Dolls are Scary
I am not sure if it was the first Poltergeist film’s scene with the clown doll that did it, or maybe some insane short film I saw when I was a kid that had a murderous ventriloquist dummy in it (I don’t remember what it was called), but somewhere in my childhood, I developed the belief that dolls were creepy.
Porcelain Rising is an enjoyable short horror film that builds on those beliefs. The story revolves around young Elly who is having trouble sleeping because of a very large, creepy, doll in her room (who is obviously breathing in every shot). It seems “Emily the Doll” needs young Ellys’ body so it can live again. Elly’s father Terry believes the girl to be suffering from psychological problems, and not actually being tormented by Scary dolls. He learns too late that his daughter was telling the truth.
Behind the Scenes
Overall, Porcelain Rising is an enjoyable horror short film. The dialog is a little low at times making it a bit hard to follow, and it could have done a bit better at building the tension. Cinematographer Ian Coad, and Gaffer Rory Harborne did a great job with this horror short film, as the look is beautiful. There is a particular shot of the doll climbing off the bed that is just hypnotic. (It looks like they messed with the frame rate a bot to almost give it a stop motion type effect…)
Writer / Director Rachel Tatham has several projects in the pipeline according to her IMDB page, and if Porcelain Rising is any indication, we are excited to see what she does next.
Take a look, and let us know what you think of Porcelain Rising in the comments below!
Yes, those Scary Dolls
As I mentioned in the opening of this post, there was a short film (maybe it was feature, but I think it was a short) that I saw when I was a child (probably in 1985-ish when HBO would run shorts in between features?) It featured a murderous ventriloquist dummy. In one scene that sticks in my head, there was a woman hiding in the bathroom from the scary doll. She got down on the floor to peak under the door, and saw the dummy lying on the floor at the door looking at her. if anyone remembers the movie I am talking about, please put it in the comments. Damn scary dolls are creepy.
* Thanks to Dan (who commented below) The missing creepy short film has been found. It was a short film, and it was released in 1982. It was called The Dummy, and you can watch it here.