The Horror Show
Playing with Dolls: Havoc
by Rene Perez
I recently reviewed an installment of an on-going slasher series by the name of Playing with Dolls: Bloodlust.. It was a fun film overall, if not a bit bland. The blood and gore were fun to watch and the project had enough elements to keep me interested. While far from perfect, it was enough for me to want to see the newest chapter in the slasher series, a little film by the name of Playing with Dolls: Havoc.
PwD: Havoc opens with a connector to the previous film, treating the audience to an attractive new reality show contestant and a fun bit of slashing. For those unfamiliar, Bloodlust centered around a horror-based reality show that lead to the contestants getting sliced and diced. With the beginning of Havoc, we see that the show concept is still at play. This continuance from Bloodlust primarily is just the setup as the main story is all its own. Havoc centers around the concept of the masked slasher finally escaping the reality show that utilizes him, turning on his captors. The barbed-wire sporting bringer of pain is loosed on the world and his victims are no longer confined to those that the show producers serve up on a platter.
The primary story in which the killer's attention is turned involves a group of people who wind up in the same cabin through a series of events. The drama of an unfaithful husband and a mistress who shows up on the doorstep kick-starts the more human side of things. This plotline isn't long-lived, however, and soon it all comes down to the masked mayhem maker punching and chopping his way through anyone that crosses his path.
Overall, I would say the film is on the same keel as Bloodlust. The characters are fairly one-dimensional and not all that much time is focused on the central story. In the end, it's a simple back and forth of character drama interspersed with Havoc bringing the bloodshed. Because of this, however, I ultimately found the film to be exactly what the last one was: perfectly watchable. Some of the clunkier dialogue can be cringe-worthy, but the rest of the film is slightly too good for it to have that charming “so bad it's good” feel to it. However, since the movie doesn't really delve into the personal aspect all the much, the viewer isn't really saddled with anything that doesn't work for too long. I quite liked the ending and wish I could have had more of that than most of what lead up to it. But in the end, it's often good for a slasher film to leave on its best note.
Both Bloodlust and Havoc have short running times and I almost feel like they could have worked together as one big project. I don't want to commit to that statement fully as one of the things I like about the respective entries are how they feel somewhat bite-sized. But I feel that merging the stories could have made both feel more complete.
I could totally see the cast of the reality show from Bloodlust crossing paths somehow with the troubled couple in Havoc and it all could have jived easily. Then, rather than two films with a few good kills, you'd have a fuller project filled with multiple cool, gory moments. Once again, the gore could have been slightly more creative, but it's all well done and has a rougher edge than your generic run of the mill slasher, so I still give it credit in that regard.
All in all, I pretty much give the same message about the film as the last one. It may feel a little duller this time around, but only because it's so similar to the film before it. It isn't any worse or less interesting, I've simply gotten used to the concept. It's not a large investment of time so if you want to see a few fun moments of guts and blood getting spilled I'd say it's worth a watch at least. The project isn't anything super memorable, but I was never bored with it. If you liked Bloodlust and would be interested in more of the same, go for it. If you haven't seen the others but think it sounds like something up your alley, I also say go for it. It really doesn't matter all that much how familiar you are with the series as it's easy to figure out the situation. If another Playing with Dolls film is made, I'll happily check it out as well. That has to mean something, right?
P.J. Griffin, HMS
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