By Geno McGahee
The 1970s was the best time for horror and another example of this is MISS LESLIE’S DOLLS, a strange and trippy ride.
A group of four breaks down in a cemetery and have no choice but to take off on foot. Roy (Charles Pitts) is a lucky guy. He is traveling with three hot chicks and they all seem somewhat willing to share him with the exception of the teacher, Miss Frost (Terri Juston). Lily (Marcelle Bichette) and Martha (Kitty Lewis) make up the rest of the group and they make their way to a very large house in the middle of nowhere. It is the home of Miss Leslie (Salvador Ugarte). Now, here is a spoiler. So, stop reading if you are going to run and watch this film, but then again, this is not much of a spoiler. We have the most obvious transvestite in horror history here. There is PSYCHO influence here big time and I think that they were going for that shocking twist where the audience says “Oh my god! It was a man!” But Miss Leslie is so obviously a man that it became quite funny to watch the other characters not even address it.
The dialogue in this film is tremendously bad but that made it tremendously good. It was so amusing to watch Leslie go on and on about her past and her life, and props to Ugarte for giving an A effort. Despite his five o’clock shadow, he does some female mannerisms and giggles. He really tried to help with the surprise ending but it wasn’t going to work.
Roy breaks away from the group and stumbles upon a secret room. A bunch of what appear to be female mannequins are standing in poses along with one under a sheet. The rest of the group catches up with Roy and are quite bothered by this. Leslie comes in and explains that she is an artist and that she will not give her secrets away. We later find out that Leslie is partaking in the occult and has a secret agenda for the group.
Like Norman Bates, Leslie has kept the remains of his/her mother and the discussion that Leslie has with the skull is hilariously good. I cannot say enough good things about the performance of Ugarte. He knocked this one out of the park! I would have loved to see a sequel to this with him returning.
Frost gets drugged and we have such a cool scene due to it. Being tied down in the room with the mannequins, we see them start moving and they begin attacking Frost. It was creepy and done in a trippy sort of way. It got really creepy.
The shocking reveal that Leslie’s a man was awesome, and it led to a fun chase and some fun kill scenes. This is the best kind of the 1970’s drive inn films. It’s gritty, absurd, fun and with elements of creepiness. I can’t recommend this film enough. It was so much fun!
Scared Stiff Rating: 9/10
