You can never go wrong with Tim Thomerson especially in the Dollman movies which I thought I would revisit over the past week. There are only 2 movies in the franchise and the second one barely even counts as a film but let’s look at them both anyway…
Dollman (1991)
Plot: A hard-boiled intergalactic policeman lands on Earth, where he is thirteen inches tall.
From director Albert Pyun (Nemesis/Cyborg) Dollman is every bit as bonkers as you’d expect and to this day remains one of the oddest action films I’ve ever seen.
Starring the legendary Tim Thomerson, he plays cop Brick Bardo who has been suspended but ends up being captured by hie nemesis Sprug (Frank Collison) who is essentially a floating head in a machine… or something. Bardo has basically damaged him so much over the years that the head is all that remains of Sprug. It looks like Brick is about to meet his end when he suddenly whips out his trusty gun and shoots Sprug’s goons. They end up in a chase and end up getting transported to Earth. When they arrive, they realize they are now 13 inches tall and have to contend with a whole new world where they are the size of dolls.
It sounds ridiculous and it is completely embracing the silliness with Thomerson doing his best Clint Eastwood impression earlier on. He’s so good at playing sardonic, world-weary characters and this is no different. All he wants to do is repair his ship and get home, but he meets a single mother who is in trouble with local gang leader Braxton Red (Jackie Earle Haley). As nonsensical as the story is the performances are surprisingly strong with Haley playing a genuinely interesting character who is a villain, but knows he has to be one in order to survive.
On the action front there are plenty of shoot-outs and violent kills with Bardo’s gun one of the more underrated action movie weapons.
Like the protagonist Dollman’s runtime is pleasingly short running at a glorious 80 minutes so it’s never dull for a second. Obviously, Albert Pyun was the master of working with a low budget so some of the effects aren’t the greatest, but as I always say it just adds to the charm.
Overall, Dollman is one of those movies you could describe as a guilty pleasure, however, I feel no guilt for the movies I watch and enjoy them for what they are. This has some laughs, violence and fun characters to be watchable to this day.
Dollman vs. The Demonic Toys (1993)
Plot: Judith Grey teams with Brick Bardo (Dollman) and his girlfriend Ginger to face the evil Demonic Toys for one final battle.
If you think Dollman was silly wait until you see the sequel where he takes on The Demonic Toys! This time he’s joined by Nurse Ginger (Melissa Behr) who is now the same size as Bardo because some bizarre looking alien shrunk her down to doll size. How people come up with these kinds of ideas is beyond me, but I’m thankful as watching movies like this cheers me up no matter how bad a day I’ve had. All they are trying to do is entertain and they succeed.
Dollman vs. Demonic Toys is even shorter than the first film running at just over an hour, so it barely feels like a movie. There isn’t much to the story as the toys basically want to bring their master into our world and they can only do that by using a human host (Behr).
Tim Thomerson is as appealing as ever spouting a few one-liners with a twinkle in the eye clearly knowing he is in utter nonsense but just enjoying the ride. Effects wise this movie is better than the first as they basically just used large props to make the actors look small. It works for the most part, but the film doesn’t quite have the action of the first Dollman. I mean, he does have a fight with a toy, and we get a few shoot-outs but aside from that there isn’t much to get excited about. I also find the clown jack in the box with its constant laughing just annoying and I practically mute the film any time it’s on screen.
Interestingly Frank Welker, who voiced Baby Oopsie Daisy, is also the voice of Megatron, Soundwave and more from Transformers as well as many others like Scooby Doo.
Overall, Dollman vs. The Demonic Toys is every bit as amazing as you’d expect it to be with Tim Thomerson in sparkling form and Milissa Behr in a bikini for a lot of the runtime. It’s too bad we never got a final movie (which was planned) with Bardo finally finding his way home as that would have wrapped up his story nicely.