Why THE BOY I & II are Still the Most Ridiculous "Evil Doll" Movies

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ABOUT THE SHOW:
This show celebrates Ryan's love for film, games, art and entertainment through personal retrospective analysis that aims to explore what made them so good.
MUSIC:
Falling Rain by Myuu
Sax Atta.ck by Dougie Wood
When Gods Pontificate by Dan Bodan
Hard To Let Go of Grammar by pATCHES
No.2 Remembering Her by Esther Abrami
Devil's Organ by Jimena Contreras
The Shining in Dubai by Unicorn Heads
Medieval Astrology by Underbelly & Ty Mayer
TIME STAMPS:
00:00 - Evil Doll Movies
05:00 - The Story
09:06 - From Spooky to Sad
10:48 - The Unexpected Plot Twist
13:13 - The Sequel's Twist is EVEN MORE Unexpected

[@RyanHollinger]

*Help me out... What is the BEST "Evil Doll/Robot/Uncanny Valley Monster Movie?!"* Go to www.buyraycon.com/ryan to get 15% off your order! Brought to you by Raycon.

[@dmittleman9757]

I Am Mother is interesting; a robot is assigned to protect the last of the human race and raise a little girl.

[@axelcordova8262]

How about a review of Megan?

[@iusedtowrite6667]

If we are talking about dolls, I still think Chucky reigns supreme Any thoughts on the tv series?. I've Heard good reviews about that too

[@solemnlament9757]

Hi Ryan! Thanks for another great video! Just wondering if you've seen the survival horror series Yellowjackets? I really enjoyed it! Season 2 is coming in March on Paramount Plus in Ireland and UK! I love the mystery and horror aspects to the show and the cast is brilliant!

[@anubusx]

Deadly Friend.

[@maedhyne]

I watched 'The Boy' in cinemas with friends and my core memory around it is that when the plot twist scene happened, we were all gasping in shock and then going "why is he kinda hot tho?" lmao

[@barbararab6390]

honestly i relate, wtf is wrong with me

[@ragingdevi]

A small subset of reactions like, "😲😲😲.............👀👀👀"

[@sugarmelon7898]

Exactly what I thought

[@bad_ro1751]

Of course you did

[@gregtronica3569]

woman moment

[@iusedtowrite6667]

The funniest part of 'The Boy' for me has been watching Brahms be turned into a Tumblr sexy man. Not even joking

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

That boy doll participating the Tumblr sexyman contest? That's something that I never expected everyday.

[@danialyousaf6456]

Not surprising given Tumblr users love turning serial killers (real or fictional) into hot, misunderstood guys who can be fixed by them (the users, who mostly are teenage girls)

[@ConnorNotyerbidness]

.....why? Just why tumblr

[@iusedtowrite6667]

@@ConnorNotyerbidness it's Tumblr that's why. They have a whole side where it's just nsfw or saucy fanart of villains of horror movies etc

[@randallflagg3700]

Yeah, I remember when he was the Onceler, that was a weird week.

[@kataddy]

There is NOTHING I love more than a ‘there’s a guy in the walls’ movie

[@nerdfatha]

I think my favorite is the wonderfully campy The People Under the Stairs.

[@aReallySwellGuy]

@@nerdfatha I was here to say that. The guy who played Roach is playing the hitchhiker in the upcoming Texas Chainsaw game!!

[@voidstrider801]

"Their in the goddamn walls!"

[@Marigoldpyre]

*"But in the end... boy in the wall!"*

[@onewomanarmy6451]

Agreed! It just makes my heart flutter in a happy sort of way for some reason.

[@angellane1848]

the way i had a massive crush on human brahms as a 15 year old….if that isn’t the worst case of “i can fix him” i don’t know what is

[@EventideBlackFox]

7 year old me and William Afton

[@sanna9062]

Wtf

[@pootisengage6672]

Ew

[@aburamegirl8267]

Sameeee

[@angellane1848]

@@EventideBlackFox girl same 😭 wtf

[@Ariye]

The best part about The Boy is the fact that the mask the "real" Brahms wears is CGI. It was done after filming since the screeners said the actor wasn't scary looking. (Edit: I can't spell today lol)

[@bleakautomaton4808]

Can believe it

[@ariannasilva4462]

Huh. Not bad CGI.

[@teddybearkiller5271]

I understand why they did it because the actor is more hot than scary, but my God I thought that was an actual physical mask!!!! 😯 That thing was CGI the whole time???!! I've seen this film multiple times and never knew!!!!!!

[@strawberrybaz]

That's a nice fun fact, I didn't know that at all

[@strawberrybaz]

That's a nice fun fact, I didn't know that at all

[@lazarus6508]

Contrary to how it’s marketed M3gan isn’t really a “campy” movie. It definitely leans into the absurdity of its premise BUT there’s a LOT of thematic richness and genuine depth to stop it from becoming full parody. It’s actually surprisingly well-written.

[@ThatRandomEncounterGuy]

It doesn’t go anywhere too different with the super powered protector nor killer doll movies, but, for the factors working against it (being a PG-13 thriller in January), the fact that it’s just competent and has a strong internal continuity and well acted is perfectly serviceable. It’s one of those movies where if you’ve seen loads of horror and thriller movies and looking for something fresh and unique, it’s not gonna be what you’re looking for, but for some 14yo looking to get into horror this is a great place to start.

[@Scarshadow666]

@@ThatRandomEncounterGuy Definitely true! It's also great for audiences who just watch movies for fun, rather than for if it's award-winning/critically-acclaimed or just because it's super popular among audiences in general.

[@CorbCorbin]

Well written? What?!? The lead actress is a psychopath about her project, even after realizing it’s got problems. Why’d she not want the child going to the grandparents? They don’t mention why, except her sister said to take care of her, but that doesn’t mean, “You my sister are to adopt my child if we die!” It’s all about setting up scenes to have the robot do insane things, and the people are just terrible stereotypes. The few scenes, that try to get into discussions, about the trauma the young girl is suffering, are made hollow within minutes. It’s camp. The entire idea of such a robot, would immediately be taken over by military interests. It’s a campy take on other Frankenstein stories, and whether they were trying to put the traumatic elements in there too, it failed in my opinion. The high rotten tomatoes score isn’t because the movie was deep. Read the reviews. If you got all of that out of this movie, I can hardly imagine you watching something like Ex Machina, and what you took from it. M3GAN uses tropes and scenes they knew would be instant memes, instead of just writing a great script. I laughed throughout the entire thing. This is of course opinion, which is why I wonder how you’d react to real gravitas in a film, with actual verisimilitude.

[@CorbCorbin]

@@Scarshadow666 But, it’s been panned by general audiences. It’s actually the critics that gave M3GAN a high score. This is the illusion of rotten tomatoes being a good movie review site.

[@HarperNguyen]

Bro it’s pretty campy

[@snorpenbass4196]

The very concept of Annabelle just made me roll my eyes. Like...why would anyone take home a doll that looks like that? If they at least did it _because_ it was ugly, sure, but they're always like "Oh, it's soo pretty!" and I just...wot.

[@distraughtlesbian]

the idea of bringing the annabelle doll home because it's so creepy and ugly is actually endearing--it'd be a testament to the extreme empathy of whoever did so. i'd actually be inclined to care about a character like that.

[@ghostlygena]

making the annabelle doll look like that is a choice I will never understand. the real life version is a raggedy ann doll and it being an actually innocent looking and cute doll is far scarier than that ugly thing they made for the movies

[@advancedstupidity5459]

@@ghostlygena I think they designed it for The Conjuring not thinking they would make a whole film about the doll itself and once they decided to they had to go all in for the sake of continuity.

[@deanolium]

To me it just seems like horror designed for people who don't particularly like horror, so it goes with as many stereotypes people have about horror films. Incredibly schlocky and overly serious despite being inherently campy. If they went with the raggedy ann doll look and had it done as a serious film (think The Changeling) then it could have been scary in a psychological way. But nope - it must have jump scares, green colour tinting, and the doll look generically 'scary'. Just so dull. Though it does make money

[@lawrencetalbot8346]

I think the point was to make it look like real porcelain dolls from an older time period. If you look up toys especially dolls from the 1800s and early 1900s, they look pretty scary. Porcelain dolls especially looked so creepy because of how they tried to make them look realistic. Heck it’s only in the last few decades that manufactures have figured out how to make porcelain dolls not look possessed. The doll in the movie was made in the 30s and go look up what porcelain dolls looked like back then. Back then, people didn’t see them as scary looking but rather very modern for looking so real/human like. And follow the timeline to 1970s of the Annabelle movie and it’s no surprise someone who collects dolls her whole life would want a very rare doll from a very esteemed doll creator, regardless of how creepy it looks.

[@ReiSilver]

The twist in the first one got me so bad it made me love the film. To the point I figured that any sequel would either be about Real Braums OR go back on what I liked about the original by making the doll supernatural. Because the twist in the first got me so bad because due to the conceit of it being a horror movie it didn't cross my mind that the doll wouldn't be possessed, so when Real Braums is revealed it was like reality smacking you in the face. Magic dolls aren't real, of course they're not, but creepy controlling sadists? Yeah they're real.

[@RightsForZombies]

Yeah, my husband and I were really disappointed that they made it an actual supernatural doll story. Brahms straight up survives The Boy so there was no reason for him to not be in the movie. Just age him up somewhat and make it so that the groundskeeper suspects Brahms is still there by doesn't know for sure to give it some ambiguity. I guess there wouldn't have been a twist for people who had seen the first movie but if you're going to make the twist so weak don't make it at all. It seemed very silly to have a supernatural doll in a universe where people expected it but had that expectation completely turned on its head when the doll wasn't supernatural at all. To be fair it took me to the point of them discussing real Brahms in the graveyard scene in the first to go 'oh, okay, he's definitely still alive so the doll can't be haunted', so it wasn't much of a twist in The Boy, but it was still a lot of fun because it subverted expectations.

[@willypilly9436]

Yes that made me respect the first film but when I found out about the second movie I knew it was gonna fuck over the twist in the original

[@Rodent588]

I did enjoy the first movie for what it was. I'll admit that it have me a good chuckle when Brahms is revealed. As to how the doll moved around, I just assumed he had like secret passageways all over the house or something like that. I never watched the second one simply because making it that possessed demon thing kinda felt like a cop-out and took away from the first movie.

[@JohnDoe-hj9fh]

They show the secret tunnels in the movie?

[@Shadowcthuhlu]

So for the first movie, my husband discussed how Brahms would be screwed if it was one of us...because once we decided the doll was possessed we would take it to see the world. (Come on of course a ghost of a kid wants to see all the neat stuff out there)

[@teddybearkiller5271]

@@Shadowcthuhlu Great now I want to see that movie!! A film where they find out that doll is possessed by little kid but instead of destroying it because evil, they go on a road trip cross-country and give the kid experiences he never got in life.

[@britaingray5400]

@@teddybearkiller5271 i think I saw a comic about someone who found a possessed doll and treated it really nicely, so the ghost turned nice and they become friends

[@Shadowcthuhlu]

@@teddybearkiller5271 just came up with the title "And possessed doll makes three."

[@SLAUGHTERAMA]

I maintain that the first “The Boy” is legitimately good while the second is… well, it’s the second movie. Also, if you’re up to punish yourself with some mediocre killer doll camp, do a Puppet Master retrospective.

[@panonymousbloom5405]

I wouldn't say it's good but the script is surprisingly solid and could really become something amazing with some polishing. Like, what would a woman stay with a creepy possessed doll? She lost her own pregnancy and now feels a connection with an abandoned kid. Then it turns out it's a grown man trying to manipulate her all along. It's such a creepy and heartbreaking concept. And the fact that despite the fact that Brahms lives his life as a "doll", it's really people around him living in a dollhouse of his own making. Again, cool af. I personally wish it would focus less on the jumpscares/possession aspect and more on psychological horror and character drama. Just feels like it would be way more effective and just better fit for the story.

[@breeban3388]

Love to hear Ryan’s take on the puppet master series

[@JohnDoe-hj9fh]

​@@panonymousbloom5405I think it focusing on the jump scares and more cheesy generic horror tropes was intentional. That's what made the twist so good to me because the movie up until that point felt like I knew exactly what would happen

[@wstine79]

Now if we had a Horror movie with a Ryan Hollinger doll that says "HOYEVER" before it strikes, then that would make bank.

[@samuelbuckles4263]

I love that over followed my rules, fed bathed and clothed me and bought Raycon earbuds hoyever I will now kill you

[@TheSamfrog]

"you almost escaped my clutches... hoyever..."

[@LuLu-Sil]

"I think he's finally dead, we can move on now." Dun Dun ... Dun Dun "HOYEVER!" 🤣

[@EdieBird]

I genuinely enjoyed "The Boy" simply because it is TOO easy to make the doll haunted. At least, that's what my antique dolls tell me. Then the sequel wrecked my brain. I liked that the doll actually made the right sound when moved. Porcelain SCRAPES. It's an ugly sound, similar to fingernails on a chalkboard. really gets under my skin, which is why all my antiques are composition, and not one lone porcelain in the lot. A very small part of my problem with the Annabelle movies is that you can't tell WHAT she's made of. There's no scrape of porcelain. There's no dull clunking of composition (which is what she LOOKS like). There's no plastic sound. Her dress doesn't even rustle, and that thing absolutely WOULD rustle. (I could get into the REST of my issues with Annabelle but I don't have a week to spare)

[@ghostlygena]

I feel like the annabelle doll has to be made out of wood right???? like that weird texture she has? thats the only idea I have lol

[@BladedEdge123]

If it helps just imagine she's made of the worst possible material, cgi. A material with no soul if you will. Which now that I say it is actually fitting for a haunted doll but I was just making a joke.

[@the-berries-and-cream-dude]

i love this. i never actually thought of the noise a doll would make when they move, it's a really good take. I will now always judge doll movies based on this comment.

[@reganv.8309]

Doll lovers know best 😂😂

[@wildfirefox1]

Fun fact, the most likely reason Annabelle makes no noise is she may simply be engineered to look wooden and heavy but she's probably made out of a material designed to be more quiet so the noises aren't picked up by set mics.

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

"The Boy" is the most inspired title for a movie I've ever seen.

[@trinaq]

I'd love for Ryan to do a full review on "M3GAN" eventually. While it's a little cheesy and doesn't take itself too seriously, it's definitely memorable, and the acting is great from everyone.

[@stickershock66]

That last 30 minutes when all hell breaks loose are incredible! "M3GAN" had the same director as "Housebound," another great horror comedy.

[@citizentuck]

I don't buy anything you said. It looks ALL cheese and no good acting.

[@nobodyjustacreep]

It's a horror movie about a sex doll

[@motherplayer]

@@citizentuck It's basis to basis, of course. I have heard just as many give credibility to it's quality being held back by it's PG-13 rating or that not much happens as much as folks finding it surprisingly better than expected. Me, I'll wait til a home release, cause I know this is not going to be worth a movie ticket price for my taste/curiosity.

[@scaryeri6798]

@@citizentuck you would be correct, it's a neutered version of a good idea and all the decent acting is in the trailer

[@meowgan7042]

The Orphan prequel really took me by surprise. It had it's own fresh premise and was well executed, you should definitely do a video on it!

[@jamesmeow3039]

Is that the dwarf lady who pretends to be a child so she can have sex with the fathers?

[@yupitsjessbbyx3]

I legit began screaming “WAIT WAIT REWIND THAT” at that “one” scene because I was shocked that a prequel to a movie with a great twist could still catch me off guard

[@meowgan7042]

@@yupitsjessbbyx3 RIGHT?! Absolutely had us hooked for the rest of the film.

[@meredithlucas7156]

I was going, "You know what would be cool?.....wait....THAT IS THE THING?!?! NO! NO WAY!!!! AMAZING!!!!" Not the BEST execution but I give it a big pass because the idea is just SO whacko and great.

[@ErnReich]

What’s the twist?! I. Need. To know.

[@fiendishlybilly]

There was a real case about two daughters being "haunted" by one of the girls' ex-boyfriend. He played off their grief from the passing of their dead Mother. A real charmer. I hope the daughters and father got help and somehow got through.

[@thevikingbear2343]

The Boy plays with your expectations for a hunted doll movie, which makes it great. The Boy II is just a hunted doll movie.

[@markrothenbuhler6232]

Whenever I see a horror movie killer doll, I always think of the Simpson Halloween Special that showed you have have doll switched to evil!

[@RyanHollinger]

THAT'S GOOD!

[@coyoteclockworkstudios3140]

@@RyanHollinger "The toppings contain potassium benzoate."

[@guybrushmonkey97]

Isn't this what happens in the Child's Play reboot?

[@carrissasky5635]

@@coyoteclockworkstudios3140 "..."

[@belindaluna2067]

@@coyoteclockworkstudios3140 "....."

[@lolrentz]

Saw m3gan last night and I enjoyed it. She's not a doll, she's a robot. Evil doll and Killer Robot are two different genres to me, personally. M3gan is about technology and people trying to replicate a consciousness with it, as well as how children can view technology as a primary caregiver if their parents aren't in their lives. No supernatural aspect and no 'it was actually a human!' twist either.

[@breezus3928]

Yeah, M3gan was less Chuckie, more "If Arnie in T2 decided Sarah Connor wasn't pulling her weight as a caretaker" lol

[@sakurafan771]

Oh, I wholeheartedly agree with this. My friend said they didn't want to watch it cause they thought it might be an 'evil doll' movie but I explained to them(without spoilers) that the story isn't really about an evil doll. They ended up actually liking it but if I haven't told them they would have never watched it.

[@jaimie1938]

I unironically really enjoyed The Boy. I was given a DVD copy of it for Xmas one year by a clueless-but-trying relative, and despite not expecting much going in I was genuinely compelled by it's mystery and aesthetic. I loved how quickly the protagonist turned around and was like "I guess the doll is alive, better look after it!" because honestly I think a lot of us would do the same. And, of course, the twist. Not knowing anything about the movie going in I was beaming when grown-up Brahms crawled out of the wall. The sheer ridiculousness but also brilliance of it is just joyous to me. So yeah, not a terribly good movie but I enjoy it nonetheless.

[@williamhanekom9882]

I find a lot of killer doll movies tend to fall into the same trap of making the doll "look" as uncanny as possible. It's very much the problem I have with the Annabelle movies, considering that the IRL doll it was based on was a seemlingless harmless raggedy ann plush. I personally would like to see a genre savvy killer doll movie in which the doll appears cute and harmless but is extremely abhorrent in its actions, like it can do the worst things imaginable and realistically get away with it. Better yet, make sure non of the human characters even suspect it. That would be a lot more disturbing and frightening imo.

[@michaelsinger4638]

I cannot get over how the sequel COMPLETELY retcons what Brahms is.

[@nu-metalfan2654]

I enjoyed the first movie as it was different from your usual evil doll movie, the fact that it wasn’t supernatural made for a nice change. They could’ve easily made The Boy as just Annabelle 2.0, but the fact that it had nothing to do with anything supernatural made it much more enjoyable. I haven’t seen the sequel as it got bad reviews.

[@wickedlittletongue]

I really enjoyed the Boy! The scene where the guy comes out of the wall really stuck with me because of the way it was executed. Like it took me a minute to process what I was seeing.

[@RoseKoneko]

I actually kind of liked the first movie, even if I was disappointed that it wasn’t a ghost movie. It made rewatching hilarious; imaging that man quietly tip toeing around and moving the doll makes me giggle like a child. Still, doll movies (except Annabel) creep me out on principle. Never liked dolls, which my parents didn’t tell the rest of the family who gifted them to me then wouldn’t let me get rid of them in case they visited.

[@chronoplague]

I was lucky that I didn't hear anything about the first movie and I picked it up on a friend's recommendation. I really liked it. I think they understood that a creepy doll can only go so far, so I appreciated the shift halfway in. In my opinion, a human man who won't take no for an answer will always be scarier than a possessed doll, and this movie has two men who don't respect bodily autonomy.

[@joshhale9355]

I know you don’t cover tiktok movies often, but holy shit Skinamarink is one of the most uncomfortable (in a good way) movies I’ve ever seen. I just saw it a few days ago and I think I left indentions on my arm rests. I’m really glad artsy/experimental horror is getting popular because I love that stuff so much.

[@viljamtheninja]

The hell is a tiktok movie?

[@lrts1lrts181]

@@viljamtheninja the movies tiktokers describe as "the scariest movie they have ever seen" "viewers were so scared that they couldn't finish it" "you won't be able to sleep for a week" etc etc.

[@Griffenheimer]

Was hoping Ryan would watch this movie, saw it a few days ago and it left me feeling afraid unlike any other horror I’ve watched

[@davismorgan99]

I saw in theaters with my wife on Saturday and I have never been more terrified while watching a movie. I could completely unsderstand the people who don’t care for it or think it isn’t scary at all, but I was so freaked out the entire time. It’s the only movie I’ve ever watched where I wanted it to end just because I was THAT scared.

[@joshhale9355]

@@davismorgan99 it plays on a massive irrational fear I have which is staring into complete darkness and your imagination running too wild. I’ll be alone in my house, pitch black down the hallway and just think “what if though…”. It actually made me squirm more than any gory movie has,

[@kiradattei]

This is the closest I will come to watching the second movie 😂. The whole "there was nothing supernatural" thing was my favorite part of the first movie so when I heard they'd retconned that with the second, I lost all interest in watching it. Seeing the bulletpoints of the plot here, I'm even more glad I haven't watched it. I would love to see a review on Stay Alive. The unrated version especially is a guilty pleasure movie for me 🙂. Here's hoping you manage to find a copy 🤞. I remember it actually being one I had trouble finding on DVD here in the US. I would also love to see a review of The Houses October Built and its sequel.

[@pawnhearts8785]

You should do a video on Magic (1978). Easily the best written "Evil Doll" movie ever made.

[@drewgoin8849]

Truly an unsettling movie!

[@catscanhavelittleasalami]

yeah that movie was.... something

[@Jedi_Proxy]

I know it's not the topic of the video, but seeing you mention Stay Alive made me ECSTATIC. I found a dvd copy of the uncut version online after not seeing it for YEARS and it's still an absolute top favorite guilty pleasure of mine. Would be thrilled to send it to you to review if you promise to give it back lmao 🥴

[@FigmentForever]

Same here. Have a Region 2 Unrated Cut on DVD & watch it around Halloween every year

[@infernus1338]

Yeah same here :D in Poland dvd copy’s of this movie cost 1$ so be my guest ❤

[@RightsForZombies]

Oh my god, yes. You should definitely contact Ryan privately and ask if he'd accept your offer, it's such a amazing guilty pleasure watch, especially if you happen to be a survival horror gaming fanatic. I'm a huge Silent Hill fan, so when they give the gibberish about how to beat the final boss in 4 it made me fangirl so hard because before the SH movie was released (also in 2006) Silent Hill wasn't well-known outside of the survival horror fandom. Silent Hill had been my favourite game series since 2003 and I was ecstatic to hear it name-dropped. I could tell they actually knew the series, because even though the strategy they gave isn't correct for SH4, ammo dumping is a secret way to insta-kill the final boss of SH1 and the hyper beam seems to be a mashup of the unlockable hyper spray weapons from SH2 and the unlockable beam sabre/Heather beam/sexy beam from SH3. If it had come out a year later I would have thought they just name-dropped it because the film did well, but even though Silent Hill had been in development since 2004, Stay Alive was released several weeks before the Silent Hill film released. I think the reason they gave easter egg gibberish as the strategy for beating SH4 was simply because it was the newest game at the time so they didn't want to spoil it. After that the size of the SH fandom basically exploded over the span of a couple of weeks. On my SH forum we appointed new mods just to cope with all the questions coming in from new fans and after that point it became widely-known about. But it's hard to put into words how much this film endeared itself to me for not just mentioning my favourite game series at a time when it had a relatively small and insular fanbase, but that the writers were clearly fans too.

[@academy_killer]

I watched that movie with my friend when I was like 12 and it was the scariest thing we've ever seen back then. Come to think about it now, it was a little silly, but it was still really good in a way lol.

[@FigmentForever]

@@academy_killer It was the first VR/Game horror type movie we’d gotten - outside Lawnmower Man - and would love to see something along the lines of it again someday. The acting was good & Elizabeth Bathory was truly a sick individual.

[@anaalicia5029]

I’d love for you to do a video on the Orphan movies. The first one was actually very well done, much more than campy horror and the second one managed to do a great twist, being a prequel, and I just loved it.

[@izzysauls7737]

The boy was one of the first horror movies I watched (super conservative parents) The Boy was so fun and the twist was genuinely one I couldn’t predict. Please do consider giving Megan a review. It was so fun and you could tell the writers and directors loved what they were doing

[@gamelairtim]

Orphan: First Kill? Yes, please. Also I don’t know whether you would enjoy M3gan, but I think you’d be amused by it.

[@elsaekberg5616]

I absolutely LOVE The Boy. It is one of my favorite horror movies of all time and it’s because every single plot point gets a follow up. Every little detail is important and serves a purpose

[@Mapletheleafeater]

I saw this movie when I was in like 3-4th grade, and even then, I could kinda tell where the twist was going. The miscarriage stuff went over my head, but when the old couple unalives themselves I could see a twist coming. I just didn’t know it’d be this batshit insane.

[@RightsForZombies]

I made my husband watch The Boy, which I had seen a few times before, and although he thought it was hilarious he immediately said 'well that will never get a sequel'. Cut to about a year later and we learn Brahms: The Boy 2 was being released. We were two of I think 4 people in the theatre, which was still exactly two more people than we expected. I have loved the evil doll subgenre since I saw Puppet Master in the late nineties but I can't stand Annabelle. Recently we named one of our pet rats Brahms (after the movies), but he unexpectedly passed away at a very young age. We managed to get one of his brothers from another litter who looked very much like him and although his name is Bear, we affectionately call him Brahms: The Boy 2 sometimes. I have to disagree a bit with Ryan about seeing the twist coming. In the scene (which he shows a still from) in the graveyard where they talk about the real Brahms, I immediately thought 'he's totally going to be alive so I guess the doll isn't haunted'. HOYEVER, I definitely wasn't expecting the living-in-the-walls-as-a-grown-ass-man-with-a-baby-voice aspect of it!

[@iusedtowrite6667]

Omg. I remember watching Stay Alive once as it was showing on one tv channel. It's such a weird and random movie. The premise is wild but the movie was just so weird.

[@FigmentForever]

I really enjoy it. The Unrated version makes it a decent bit better

[@iusedtowrite6667]

@@FigmentForever i saw it as a child so i barely remember it tbh. I need to rewatch it soon. The premise was fun

[@FigmentForever]

@@iusedtowrite6667 It’s not on any streaming service but I’d happy to provide a link to watch if you comment on one of my videos so I can leave you a reply

[@wowitsladyakumu]

I really enjoyed the first "Boy." In fact, I rewatched it recently and liked it even more than the first time I saw it (in theaters). Brahams encapsules a manipulative man. He seems sweet and innocent at first -- as though all he needs is a little love -- but it's all just a game and he's revealed as a psychopathic creep.

[@_foxpuppet]

I actually like dolls. Even if they're creepy, that just adds to the charm for me. This means I've had a lot of people express very emphatically to me that dolls are inherently horrific and terrifying and that I am psychotic for not seeing it. So, for a lot of people, dolls are just genuinely scary, and that's why even if everything surrounding the doll is completely ridiculous, because that fear is already there in certain viewers, the overall effect is still scary for them. I think that's how this subgenre survives in the face of not particularly good movies.

[@rachaelbeth3119]

hello ryan! thank you for giving us these videos as I adore them so much, ive probably watched your stuff at least twice per video if not more I hope you have a great and relaxing year (gonna say day but like... god we all need it to be a year) and you live a long healthy life now time for a great video!

[@hulkjon6094]

I think the 1st The Boy movie was good and I thought the twist was good and actually shocking, because you expect an evil doll but it's actually a human inside the walls, I think it's a great twist and set up. The 2nd film doesn't exist, never was made, never ruined the greatness of the 1st film, it does not exist and I can't be told otherwise

[@ilovemarvelstudios1569]

I'm sorry but that clip of the kid drawing with the closed sharpie? comedy gold

[@polrua]

One thing in 'Orphan: First Kill's favour is the presence if Hiro Kanegawa. He's an excellent character actor, and I love seeing him draw a paycheque.

[@jazzminforrestall406]

I haven't seen Megan yet, but from the trailers I like the angle where it combines evil doll and evil AI. I think we should get more evil AI movies.

[@trout512]

I feel like a lot of the evil doll movies really miss the horror potential they have. Like, instead of having someone from the "outside world" getting dragged into some sketchy mansion with creepy dolls and usually some kind of malicious caretaker, why not take a page out of Fnaf's book and have a sceptic employee at one of those ghost tour/haunted museum places be slowly convinced that yes, the dolls are haunted. It could slowly turn into more of a psychological film, with the protagonist going back and forth on whether to investigate further and risk the dolls doing some Annebelle stuff, or trying to ignore it. I've visited a real life haunted object/ ghost museum in Seattle, and those dolls were super unnerving in their locked glass cases, whether you believe in the supernatural or not.

[@kassandra7313]

I remember being geniunely shocked by the plot twist in the Boy, then shortly afterwards laughing because the chase scene made me think about Scooby Doo so I think you're right on the money there lmao

[@ElephantFilmWerks]

The Orphan prequel just works. There's no explaining why it should work, but it just does.

[@simonantonehie6392]

I was so upset when I saw the boy, I was exited to see what seemed to be a story about a doll that isn't actually alive but the caretaker was slowly going mad. I remember my friend being so shocked by the twist and then from the walk from the cinema to the bus stop she changed from 'what an amazing twist' to 'but that doesn't make sense'

[@MeonLights]

I know Ryan is gonna tell me to go fuck myself (which is fine) but I did actually call the twist in the story. Mostly because it weirdly reminded me of "Anna in der Wand" which is an absurdist coming of age story about a girl who always gets overlooked to the point where a school councellor who is supposed to help her come out of her shell believes that Anna is just her little sister's doll and at one point accidentally kidnaps her by putting her in her purse. Anna at some point moves into the spaces between the walls of her home and both her mother and her older sister basically gaslight themselves into believing she was never real. It isn't like this movie at all but the thing with the doll tipped me off about the whole "the killer is in the house" and the weird crawlspaces some houses seem to have... (same with Encanto tbh. I cannot get behind it all our walls here are brick)

[@lavernebennet7395]

I've never heard of that Sabrina movie used in the intro B-roll, but wow that's honestly a pretty impressive "creepy doll" design? Just in terms of how it strikes that balance between "actually freaky to look at" and "creepy in a subtle enough way that you could imagine it being an actual vintage doll"

[@peblezQ]

I love the first movie solely for the cinema experience. Everyone in my theatre had the funniest reactions the entire movie and my sister and I had a blast. She hates Horror and especially doll movies, but everyone collectively making fun of the movie made it her favourite horror.

[@dennett316]

The Boy was a perfectly acceptable haunted doll story up until that twist. I still remember that cinema experience, as the reveal happens and most of the audience we were watching with started laughing their asses off. I couldn't help it either. Picturing this giant deformed psycho stealthily creeping around the house, repositioning the doll, taking the food and scurrying back to the crawlspace like a giant masked dormouse, it was too much. The goofiest, funniest, most film ruining twist to any horror movie I've seen. Best comedy of 2016!

[@erictungoe7834]

The plot twist was fresh to me at least🙏

[@iusedtowrite6667]

Some evil doll movies need a bottle of whiskey for the best viewing experience. - Trust me speaking from experience

[@BloodylocksBathory]

The thing that made me laugh about the first film was that test audiences had nearly the opposite reaction when Brahms revealed himself, saying Brahms as this big muscular fuzzy guy wasn't that scary. Cue the mask, which was impressive for last minute CGI. So Brahms basically had to be nerfed in order to be more threatening.

[@abbym9954]

The original The Boy frustrated the heck out of me through the entire first half. Why would you specifically take on the job, knowing from the time you get there that the job was to maintain this routine and take care of a doll, only to refuse to do ANYTHING with it until you think it's haunted? If you don't want to do the job, don't take it!

[@joca_sol]

I'd love to see something about the new orphan, even it's not as good as they're saying. And have you seen the new Terrifier?

[@Scarshadow666]

Definitely recommend Twilight Zone's episode "Living Doll" to watch for a piece of creepy doll media that is not only one of the first ones to exist, but also because it's one of the few that handles itself more seriously and with more psychological thriller/drama elements, imo! ^^

[@crafter6862]

It's unexplainably indestructible, yet Tina still manages to be scary instead of cheap.

[@LadyAstarionAncunin]

I really like the first film (didn't see the second). I love that I didn't expect the twist at the end. Personally, I think they did a great job with tone, mystery, tension, etc.

[@advancedstupidity5459]

Watching the first movie is worth it because the reveal that Braums is in the walls is so well executed. It's genuinely shocking and impressive until you realize it makes absolutely no sense at all, but for 5-10 seconds you think you're watching the greatest twist of all time unfold. It's really too bad because if they had restructured the story a bit it could've been really special. I skipped the sequel because, duh.

[@JohnDoe-hj9fh]

I really did not enjoy the first movie because of how generic it felt up until the twist which made me change my mind and I now love the film. I've never been able to enjoy ghost or evil doll movies simply because I know for a fact that they aren't real so the reveal made me actually really enjoy the movie

[@ironsevs]

The Boy (and the writer's other works as well) have a lot of interesting ideas but they just feel so jammed together like a puzzle where someone forced the pieces together.

[@augustthepineapple]

I'm also not a creepy doll movie guy, but I am a killer robot movie guy and M3GAN is nice blend of both. It surprisingly has a lot of heart.

[@Caeljharden]

M3GAN shocked me to be honest. I wasn’t expecting much but ended up loving it. I’ve seen it 3 times now and can’t wait for a sequel

[@FFXemnas]

Since you are on the topic, you absolutly must cover "Stay Alive", its such a good movie! :)

[@RainBowSasaFras]

I was actually a huge fan of the first film when my best friend and I went to see it in theaters. I remember thinking it was just ok until the tone shift when the main character's backstory gets revealed and she actually starts caring for Brahms. My friend and I actually started to get emotionally attached to doll Brahms, So when he gets smashed we both gasped in horror. And when the real Brahms busted threw we where thrown for an even bigger loop. Because I was fully bamboozled into thinking he actually was the spirit of a little boy and felt emotionally invested in him like the main character was I felt disgusted and betrayed right along with her when the "Chosen bride" twist was revealed. It made for such a unique move experience.

[@Lycaenaa]

Oh I would LOVE to see you cover Stay Alive!! That movie is so silly but I have such a nostalgic soft spot for it!

[@camerondodge2070]

I stayed away from Bell's filmography for a while, and I don't know why. Most of his stuff is alright, and occasionally he'll put out something good. His work isn't any worse than 80% of the horror movies that get released each year. Plus, he does seem to have a genuine passion for this stuff.

[@iusedtowrite6667]

The boy was a really fun movie to watch. Like I Kinda expected the twist but it was still fun to watch. Haven't seen the sequel though

[@RyanHollinger]

The sequel flips the original on its head. I talk about it at the end!

[@iusedtowrite6667]

@@RyanHollinger oh interesting. I've heard very negative response to it so that originally dimmed my interest for it. But might give it a watch

[@Adoniis101]

It sucked, bad

[@leonazar]

@@Adoniis101more than a Hoover!

[@bleakautomaton4808]

It felt like a response to the negative feedback of the first not having a supernatural end, so they put out a sequel trying to be what people wanted to mediocre effect.

[@jevilcore]

Ngl when Brahms came out of the wall, hairy and sweaty, I honestly went like 😳 ? Oh fr?

[@ssupercoolsuus]

Thank you for yet another enjoyable video, love to hear your take everytime!

[@CalTheHogNosedBat]

One time I was playing my SNES and my wife was like "Hey, dinner time" I was like "but if you die in the game, you die for real!" My wife then said, "Andrew, you're playing Super Tennis"

[@teddiespicker]

Potentially hot take, but I feel like the boy would’ve worked better as a slasher film, but it’s obviously without the aspect of the slasher outwardly killing people in a sort of flashy and “how the fuck did that happen” way and I kinda liked the part where Greta went a little insane to protect herself BUUT the second movie just rips apart the whole premise. The second movie is just another movie, albeit with the same franchise name, and a few of the same characters. Not to mention, the first movie was an absolute hit with the slasher fans, especially on tumblr.

[@mterry7377]

I feel Ryan needs to cover "heck", the concept movie that was made by the guy who made skinamarink and later was what inspired him to make skinamarink. I think he would have some interesting takes on the movie.

[@afish4086]

After I watched the Boy for the first time, my boyfriend turned to me and said "that was just a modern Phantom of the Opera". And I can't unsee it. And in a lot of ways, it could be considered a perfect modern Phantom of the Opera adaptation, because it actually manages to keep the original vibes of the plot twist "oh hey it was just a dude the whole time" in ways that any other PotO adaptation hasn't been able to yet.

[@MJBiddy1]

I always thought they missed a trick with The Boy - at the mid-point Greta has become genuinely fond and unafraid of Brahms. I’d have been far more interested in seeing the old bf arrive and be a proper psycho and how the doll actually has to shown Greta he can move and then hides from her in shame - could have been really gut wrenching about her maybe losing another child or deciding a permanent child, no matter the cost is what she wants. I may have thought about it too Much in the past.

[@amberlynnbaker5293]

I feel like it would have been much easier to just say when Brahms died his spirit went into the doll. I guess they'd have to think of a different twist but still that explanation makes a lot more sense for why the doll can move in the second one.

[@petemartell677]

Your videos are a great balance of relaxing and cerebral.

[@carnivalesque___]

I got locked out of my other account but the horror video essay grind never stops

[@samishere9620]

Hearing you mention Stay Alive was like a mini jumpscare that made me immediately look at the copy sitting on my dresser

[@tinyetoile5503]

The Orphan was actually one of the first horror movies I ever watched (or rather, watched on purpose) so I'd definitely watch a video about it and its prequel, though I haven't seen the latter

[@mv3507]

As a VCR repairman once said, "It's a boy in the walls movie."

[@user-gw3bs2in5i]

This is my first time doing something like this, but while I was thinking about traditional horror movie things like creepy dolls, I randomly remembered a creepy clown movie just called "Clown" in 2014." This is completely off topic, but I have yet to see anyone really talk about it. Just a shameless recommendation for a movie that I don't know too much about.

[@lachlancampbell6328]

Love your takes mate!! As I'm absolutely hopeless with horror movies your breakdowns are great. As another Aussie in their 20's I'd love to see your take on then 2000's abc (Aussie naturally) found footage kids series jeopardy. That was nightmare fuel for early teenage me

[@abigaileldritch]

Stay alive is a movie I remember watching as a child that I never got to finish. I finally finished it last night! So worth the wait of 10+ years. I found it online. I hope you review it!!

[@randallflagg3700]

Are there any other *Gotham* fans watching, who lost their shit when they saw that "The Boys 2" ripped Martin straight out of the show?? That made my day. If you haven't watched *Gotham* , long story short... at one point Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin, takes an orphan boy under his wing... an orphan boy played by the same actor as Jude (Christopher Convery), who is also mute and also communicates with a billboard thing around his neck... and who also has some darkness inside him. (which was what made Penguin notice him in the first place) Anyway, that's a neat hommage to the young actor's first big role; well relatively, he was in only 4 episodes but he had a big presence in them. Now that makes me want to watch *Orphan; First kill* because in *Gotham* , there is also a killer child (with a porcelaine doll mask) called "Orphan" , almost seems like reference bait. Thanks for the vids Ryan

[@sarahdeacon2983]

This is unrelated to the video but my raycons are currently missing somewhere in my house and this video opening with a raycon sponsorship is rubbing salt in the wound 😭😭😭

[@deykuzor]

I actually loved the atmosphere of the Boy. I mean it wasn't scary, but it was sombre and a little creepy. And that was fun for me. It just kinda is bizarre at places.

[@MothMomo]

I’ll always remember the way this movie made me feel above any flaws it had. The transition between discomfort at a new environment to feeling a kinship with this seemingly-tragic little boy that brings Greta some genuine comfort after all that’s happened to her, to the batshit twist (and catharsis of abusers dying) it really just took me on a ride. Looking back on it, I can see the cracks, but I’m very glad I didn’t come to it with a cynical lens, otherwise I wouldn’t have had so much fun watching it

[@tomato.sandwich]

Ryan listening to “Mystery of Love” makes me love him even more ❤

[@andreworders7305]

Um, so did the Hillshires just expect their house and property to serve as payment for eternal babysitting when they offer themselves? Did they have any sort of will? It’s not like she can just take it.

[@LifeInPink999]

12:21 😅 I kinda knew where it was all going when the supposed haunted doll requested food and even eat it given that it disappeared. I didn’t know that it was an adult men fruit of an extreme bad parenting was living in the walls but I was sure that the doll was not haunted and that someone pretty much alive was messing with the girl. I think it made the movie more interesting, I was curious who was messing with the lady and why. I fist suspected the man who delivered food (maybe it was his hobby or he just liked to mess with that family) but then when it made noise while he was with her I knew it was not him or someone else was involved with him and I kinda kept distrusting him till the “boy” walked from the walls.

[@titolino73]

I did laugh so much at the beginning when the mother said to say hallo to the doll...

[@robyngraves4494]

I was SO waiting for the '...but' at the end

[@rociomiranda5684]

Hello, Ryan! Love a new video.

[@theslanderousgent4475]

The mention of “Men” was a great point, but more importantly made me want you to cover it! Loved that movie!

[@jeff_taylor......]

⤴️⤴️⤴️Thank you for the great love and support you have shown to my KZbin channel. Quickly send a direct message to the above username now. I have something for you. Thank you!!

[@zebbyscoot3990]

I was genuinely shocked at how much I enjoyed M3GAN honestly. As a horror movie it’s absolutely nothing special, so I wouldn’t recommend it if you want something actually scary, but as a commentary on technology and how it affects relationships (especially parental ones) it’s actually pretty intriguing and thoughtful. Also, M3GAN herself was pretty silly, but her portrayal is pretty accurate to what I’d expect an AI like that would act like, especially in regards to her gaining some weird kind of sentience. Overall, I enjoyed it, just not as a horror movie ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@tobiasgorgen7592]

"The pen isn't open" had me rolling

[@Zayl1016]

I guessed the twist in this vid before the reveal, but I think that's because a secret person living in the house became such a meme premise with so many movies doing it since this came out.