Dollhouse Review and Meeting The Stars

Dollhouse Review

The show is not Joss Whedon’s best by any means but it is one the most underrated shows that was robbed to reach it’s full potential.

The Dollhouse is an illegal organisation that wipes people’s minds and temporarily reprograms for specific purposes – dream dates, sex, heists, assassinations. These people are known as ‘Actives’, people who are running from their own lives are now living in an underground luxurious home as blank slates until their next assignment. The series follows Echo, played by Eliza Dushku, an ‘Active’ formerly called Caroline and her journey to become self-aware.

It is fun watching Echo and fellow ‘Actives’ Victor, played by Enver Gjokaj, and Sierra, played by Dichen Lachman, go on various assignments as different characters. The first season mostly consists of standalone episodes, which contain subplots that build-up an overall arc that takes front and centre in the second season.

I’ve heard quite a few criticisms over Eliza Dushku’s performance, saying she’s not convincing enough at playing multiple personalities. While I agree she’s not as diverse as Enver Gjokaj or Dichen Lachman in these multiple roles, I feel that it works to her advantage. What she absolutely nails is Echo’s evolution throughout the show, a character who is a blank slate slowly becoming self-aware until she becomes a rebellion. Every personality she goes through leaves an impact, some big and some small, and Eliza is able to subtly show Echo’s slow growth as a character going from zero to hero.

Other main cast and characters include: Tahmoh Penikett as Paul Ballard, a police officer trying to expose the Dollhouse; Olivia Williams as Adelle DeWitt, a high ranking official of the Dollhouse; Fran Kranz as Topher Brink, a scientist who controls the memory wipe and implant technology; Henry Lennix as Boyd Langton, Echo’s handler for her assignments. What I love about the characters on the show is how morally complex they all are and play against type. Like the workers in the Dollhouse are technically the bad guy roles but they are presented as normal people we all enjoy following. Paul Ballard plays the role of the hero trying to rescue Caroline/Echo, but his methods aren’t always the best and the role of hero belongs to Echo herself. Even Echo we find isn’t always morally right, especially when we find out her original personality Caroline even though had good intentions wasn’t all that nice.

It’s unfortunate that this show did not get renewed for another season with all potential presented in individual episodes; ‘Haunted’ where she’s imprinted with a recently murdered rich woman and through Echo solves her own murder, which is an interesting way of dealing with life after death that could’ve been explored more; ‘The Attic’ which is Inception-like dealing with psychology which could’ve made a several episode arc and the two ‘Epitaph’ episodes could’ve taken up a whole season and would’ve taken the show to a whole new level. Still I’m thankful for what we’ve got and it is nice enough that Joss Whedon was given notice so that he end the show in the most satisfying way possible.

It’s worth seeing or giving a second chance, it’s a beautifully smart show that deals with themes of identity, slavery, free-will, exploitation, activism.

Meeting The Stars

I met Eliza Dushku in 2016 at a convention, Starfury Vampire Ball 7. It is mainly a convention celebrating ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ but it also tries to celebrate other vampire shows and Joss Whedon’s work. She was an absolute wonder, she has an incredibly laid-back personality and talks to people like how you meet someone at a pub. I remember when I had my photo-shoot with her I had a folder which I should’ve left with a steward. I didn’t want it in the photo, so I was unsure what to do with it. In a little dilemma and really excited that it was my turn with her I ended up just kneeling to put it down on the floor and nearly forgot to pick it back up. She just thought it was funny and has a really sweet laugh. 

I also got her sign to my Dollhouse boxset, which I will treasure. During a panel I asked her what her favourite episode was and she said ‘Haunted’ because it was a challenge because Joss made her do the episode with her hair tied back and her hair is her comfort zone, and jokingly called Joss a “bastard”. I also asked what her what was like to voice Catwoman in ‘Batman: Year One’, she said she loved getting in touch with her feline-side but in reality prefers dogs to cats saying “cats don’t like me.”

I also met Miracle Laurie who played Mellie at the convention, unfortunately I didn’t bring enough money for a photo-shoot with her. I hope to get one with her in the future as she was absolutely lovely and has a wicked sense of humour. I remember at one of the parties she joined in at the party dance songs and had a lot of energy. I did manage to get an autograph with her and that minute I got with her was really worth it. I asked her at the same panel with Eliza about her favourite episode and she said ‘Man On The Street’ for the “three flowers in a vase” scene.

The Halloween Sequels

In celebration of the Halloween 2018 trailer being released click here I thought I’d deliver my thoughts on the sequels. None of the sequels hold a candle to John Carpenter’s original classic. There are things to like in the follow-up series so they are worthy of checking out but they haven't aged well, the original is the one that has timeless quality that was never matched. I am looking forward to the new film in October 2018, it's a brand new sequel to the original that will omit all the other sequels - plus Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Laurie Strode, as well as original Michael Myers actor Nick Castle and while John Carpenter is executive producer. I’ll talk about the original 1978 Halloween in a separate review probably when the new film is released.

Halloween II (1981)

I like that it starts right where the original left off and continues events on the same night. Unfortunately the style change between the two is noticeable, the slow pace and suspense has been replaced with more gore and jump scares. The side characters take up a lot of screentime and they are all clearly just there to be killed off. The brother-sister twist seemed so unnecessary, Loomis is told this and it's not brought up again for the rest of the film, we don't even get to see Laurie's reaction. The latter sequels and even the remake series do make better use of the twist but this just feels like an afterthought, even John Carpenter admits he was drunk when he came up with the idea. Laurie is pretty wasted in this film, she just stays in a hospital bed for most of the film until the third act when she gets to shoot Michael. Loomis’ sacrifice at the end is pretty awesome.

Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (1982)

This is a very good as a stand-alone film but it doesn’t belong in the series. I get they wanted to make the series into an anthology series, but fans weren’t having it and wanted Michael back. I think if they hadn’t made Halloween II then this anthology idea might have worked out. It’s very creative and original and deserves to be looked at.

Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers (1988)

It's ok but this film is really just a rehash of the first two films. Jamie Lee Curtis wanted to move away from horror films, so they killed Laurie off and the new target for Michael is Laurie’s daughter Jamie. Danielle Harris is very talented and Jamie is a likeable character to route for and being a child does help raise the stakes. Her foster sister Rachel is also a likeable character. Dr Loomis returns and appears to just have scarring on half his face and a limp after a major explosion, but it’s still Donald Pleasence and he’s still awesome. Michael’s mask looks ridiculous and very cartoonish. The ending is excellent with Jamie in the clown costume stabbing her foster mother being a major callback to the prologue to the original.

Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers (1989)

This undoes the excellent ending to Halloween 4, Jamie didn’t kill her foster mother just wounds her, she’s not become the new-Michael she's just temporarily insane due to a psychic connection to him. Michael has been unconscious the past year looked after by a hermit and gets a new mask, which is just as ridiculous. Rachel is wasted and is killed off early on and we have to follow this obnoxious character Tina that you just can’t wait to see die. We return to the Myers house that looks nothing like the original, which just goes to show they weren't even trying. It sets up a load of questions they had no intention of answering yet – What is that mark on Michael’s wrist? Who’s the man in black who released Michael at the end? What happens to Jamie at the end?

Halloween 6: The Curse Of Michael Myers (1995)

Gives terrible answers to the questions left in Halloween 5. Michael’s mark is from the cult of Thorn, who cursed him to kill his family, the man in black is Dr Wynn from the mental hospital. Jamie has been kidnapped by the cult, imprisoned for years until she’s old enough to carry Michael’s child- yes it's just as disgusting as it sounds. Apparently many of Donald Pleasance's scenes got cut down which is an insult as he died during post-production. Danielle Harris got treated poorly so did not reprise her role. The whole film is just a mess, the editing is terrible and the gore is ridiculous. On the plus side Paul Rudd plays Tommy Doyle, the boy Laurie babysat in the original. 

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

After Halloween 4, 5 and 6 the series got so ridiculous that they decide to omit them from continuity and go back to basics. Therefore no Jamie or cult of Thorne. The movie is very 90's and tries to follow the self-aware slasher trend after Scream. While this is one of the better sequels I don’t think it holds up well. Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie and she is awesome, everything to do with her are the best parts. Laurie is sill traumatised 20 years after the event, she’s an alcoholic and a medication addict. She’s also a single mother to a teenage boy John and is headmistress at a private school. She’s been the victim all of her life but when Michael shows up again, after running she decides enough is enough and has a final showdown with Michael. The film also features then young talent Josh Hartnett, Michelle Williams and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Halloween: Resurrection (2002)

Undoes Laurie's triumph in H20 in a ridiculous way, Laurie has killed the wrong person whom Michael switched clothes and mask with. Laurie has been in an institution and has another showdown with Michael and is killed 15 minutes in. According to Curtis, she was in this film as part of an agreement so that she could have Laurie kill Michael in H20 but she would have to retcon it in this. Then it becomes a reality show film set in the Myers house, which is not a bad concept for a slasher film but it belongs in the wrong film series. On the plus side, the production designers actually made the effort to make the Myers house look like the original, unlike 5 and even 6. Busta Rhymes is very annoying as the reality show producer, the new protagonist Sarah is 1-dimensional and boring and her friends are obnoxious.

I like Rob Zombie’s remake series, they’re no classics but I like that he makes them his own. I’ll probably review them at a later date as it’s own series and not part of this series.