Dallas Film Now.

I have a lot of questions about Jose Maria Cicala’s “The Dollmaker”. For instance, why does one character wear a puffy pirate shirt to bed? What was the purpose of including a sadistic rape scene other than to sadistically titillate? And why does lead character Tina (Griselda Sanchez) never change out of her roller-skate waitress work uniform from where she works, which is an equally puzzling diner location that also seems to serve as the small town’s disco and alternative gay bar?

In the end, I suppose none of this really matters since Cicala’s “The Dollmaker” simply exists as a misguided horror wrapped up in bare bones psychology, and its influence of films dealing in small town malaise hiding a deeper, more sinister calling can be summed up by the last name of one of its lead characters- Lynch.

Lynch is young Tomas (Rodrigo Noya), an employee saddled with an equally ludicrous boy scout outfit since that’s seemingly the dress code for the video store he works at. Tomas is going through some things. In between falling for beautiful Tina whom he meets at the psychiatric hospital where he volunteers and spending his days at home talking to a mother he makes out of doll parts, young Tomas is not okay.

Add to the mix a new policeman who wants to find out why so many women have been missing in this small area and a group of town elders who want nothing more than their mystery to go away and “The Dollmaker” boils up a tale both sadistically violent and morally ambiguous. It just fails on both counts. As a ghastly horror film (mostly in the way we come to find out who the serial abductor/killer is), the tone of violence feels like it’s coming from a different film altogether. And when it settles into a more intimate story about Tomas trying to find connection and the noble efforts of a lawman trying to reconnect missed loved ones, “The Dollmaker” also misses the mark in the way it lingers on amateurish performances and unlikely attractions.

Hailing as a fan favorite from this year’s Scream Fest, Cicala’s film certainly has its admirers, I just sadly can’t call myself one. Low-budget horror filmmaking can be either elating or deflating, and “The Dollmaker” falls squarely in the latter.

The Dollmaker will be available on Video on Demand platforms beginning Wednesday August 25th.