Dollhouse (Studio A) Review
Studio A
Studio: Studio A
Category: Feature film
Directed by: Andrew Blake
Starring: Jacqueline, Dahlia Grey, Nika, Monica Mendez, Rachel Rotten
Released on: 11/5/2003
|
|
||||||||||||||||
| Dollhouse: The Fantasies of a Sex Doll (2003) | |||||
|
Studio Condoms
|
Newcomer Jacqueline plays the stoic, pale sex doll--her role is to bookend the scenes of lipstick lesbian sex and passionless masturbation, which apparently represent her fantasies. She mostly just stares at the camera or into the distance in a completely non-erotic way. The mannequin technique may work well in store windows and performance art, but it's not good in porn. I have no problem seeing the subtle eroticism of the glamorous China dolls that populate nearly all of Blake's movies, but it borders on disturbing for me to see a woman who looks absolutely vacant. Sexually, the movie is about as tame as most of Blake's Studio A efforts, with a lot of hard R or barely X nudity and lipstick lesbianism. The occasional spread shot, blowjob, or toy penetration are few and far between. It's probably important to note that two fetishes in play heavily in Dollhouse: unshaven pussies (not hirsute, but not the shaved, almost bald look either) and smoking. Even without the Bill Clinton reference, there's enough smoking imagery in Dollhouse that I wouldn't be surprised if Blake was a pack-a-day man. So if seeing women smoke turns you on, set your DVD player on auto repeat, and you'll never leave the house again. Dollhouse's visual style is a step away from his crystal-clear, high-definition photography that he's synonymous with. Instead, there's a ton--no, a metric ton--of film grain, obviously intentionally introduced in post production, in several of the scenes. Blake also uses a lot of overexposed lighting to create a washed-out look. For example, in the lone boy-girl scene in the film, it's almost painful to watch gothgirl Rachel Rotten against white sheets and walls, especially with the "flash to white" cut transitions. Another disorienting technique that's used is floating in and out of focus ever so slightly. And when everything is in razor sharp focus, you'll wish it wasn't since zits, stubble, and blemishes are more visible than in any other Blake movie I can recall. On the featurette side of the disc, there are 69 minutes worth of additional scenes that are completely boring in both style and in eroticism. The feeling that these vignettes are deleted scenes that didn't make the cut is overwhelming. One example is "Frosted Pussy," which starts out with some pitiful-looking flowers made out of cake icing on one of the girl's mons. Seeing colored sugar smeared around doesn't do a thing for me, and unless you're really into the wet & messy scene, you'll probably agree. Even the half-hour behind-the-scenes documentary is disappointing and boring. Monica Mendez shoots the footage like a soccer mom videotapes her kids with the family camcorder. Too much camera motion, too much zoom usage, and too many "ho-hum" moments. The fact that Blake edited the footage himself and it still looks like an amateur video speaks to how rudimentary the camerawork is. It goes without saying then that I'm pretty disappointed with Dollhouse. It's not awful porn...it's still an Andrew Blake film and has the standard artsy trappings that go along with it. Unfortunately, despite some creative segments, the style is a little too weird to enjoy--it's like listening to punk rock performed by a symphony orchestra. I take back my request for Blake to step outside of his creative box...I think I enjoy his films more when they're all about glamour and classical beauty.
|
||||
After
such the refreshing, positive experience I had watching Andrew Blake's 
Check Prices for Dollhouse (Studio A)
The opinions expressed in this review of Dollhouse (Studio A) from Studio A are not necessarily the opinions of Adult DVD Talk. Adult DVD Talk provides a public forum for consumers to post their DVD reviews. Adult DVD Talk does not edit these reviews.