User reviews

It may take a second viewing of Dolls for Strangers in order to really get it. It moves pretty fast and doesn't always follow a chronological order. But, I mean it as a compliment to say after watching it the first time, I wanted to see it again. I wanted to revisit the characters and story to help me fill in what I missed. It's a clever idea--taking Vodoo far away from its African-Caribbean origins and moving it to what looks like a pretty standard American suburb. A young guy, Tony, has figured out how to run a business making dolls--kind of a Voodoo for Hire. He has a personal connection to this with his sister, too, whom he suspects was a victim of it.

Visually, I think it's flawless, and has a dark and dreamy quality to it--with a haunting piano theme that doesn't intrude over the images. Because it's so short, the whole thing plays out almost like a poem on film as opposed to a traditional narrative with dialog (although there is dialog). It raises a lot of questions, and after watching it, you're bound to come up with even more questions. Fortunately, writer-director Ken Cohen knew there was no point in trying to give any answers. Trying to explain anything you see in this film would just end up unsatisfying.

Director/writer/producer Ken Cohen has made some pretty awesome movies in the past (see Afloat), but his latest short film Dolls for Strangers is about as professional and well-developed as a film can possibly be. The film is suspenseful yet also has a meaningful and deep aspect to it. The story itself is very intriguing and will leave you wanting more (in a good way), and Cohen has done a nice job of developing the main character, Tony, on a deep level. The shooting choices made for the film work well, and the color and quality is at a professional level. Also, the score used throughout the film adds a nice element of suspense. The song in the closing credits by Rosanna Hendrix (ahem, cough, cough) is worth looking into as well. Overall, you can tell a lot of good time and effort went into making this thing.

I really loved this short film directed by Ken Cohen. Right from the beginning the plot got me interested, and the camera angles were very aesthetically pleasing (which is a very important notion coming from an artist's perspective). I have been waiting for some time for this director to come out with another film, and when this was released I watched it as soon as I could. It definitely was a different point of view and really shows what these young directors are doing nowadays with the medium of film. With that being said I wanted it to go on much longer (I think it was a bit under fifteen minutes in length). That told me I most certainly enjoyed watching this film. I have seen other films by this director (Decomposed, Afloat) and he is truly a young talent that deserves to be seen by many! His creative plots and characters make for interesting stories that are new and fresh in an age where the same formulas are being spit out again and again. Thanks for a new perspective Mr. Cohen!

Dolls for Strangers is an excellent short film by director/writer/producer Ken Cohen. The story is interesting and overall the film did a great job of keeping my attention. It's something that all age groups could enjoy. I'd love to see this made into a feature film or even some type of series. The cast did a great job as well. The main guy, Mark Jurosko, played the leading roll well, and the supporting cast were impressive as well. The music in the film sounds great too, especially that last song in the credits! Overall, this is a very impressive short film, one of the best short films I've seen out of many. The professional quality of the film, along with the overall storyline, make this a film definitely worth seeing.