Macabre…ish Horror Review: The Curse of Robert the Doll
The Curse of Robert the Doll, 2016/ 1 hr 20 min
A dirty cop sneaks Robert out of the evidence locker and into the car of a buyer. Within minutes the transaction is done and Robert has a new owner.
Robert lands in a museum and he is on exhibit, he has single handedly saved the museum as fans of the paranormal flock to see him. But no pictures, unless you ask him politely. Of course, none of the employees believe any of it.
The museum gets a new janitor, Emily (Tiffany Ceri), on night shift, she’s only one of four employees, Stan (Christopher Hale), Ethel (Claire Gollop) and Kevin (Jason Homewood), and she thinks she’s seen someone run past her. One of the security guards, Kevin, does a thorough check and reassures her.
But as time goes by, weird things keep happening like doll sized hand prints on the inside of a case’s glass. Which disappears when Emily tried to show someone. During his rounds, Stan is attacked by Robert and smothered to death with a bag over his head. Kevin, realizing Stan has been gone awhile, goes searching for him and finds his remains, with the bag, still over his head.
The next day, the museum owner, Walter Berenson (Nigel Barber), is very annoyed to find his establishment has turned into a crime scene and insists the doors will be opened to the public at 9 am.
It’s not long before someone else is attacked, Ethel, she’s dragged away and found with a screwdriver driven into her head. The police are questioning everyone and Emily explains about the doll, Robert and her thoughts that the stories about it might be true.
In an attempt to get some more answers, Emily and Kevin, seek out Jenny Otto (Suzie Frances Garton), who now lives in an institution. She tells them to get as far away from that doll as possible. But the pair are seeking evidence so the two of them don’t end up in jail but Jenny tells them that is she could convince anyone of the truth, she wouldn’t be institutionalized and Gene wouldn’t be in juvenile detention.
But Jenny tells them all she knows. That the spirit of Robert is that of a murdered child named Robert Crow who was murdered by his father. She says a psychic told her that a male energy connected to her former nanny, Agatha, encouraged the evil lying dormant inside the doll. Agatha had a brother, Amos Blackwood. And Jenny looked and could find nothing about him after age thirty. But the psychic said he’s still alive and owns a business that profits off the misfortune of others. Emily believes it’s their boss, Mr. Berenson.
Jenny says if they can prove it, good but if can’t, they have to destroy Robert. She warns them that that doll destroyed her life and they have to take it seriously. Robert will destroy everything.
Kevin has an idea, a bluff, he will call Mr. Berenson and claim he has copies of the cctv tapes that recorded the deaths of his coworkers and who the culprit was. He says he will release the video to the public. But Berenson claims customers will flock to his door if the video is released and he will make a fortune. But Kevin convinces him by saying that the police will get him for tampering with evidence and that it doesn’t even matter what’s on those tapes. What will matter is his interference of the murder investigations. Kevin asks for a meeting in person and $100,000.
The plan is to record the conversation for the police and hope to get him to confess. The detective thinks this is a bad and dumb idea. But Kevin and Emily plan to do it anyway.
The meeting doesn’t go as planned, at all. One person ends up shot, another is stabbed. And Robert makes an appearance. None of them may make it out of this museum alive.
At the end of this story, once again, Robert is sold by a cop, this time to a wizened old toymaker. Who immediately gets to work repairing Robert and doing some kind of ritual. Afterward he places the doll in a cupboard that also houses other dolls who seam to be alive.
This horror suspense sequel was directed by the late Andrew Jones. This is second in a quintilogy. There are five movies in this franchise, there is also Robert the Doll, Robert and the Toymaker, The Revenge of Robert the Doll and Robert Reborn. I’d argue that this one is better than the first but the story is cohesive and it’s a direct continuation of the original. Also they did use the same actress for Jenny.