Bannister DollHouse

After a series of bizarre encounters, a family trying to cope with their daughters' unconventional and inexplicable behavior slowly come to believe it's all tied together with a creepy doll the girl has an unhealthy obsession with and tries to free her from its grip which grows more dangerous once it knows their intentions. This one proved to be a solid enough effort. Among the best features here is the rather enjoyable setup on display that highlights how much influence the doll has over the child. Shown to almost immediately freak out the older sister to the point of needing to leave the room mere minutes after purchase and then requiring a doctor's visit soon after, it generates a nice atmosphere when combined alongside the later scenes of the family coming undone by her strange behavior since getting the doll. The adherence to it and not letting anyone near it, the adamant refusal to follow instructions from authorities unless they directly talk to her and the general sense of psychological unrest portrayed all showcase. That all comes into play quite nicely here in the rather spectacular scenes featuring the dolls' haunting coming to fruition. The innocuous scenes of her disobeying her mother and acting creepy give way to far more obvious scenes here of the doll taking over which run the gamut from footsteps rushing by out-of-focus of everything else, eerie whispers, and even strange figures popping up behind victims unexpectedly. That manages to provide enough of a lead-up to the finale where it becomes far more obvious and overtly supernatural by including the impressive attack on the family where it fully utilizes its cursed powers to generate some decent spectacle shots on this budget. These factors all come together to give this a lot to like. This one does manage to bring about a few issues with it. The main drawback to this one is the bizarre setup involving the family dynamic at the house. As the father and oldest sister seem to be in complete agreement on how to treat the dolls' influence over them, that the mother is at the opposite end towards being aware of something not being right in the house but not what is way too farfetched to be realistic. That they've split up is never revealed why and it all points to a strained atmosphere that no one wants to acknowledge is caused by something so obvious, which also causes the other big flaw here in the rather stilted pacing focusing on building up to something that's quite obvious. Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and children-in-jeopardy.

This is a micro-budgeted chiller directed with a great deal of flair by MJ Dixon. It tells of a fragmented family, and the youngest daughter's apparently malevolent doll. It reminds me more than a little of Andrew Jones' 'Theatre of Fear/The Midnight Horror Show (2014)' in that there is very effective use made of close-ups, blurred imagery, creepy lighting and the camera prowling around ve-ee-ery slowly; just as something threatens to reveal itself, we move briskly to another scene. It's all very effective. It isn't without its problems. In close-up, the titular doll is quite eerie looking, again mainly due to the muggy lighting; viewed at other times, it looks distinctly unthreatening and ordinary. It's also true to say that often, the acting is flat, and that kills off much of the carefully layered atmosphere. For the most part, I really enjoyed this and often found myself genuinely chilled by it. The soundtrack, by Hockeymask Heroes, adds greatly to the unnerving atmosphere. My score is 6 out of 10.

Watched this last night on iTunes. One of the creepiest films i've seen in ages. It had shades of Hereditary and Midsommer, but with a. modern British setting. It felt a little bit like also budget film, but the atmosphere kept it going. Great work from everyone involved. The acting was also very good for a low budget film.

I am a horror film addict, and I have to say, this is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. The acting is terrible, the suspense is seriously lacking, there is absolutely zero scare factor, and the lighting makes it difficult to watch if you have sensitive eyes. Having said that, I'm a sucker for these types of movies, so I'm kind of obsessed with it. The fact that it's a foreign film (I'm from the US) makes it even better. If you want a good horror movie, don't waste your time. But, if you're like me and live for low-quality films, you absolutely need this in your collection.

I saw this a couple of years ago at Horror-On-Sea Film Festival and have waited anxiously for it come out on DVD. It got released on download early it seems. Let me start by saying, that this film was originally called Bannister Dollhouse and although the title change feels a little on the nose, I guess in a way it feels more apt for this film. The film itself is very very slowburn, its kind of a basic haunted doll movie, its only when it comes to the finale that it really comes into its own. A proper modern folk horror that I'm sure people will enjoy as much as I did.

That's the confusing credit at the end of this fun timepasser - who the heck is Martha? I'm guessing she's the unnamed doctor's receptionist who turns up later as a separate character, given all the other female parts are namechecked in the film. Anyway, as everyone has pointed out, this is cheap, but it's good fun. The acting really isn't as great as several reviewers say, but it's OK. The whole thing reminds me of the UK Thriller series that ran on ITV in the Seventies - not massively original, but points for commitment. There are cliches, but there's also creepiness, and one or two subtle moments worth keeping an eye out for. So, thanks to everyone involved. I had fun. Off to bed now. I hope someone makes me a hot chocolate...

Its a strange mix of reviews here. I'd heard positive things about the film from a handful via word of mouth of festival screenings, but I suppose the thing here is to lower your expectations. I was made aware that this was made on very little money by some filmmakers who had seen it. So I went in with those expectations adjusted. The film is good, not quite great, but very competent and there's are moments that really gave me the chills. There are some jump scares in there, but they feel earned, there's a build up to them and they work for the most part. The film gets a little silly toward the end of the second act and it does feel like it starts to fall apart a bit, silly lines and jokes in what had been a very serious film up until that point. The end is where the film comes into it own, taking the expectations of this kind of genre film and doing something different and although it moves toward bleak territory as it closes. It works. Lets be honest, if you only watch movies like The Conjuring and Insidious, then the lack of polish is going to put you off, the film requires the audience to make some connections and thats not going to work with everyone. The lighting is nice, most of the actors do a good job with a decent script and its kind of amazing what can be done with a camera and some actors and not much money. I'd give it a 6.2

I'm forced to give this horror movie a 10 because it's actually a good horror movie, but it if you don't believe me then watch it yourself!

Watching this movie build and build really reminds me why I like thrillers, the tension that gets built up as the pace picks up the more the film goes on building to am amazing final 10 minutes that is some of the best movie shots ever!!!! I understnad some poeple may down rate this due to the low 'budgetness' of this movie but shame on them for not just enjoying a qualty film. Why does a film have to have millions wasted on it to create something brilliant. This film could have done with two rather than one (just my opionion) to help sell the story a little more but enough gets brought in to bring in the shocker ending. Great acting and a great script with pefect shooting makes this a top film to watch - DIVE IN!!!!!

What a great film! Fantastic acting and bone chilling climax.I will have to track down the same directors slasher house trilogy. Without giving anything away I have to say the twist is one of the greatest in British film history!