Director Lance J. Reha and his Lake Films started a series of shorts under the banner of "The Mind's Eye" and Baby Doll is the eighth episode in the series. Having not seen any of the previous efforts I went into this one with no expectations and thanks to its somewhat bizarre premise and lead actress Rosemary Gore bringing enough "child like" psychosis to her role, I can safely say this twist on the "captive/tormentor" thriller makes for decent viewing.

The basic premise of the film has Gore's character dressing-up and acting like a little girl while the man she's got captive and tied-up on the bed is trying to escape. There's also a bunch of flashbacks thrown into the mix and an alright twist in the finale. But, really, if it wasn't for Gore's performance and a few inspired moments (there's a fairly brutal head bashing scene) this would be nothing more than a passable psychological horror short with the most basic of stories.

In fact, it's because the story is so by-the-book that this didn't grab a higher rating than it did, since we get some idea of who Gore's character is but not nearly enough to flesh-out her actions (yeah, yeah, "all men are scum..."). There's talk of a feature length version of this story being produced and I'll welcome it, but let's hope the script takes a lot more chances than this version does.

Visit Lake Films for more information. (Chris Hartley, 11/10/04)

Directed By: Lance J. Reha.
Written By: Thomas F. Bragg.

Starring: Rosemary Gore, Victor Moreyra, Thomas F. Bragg, Tobi-Lyn Byers.