China, 2014
Review: JA Kerswell
Five old school friends find themselves trapped and chased by a madman in an oversized doll mask in a labyrinthine nightmare. This deliciously overstuffed Chinese cod-supernatural slasher throws multiple twists, each more ludicrous than the last.
Lin Xi (Qiqi Zhou) is a successful model who is questioning her decision to marry her wealthy boyfriend. She is also troubled by nightmares and hallucinations about her wedding dress blooming with blood and a baby’s hand bursting out from her stomach. Her best friend Qian (Yat-Long Li) understandably says she needs to distract herself and arranges a reunion with their old school friends over a meal—including her former flame Yifeng (Jiro Wang). However, Lin feels faint at the restaurant and excuses herself, only to be attacked by someone or something in the bathroom. She passes out and wakes up alone in a bathtub in a strange, sprawling abandoned quarry that seems built into the side of a cliff. As she tries to find her way out, she encounters the others, but none of them remembers how they ended up there.
One of the friends says he thinks he recognises the place as an old amusement park next to the school they attended, where legend has it a crazed man kidnapped a mother and her baby. The woman reportedly committed suicide, but the son grew up with a horribly deformed face and may still lurk there. Soon enough, someone wearing a grotesque, lopsided baby mask appears and chases them as they desperately try to find a way out. Who is under the mask and why anyone would build an amusement park inside an underground quarry are just some of the questions the film raises…
Given China’s censorship rules that effectively ban supernatural films, it’s clear from the start that the central mystery will be solved in a SCOOBY DOO-like way. This is a common trick used by horror filmmakers in China to include supernatural elements in their movies, as long as they eventually explain them with a logical reason. However, BLOODY DOLL cheats in this respect, as there are so many outrageous elements that can’t simply be explained away by revealing who is behind the chaos. Examples of which are one woman being found chopped in half, who appears possessed with a preternaturally large tongue, who writhes on the ground and grasps for the film’s heroine. Not even David Blaine could pull that one off! This gleeful refusal to abide by logic at least means the film has many striking visuals, including Lin being menaced by a small army of doll-faced killers and one of the friends twisting his own head from front to back before vomiting blood into her face (the film was originally filmed and released in 3D). In this regard, this dreamlike wooziness is somewhat reminiscent of the A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series. However, the film’s midsection hits more traditional slasher beats and is largely made up of a cat-and-mouse chase between Lin and the killer, which does generate some suspense. The film’s conclusion—rather unconvincingly—unveils the person (or persons) under that genuinely unnerving baby mask.
<spoilers>In the film’s most surprising twist, it turns out that everything was part of a plan by Qian (who has been wearing the mask) and others to reunite Lin and Yifeng! Of course, this makes little sense, as they had just spent the first two-thirds of the film brutalising the couple, including choking Yifeng into unconsciousness and placing Lin’s head in a vise! Although it’s revealed that Qian is actually jealous of Lin and may have been intending to hurt her for real. However, it doesn’t explain how they could fake making someone look like they’ve been cut in half or that small army of doll-faced killers, although the film somewhat excuses itself by suggesting that Lin has been experiencing hallucinations. While that sinks in, the film throws in the sidewinder that there really is a doll-faced psycho lurking inside the quarry wearing exactly the same mask! Some coincidence, eh? Not only that, but we find out it’s an old childhood friend of Lin who suffered severe facial disfigurement in a firework accident and is now angry because she has rekindled her relationship with Yifeng.</spoilers>
BLOODY DOLL was directed by Japanese filmmaker Teruyoshi Ishii, an early pioneer of the found footage horror mockumentary style with his acclaimed PSYCHIC VISION: JAGANREI (1988). Some sources suggest it was co-directed by someone named Bing Wang, who might be a Taiwanese music producer, possibly supported by the fact that the male lead Jiro (better known by his nickname ‘Da Dong’) is a popular pop star in Taiwan. Reports also indicate that it was filmed in locations across mainland China and Japan.
So, if you skipped the spoilers, it’s fair to say that not one bit of this follows any discernible logic. However, whilst you would need to take it all with a pinch of salt (actually more like the whole Dead Sea), BLOODY DOLL is batshit crazy enough to enjoy if you simply park your brain in neutral and go along for the ride.
BODY COUNT 4:
Female 3 / Male 1
BLOODY DOLL (2014)
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