John’s Horror Corner: Dolly (2025), just a good, mean, gritty, retro slasher for fans of brutal masked killer classics.

MY CALL: This one is easy to recommend to fans of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974, 2003, 2022), or anything like it. As a fan of grimy, mean slashers, I thought this was pretty good! MOVIES LIKE Dolly: This would pair well with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974, 2003, 2022), The Hills Run Red (2009) or In a Violent Nature (2024).

DISCLAIMER: I did receive an IFC Films screener. And while grateful, a review was not requested of me nor was I compensated in any way short of receiving a temporary screener. And if you think I’d give a positive review just because I was sent a screener, you be wrong—see, for example, my more “fair” solicited reviews of Belzebuth (2017), Séance (2021), or Offseason (2021).

Director and co-writer Rod Blackhurst captures a retro-grindhouse atmosphere (but without the grimy, sexually problematic content). The movie is straightforward, uncomplicated, sufficiently graphic and gory, and just plain mean. And it strikes me as Blackhurst’s application to the horror community to get approval for studio-funded films. Not that great work wasn’t managed with this budget! Blackhurst is clearly versatile with whatever budget he’s handed.

Macy (Fabianne Therese; Southbound, John Dies at the End) and Chase (Seann William Scott; Bloodline, Final Destination) set out on a romantic hike in the woods. And on this woodsy stroll, they encounter our antagonist Dolly (Max the Impaler).

Dolly is a doll-masked, motherhood obsessed mash-up of Psycho’s (1960) Norman Bates and Leatherface, snottily wheezing like a monstrous pug with a broken nose. She coddles a decapitated corpse, clips its fingers with garden sheers, and obsesses over creepy dolls. Dolly is also clearly mentally disturbed, exceptionally strong, and has a penchant for cringy, macabre shovel-play. But most of all, she just wants to be a mother to Macy.

Chase is done dirty (really dirty) by Dolly, and it leaves me wanting more of this brutal, grindhouse flavor. It also leaves me wanting more Sean William Scott roles in horror movies. SWS handles his role quite well. I’d love to describe what his character experiences. But I wouldn’t want to spoil anything.

Macy also gets it bad. From maternal disciplining to spoiled milk bottle-feeding, and a breast-feeding scene that ranks up there with Barbarian (2022), this presents us a good balance of sickness. Although, despite the strong maternity themes, this is nothing akin to Goodnight Mommy (2014, 2022) and instead finds itself much further into the offal-filled deep end of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974, 2003, 2022). There’s more than one scene with dangling chunks of flesh not quite fully torn from their bodies… if you’re into that sorta’ thing. You’ll even see a hole clear through a thoracic cavity, a mostly disembodied jaw (a la Amy Smart in Mirrors), and a top tier, extra chonky head smashing.

So, let’s be honest. You know who you are if this movie is for you. There’s nothing nuanced about this decision. See it, support Rod Blackhurst, and patiently what on whatever horrors he will hopefully deliver next!