On The Doll (Peace Arch Entertainment DVD)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: B     Film: D

 

 

On the Doll marks yet another film to come out that falls into the lame category of the torture/porn/sex/violence genre that is equally disappointing as it is distracting.  Perhaps one of the last film to take this topic with any sense of credibility was Joel Schumacher’s 8mm starring Nicholas Cage, which is still grossly underrated. 

 

Here we have multiple storylines that are examined in a pseudo-documentary style as we see the ups and downs of the call girl life, and the life of sex and drugs that run the underground of city life.  What else can you expect from a music video director like Thomas Mignone who has worked with Slipknot, Sepultura, Type-O-Negative, and of course David Hasselhoff?  At least the film attempts to take the topic more seriously than films like Hostel or the Saw series, but it ends up bombing harder than Showgirls. 

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is decent and offers all the limitations that standard definition DVD can, especially a lower budget production like this.  The 5.1 Dolby mix is average as well and the 2.0 Dolby mix is a bit better in some respects as it seems cleaner.  There are more extras on this disc though than most films get these days including a behind-the-scenes feature, directors commentary for deleted and extended scenes, alternate endings, and two music videos one by Otep and the other by Feersum Ennjin, both are forgettable for the most part, then again so is most of the work by Mignone. 

 

While some might be On the Doll, you’ll want to get off as soon as possible in yet another disappointing feature.

 

 

-   Nate Goss