By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Bad days call for good distractions and today I need an amazing one. I like movies about killer dolls. Child’s Play (1988), Dolls (1987), Trilogy of Terror (1975) and even Annabelle (2014) though complaints surround that film because it doesn’t actually show the doll with knife in hand. Still, I love movies with killer toys.
Robert (2015) like Annabelle before it is loosely based on a true story. In fact, the real Robert doll inspred Child’s Play. Unfortunately, rather than go with a creepy replica of the near faceless, knitted doll, the filmmakers went with a doll that looks like a combination of Chucky’s kid, Glen/Glenda and Annabelle.
The film adaptation of Robert takes place in present times, but in a few ways, they stayed true to the legend.
An odd nanny named Agatha (Judith Haley) is fired and seeks revenge by giving their young son Gene (Flynn Allen) the doll. She tells him that Robert will be good to him.
Gene’s mother, Jenny (Suzie Frances Garton), thinks the doll is hideous and wants to get rid of it, but Gene insists on keeping it. She unfortunatley has her own problems. She’s depressed, on medications, and is a sad artist.
Her husband Paul (Lee Bane) consistently does the wrong thing. When Jenny is upset he tells her to “calm down,” he thinks she’s irrational when she begins to suspect the doll of doing horrible acts around the house, and he plays off this patronizing superior vibe which irritated the hell out of me. Great acting by Bane’s part, but I hated the character. He was trying to do the right thing but he was just so pompous about it all.
Gene begins acting peculiar which gives creedence to Jenny’s beliefs. He says that Robert speaks to him. Though, Robert swears he’ll be Gene’s friend forever, he dislikes Jenny and Paul.
With Jenny’s own lipstick Robert writes “DIE” on a mirror. He attacks any babysitter or housekeeper that comes to the house.
Surprisingly, this only received 1/2 stars on Amazon Streaming. I think the issue is that many people may have rented it thinking it was the new film The Boy (2015) that is in theaters. It really deserved a higher rating as everything about it was done well.
This movie was a cool and scary tribute to the doll that sits in a museum and has more tales of mischief attached to it than any other.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7.5/10
