag down the film by making the killer seem weak and unable to be able to finish the job. These here are the film's biggest problems.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Nudity.

catfish-er A Tampa Police Officer wearing a State Trooper's hat. Stark Prison, where Florida keeps its death row inmates, IS NOT on the coast of Florida.An electrocution, with no wet sponge on the prisoner's head, before they put the metal bands on his head. A basement in Florida. Are you kidding me? There are like 4 houses in Florida with a basement.Not to mention the plot holes, on which others have commented. Was the daughter insane? Did the doll make her insane? Was the serial killer covering for his son? Did the son kill the other boys?If so, then the movie sort of makes sense. However, I thought the doll turned into the dead boy; not the daughter. Oh, well it was so insane and messed up at the end. Who cares?

lost-in-limbo Innocent childhood stories always have a creepy underbelly to them and the iconic figure of Pinocchio gets the treatment in 'Pinocchio's Revenge'… don't ask want revenge has to do with anything. Hell, I went in expecting far worse from this b-grade cheapo, but strangely came away thinking it was mildly okay. Due mainly to director Kevin S. Tenney's sharp, polished and controlled handling with such typically simple material. You can call it a 'Child's Play (1988)' rip-off, but I thought it was a bit better than that. Sure there's some influences there (… who am I kidding there's plenty), but what sets it apart is the whole ambiguous nature of just who is doing the killings. Maybe this factor is to cover up the stringy plot-holes, but this psychological tease was moderately effective. It's not really played for fun thrills, because it's quite light on them despite some mean-spirited acts (and these come terribly late). When it did come to those moments they were telegraphed jolts and jump scares. Minor suspense with the build-up taking ages to get going and cementing itself. Cliché after cliché is used to maximum effect and everything is played with a straight face. Therefore the daftness of it sticks out even more and leaves the film feeling plain. The atmospherically theatrical music score likes to inform you how evil a scene is going to get with its cues. The puppet just didn't create the chills, because of its bulky and awkward appearance. Although did it make a lot of noise when it moved about and of course doesn't like other dolls… you know competition. The special effects is you standard display. Leading the way in the performances are welcomely earnest turns by Roslaind Allen and child actress Brittany Smith. They both pull there roles off very well. Popping out of nowhere is a leering shower scene with Candance McKenzie. A slightly amusing throwaway.

lathe-of-heaven What the heck do people expect in Horror films these days anyway...? Does is HAVE to be something grisly like 'SAW' or it's just crap...??? I honestly feel that this director really put forth a good, sincere effort. Believe me, I was getting ready to cringe as soon as the dialog started, assuming that it was gonna be awful, and actually I was very pleasantly surprised. I mean, It's no David Mamet script or anything, but with all the usual Horror garbage out there, I thought this one was WAY closer to the top of the pile and FAR more entertaining than most.The director used a lot of creative and clever camera angles; the soundtrack was excellent and moody, perfect for the atmosphere needed for this kind of film. The editing and timing were very good. And it DIDN'T resort to the tired, worn cliché of excessive 'slasher' violence; for example ***** MINOR SPOILER ***** During an absolutely delightful and fully gratuitous (but tasty..., uh, I mean tasteful) nude shower scene I FULLY expect her to get sliced and diced; but, AMAZINGLY we just get to enjoy her heavenly loveliness and that's it ***** END MINOR SPOILER ***** Also, the tension was built very well, leading up to a nicely ambiguous ending where you are not quite sure what's what. ***** SPOILER ***** Especially where in the scene where the psychiatrist leaves the girl and Pinnochio alone in the office; WE see the doll actually talking to her, but in the video recording we do not. Also, the Mom sees Pinnochio moving about and being quite nasty; so, are BOTH the Mom AND daughter mentally ill...??? Also there is the original 'killer' and what the Mom had surmised about a possible Evil influence. But even with all that, we are STILL not quite sure WHO was doing the killing ***** END SPOILER ***** So, all in all, I believe that it was a good, strong, sincere effort to create some good ol' Early Full Moon type vibe, and I liked that they showed some restraint on the violence. (and, of course, the lovely, innocent, beautiful shower scene, which I will remember to the end of my days... : )IF you are a fan of films like the 'PUPPET MASTER', etc., and you enjoy Retro-styled Slashers, AND your thing for Horror isn't just all about sadism and torture, then you should find this film enjoyable. I thought it was a blast myself...