Love Object

Evil dolls are a staple in movies, but the literal “love object” in Robert Parigi's first feature is no toy (like Chucky in the Child's Play franchise) but rather a life-sized sexual device that exerts a sinister influence on the poor sap who buys it--in this case, Kenneth (Desmond Harrington), an introverted technical writer working at a firm that's equal parts Dilbert and Office Space. When Kenneth gets interested in the temp (Melissa Sagemiller) assigned to him, he not only undertakes to refashion the girl, Vertigo-style, into the image of his plastic playmate, but causes the doll--at least in his fervid imagination--to grow jealous and possessive. Unfortunately, Love Object tries to combine too many genres: the first third of the film is a fairly droll black comedy, and the second is a less interesting psycho-thriller; but the last act goes deep into horror movie territory, with lots of repulsive bondage scenes and plenty of bloodletting. Although Harrington does a good job as the nervous Norman Bates-like protagonist, by the time the credits roll, this film is unlikely to be the object of anyone's affection. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentaries (one by writer-director Robert Parigi; the other by Parigi and costars Desmond Harrington, Melissa Sagemiller, Brad Henke, and Robert Bagnell); the production featurettes “Nightmares in Silicone” with special effects department supervisor Brian Penikas (13 min.), “A Conversation with Udo Kier” (11 min.), and “Danse Macabre” with composer Nicholas Pike (8 min.); a five-minute director's video scrapbook; poster and photo galleries; and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a flawed film.] (F. Swietek)