Nerdly » ‘Dolly’ Review

06th Mar2026

‘Dolly’ Review

by George Thomas

Stars: Max the Impaler, Fabianne Therese, Seann William Scott, Russ Tiller, Michalina Scorzelli, Kate Cobb, Ethan Suplee | Written by Rod Blackhurst, Brandon Weavil | Directed by Rod Blackhurst

Dolly is a brutal, skin-crawling slasher that wastes no time making its intentions clear. What starts as a romantic woodland proposal quickly turns into a nightmare when a hulking masked killer – played with terrifying physicality by pro wrestler Max the Impaler – interrupts proceedings. The boyfriend (Seann William Scott in a larger-than-expected supporting role) is dispatched, and Macy (Fabianne Therese) is abducted to a dilapidated house in the woods, where Dolly intends to make her the newest addition to her “collection.”

And yes… it’s every bit as nasty as that sounds.

Shot on 16mm, the film has a grimy, grindhouse texture that instantly evokes The Texas Chain Saw Massacre without ever feeling like a knock-off. There’s restraint in the presentation: no artificial scratches or gimmicky filters, but the grit is real. It feels sweaty, dirty, oppressive. The forest, littered with nailed-up dolls and accompanied by eerie wind-up music cues, becomes a character in its own right.

Max the Impaler is genuinely imposing as Dolly. The performance is unhinged, feral, and physically intimidating in a way that feels refreshingly old-school. There are hints of backstory – a dead mother figure, fragments of trauma – but the film wisely avoids spoon-feeding exposition. You’re left to piece it together yourself, which only adds to the unease.

Macy, however, is the real anchor here. In a genre where final girls can sometimes feel like placeholders, she’s written (and performed) with intelligence. She recognises Dolly’s instability and tries to manipulate it to her advantage. Yes, there are the inevitable “is the killer really dead?” moments, but for the most part she feels like she’s thinking her way through the nightmare rather than blindly running into it.

Now let’s talk gore.

This is practical, wince-inducing, stomach-churning stuff. There are moments that will have even seasoned horror fans shifting in their seats. The violence is explicit, but it doesn’t feel gratuitous for the sake of it – it feels earned within the brutality of the scenario. If you don’t have the stomach for graphic horror, this one is not for you.

That said, it’s not flawless. A few horror-trope decisions (particularly from Scott’s character early on) strain credibility. There are moments where sound seems to vanish when it’s convenient for a scare. And the post-credit stinger feels tonally disconnected – more sequel bait than meaningful addition. There’s also no getting around the fact that its depiction of mental instability is very much in the tradition of old-school slashers like Maniac. Whether that works for you in 2026 is going to be a personal call.

But minor quibbles aside, Dolly delivers exactly what it promises: a savage, unsettling slasher with a villain who absolutely deserves to join the modern horror pantheon. Even as someone who isn’t the biggest slasher devotee, I found myself impressed.