Dollman
US 1991, 82m, Full Moon Features
Blu-Ray: 88 Films (UK), Cert 18
When police officer Brick Bardo (Tim Thomerson) from a distant planet pursues a villain into space, both find themselves in a warp which transports them to Earth - the Bronx, to be precise. They realise that the Earth creatures are considerably larger than themselves, but that doesn't stop Bardo unleashing his own brand of justice on the local street gangs... The villain, by the way, is a disembodied head, kept alive by medical science, and he has a bomb with him which could blow everything around into another dimension...
Continuing their trawl through the back catalogue of Full Moon Features, 88 Films bring this enjoyably daft outing to Blu-Ray. For what was essentially a straight-to-video offering, it scrubs up surprisingly well in HD, although it does show up the low budget matte work in alarming fashion. Still, that kind of thing is all part of the charm of a film like Dollman: Everyone involved seems to know exactly what they're making, and seems to be enjoying themselves.
Tim Thomerson is enjoyably tounge-in-cheek as the homunculus hero, and it's also interesting to see Jackie Earle Haley cast as an earthling gang leader, midway between his child stardom and more recent career resurrection.
If you want to relive that early 90's video rental experience, or just want some good, solid, unpretentious entertainment, Dollman is perfect - a fun 82 minutes and some real belly laughs are assured.
Blu-Ray Notes: As I mentioned above, this was a low-budget DTV production, and the HD mastering makes this even more obvious, but it looks a lot better than you might expect. The new 5.1 sound mix isn't at all bad, considering the source. The extras are a making-of featurette, included on the original VHS release, and a webcast from 2013 featuring Thomerson and producer Charles Band, which is an absolute hoot - Thomerson seems particularly amused by the Full Moon merchandise which Band is hawking... A very enjoyable release.
Original Video Trailer:
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