Dummy (2026) by Mark Polonia

Director: Mark Polonia

Year: 2026

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Killer Doll

Plot:

After his final performance, a ventriloquist and his doll prop are forced into retirement, which soon forces him to kill himself, transferring his career disappointment into a motivating factor to urge the doll to kill others at a remote hotel where he was staying, forcing them to stop it.

Review:

This was a fairly decent killer doll effort. Among the better factors with this one comes from the first half here, which generates enough background information on him and his act so that there’s some context for their performance history and what being together meant to him. The ability to go back and see how he evolved, from the acclaimed early performances that put him on the map to the deplorable bomb of a performance that led to a spiraling out of fame into his current state, where he has to get by doing nostalgia gigs at low-rent community theaters before the final performance, all serves to make his depressed state and need for revenge feel earned and rewarded. With the secondary storyline about the friends arriving at the hotel, thinking it’s the weekend of a high school reunion, but getting the date wrong and being forced to stay over, this works well enough at generating the kind of storyline that works for what it is.

That all gives the film enough of a starting point so that the scenes of the reanimated dummy coming to life and going on a killing spree have some fun with it, even though they also come with some of its main flaws. The concept of many of the scenes, from stalking the clueless hotel staff who are going about their chores, before sneaking up on them and striking, or the scenes of it wandering around the hotel being mistaken for the human owner, is a decent enough setup that makes for some solid moments here, with the genuinely creepy laugh and unnerving appearance, giving this some enjoyable factors. It’s just rather hard to overcome how low-rent and low-budget it all is, from the dummy mask on the killer, the one-location shooting, somewhat laughable stalking scenes in execution, and the general presentation where it’s impossible not to see that cheapness hanging over the film. Whether it’s a detriment or not is a personal preference factor, as it’s enough to lower this overall.

Overview: **.5/5

A serviceable, if overall lacking, killer doll effort, this one isn’t a complete waste but manages to have enough here to be worthwhile and enjoyable despite those issues keeping it down. Those with an appreciation for the type of genre fare or who are fans of the creative crew will have the most to like, while those turned off by the drawbacks should outright avoid this one.