Review | Dollhouse movie review: haunted doll J-horror with Masami Nagasawa is great fun
Japanese director Shinobu Yaguchi mixes horror and riotous comedy in this film about a family tormented by a possessed doll
4/5 stars
Better known for directing feel-good crowd pleasers like The Waterboys and Swing Girls, Japanese director Shinobu Yaguchi proves he is equally adept at delivering genuine scares with the riotously entertaining Dollhouse.
Masami Nagasawa plays a grieving mother who unwittingly brings a possessed toy into her home, only for the inanimate plaything to turn tormentor when its services are no longer required.
After the accidental death of her adorable young daughter, Yoshie (Nagasawa) is inconsolable. That is until she discovers “Aya” at an antiques market – a large doll in a strange glass case, who stands roughly the same height as her little girl.
Yoshie dresses Aya in her daughter’s clothes and takes it around town in the buggy. Her husband, Tadahiko (Koji Seto), and mother (Jun Fubuki) play along, despite the strange glances she attracts, but when Yoshie finally becomes pregnant again, Aya is consigned to the wardrobe.