Director: Albert Pyun
Written by: Charles Band/Chris Roghair/David Pabian
Runtime: 79 mins
Country: USA
Tagline: "Thirteen inches... with an attitude
Production Company: Full Moon Productions
The Review:
When a picture opens with the Full Moon Production logo, you know you're in for it. What exactly "it" is is anybody's guess. Full Moon Entertainment generally pushes wild concepts that play out as truly original on-screen antics. Not to say that they aren't insanely derivative. They very often cash in on the most recent and successful genre picture, but they are definitely unique, to say the least, by mainstream film standards. So to see that moon float up onto the screen screams "buckle the hell up for some quintessential B fun."
In Dollman, we have Tim Thomerson playing Brick Bardo who's a hardened hero with a preposterously powerful pistol, the 596.8 Ruger. It is widely known to be the most powerful handgun in the universe (you read it right) and can easily separate a man's head from his body or his ass from his colon.
During an interstellar pursuit, Brick gets pulled into a wormhole of some kind and winds up on a planet full of violent, power-mad giants in the midst of all out war. Namely, The South Bronx. He encounters a wholesome and determined woman and they team up to restore order to their dangerous, gang-ridden area of the city.
Tim is clearly channeling "Dirty" Harry Callahan as much as one can (often so much so that we can't understand a word he's crustily grinding out from between his clenched jaw) and he is just a heck of a lot of fun to watch. His reserved, yet somehow over-the-top performance makes the whole movie watchable. Jackie Earl Haley and Kamala Lopez also deliver the goods and help bring this B schlock up to B+ schlock.
The director, Albert Pryun, is a legend of b cinema. As usual, Charles Band is also at the helm of this Full Moon Production, and it rivals any of the flicks we have previously covered on this site. The man has produced almost 250 of the cheeses, sleaziest, and queasiest B films of all. He absolutely does not disappoint at the very height of cheap-o action-cheese cinema: the early 90s.
The film's visual style is perfectly indicative of the era in filmmaking. VFX are totally acceptable but also obvious, meaning the movie is littered with matte boxes (where something like THIS results in something like THIS). The locations are also drowned in fog to mask the cheap sets and help create some sense of dramatic lighting.
Overall, the film cruises forward at a decent clip. When it doesn't, it at least keeps us entertained with the usual slice-of-life snippets from around the city. Although it has it's share, it's not exactly jam-packed full of silliness or action. Dollman is actually well-constructed and winds up with a really unique mixture of good and bad that is often seen in Full Moon features. You definitely connect with the movie instead of laughing and forgetting about it.
To give you an idea of how gleefully horrible some parts of this film are in it's execution, I will describe what takes place during what should be our first action-packed encounter with some interstellar baddies. After blowing them into tiny pieces, Brick approaches the remains of one of the sleaze bags (still breathing, although there is almost nothing left of his body) and this 'dialogue scene' follows:
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*Baddie's upper torso reaches for gun
*Brick enters frame and points gun at Baddie:
Baddie: "I'm gonna die. You can't kill me any more."
*Baddie puffs on a cigarette.....pause
Baddie: "….Whad'ya want, asshole?!"
Brick: "Nothing."
*spaceship flies overhead and Brick trots off
Baddie: "You're just gonna walk away?"
*Baddie croaks
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That was nearly a minute of on-screen time and absolutely nothing came of it. Do you really need more proof than that?
QUITE A LEAP: 13"-tall Brick jumps out a 3rd-story window & grabs onto a moving car.
596.8 RUGER: A hand cannon. Every juvenile's dream.
LET'S BE HONEST: HE'S 13 INCHES TALL
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