Doll House Miniatures

Reviews

I have a soft spot for low budget obscure films. Something weird videos are definitely worth indulging yourself in. This 3 movies are prime examples of great stories done with bad acting. I enjoy things like that so indulge yourself too.

This film is really amazing. It's 60's trash, but it is different from other films of the type and becomes a film in a category of its own. It may sound pretentious to call a movie like this art, but is so orignal it can only be described as such. It's extremely low budget. The filming is crude, the camera is often shaky, and the editing is very poor, scenes jump around and collpase into one another. But all this almost seems to be done on purpose. The music is amazing, light 60's rock that is so repetitive that it puts one in a quasi-hypnotic state and the melodies are beautiful. The film is often silent except for the music which constantly plays in the background. The sreenwriting is of course not written by the book, but you can still find a traditional three act story if you try. The movie instead moves in segments, each having its own theme song and victim. The story is divulged in other reviews, but if you can watch the movie without having the story line revealed to you first I would recommend it. I recommend this movie to any adult who can watch it with an open mind.

If anything, Something Weird Video has the most interesting DVD catalog out there. Even if you have no particular affinity for the films, you've got to admit that they have some of the most unique titles ever to be displayed on a marquee. And with this David F. Friedman triple feature, SWV once again proves that they are one of the leaders of the DVD industry today. A SMELL OF HONEY, A SWALLOW OF BRINE is obviously the main point of interest, and with good reason: it is the only good film on this DVD. SMELL OF HONEY has it all-- sleaze, cheese, a fair bit of nudity, and lesbian action; all of which usually make for an entertaining viewing experience. Stacey Walker is hilariously bad (which equals good, in my book) as sex kitten Sharon Winters, who teases horny young men and then cries rape when things go too far. The acting is atrocious (though not annoyingly so) and the ending is deliriously ironic. Anyone who is a fan of vintage Something Weird product will have a great time with this. A SWEET SICKNESS is certainly a few notches down in the fun department, but is not without its merits; the film has some good photography and the quality of the transfer really brings this out. The main problem with A SWEET SICKNESS is the pacing (which is also the problem with THE BRICK DOLLHOUSE): minutes go by without anything much happening besides unattractive girls dancing in a very unerotic way, which makes a 65 minute film seem like a 165 minute film. But still, A SWEET SICKNESS has an intriguing plot that somehow makes up for some of its mistakes. In fact, the plot of the film (a woman moves to the city hoping to make it as a stripper, only to find that the only thing the men want is sex) leads one to believe that perhaps it was the inspiration for the infinitely superior cult classic, SHOWGIRLS. However, the ideas behind this film are far better than the actual execution. THE BRICK DOLLHOUSE is a bore, plain and simple. In fact, I might go so far as to say that it's one of the worst films I've ever seen. This would have worked as an effective updating of RASHOMON--five women discover their roommate has been murdered, but each has a different explanation of the events leading up to her death--if only it weren't so mind-numbingly dull. THE BRICK DOLLHOUSE was obviously filmed to titillate, and while the women are quite attractive, the gratuitous nudity and sex does very little to advance the plot. Both this film and A SWEET SICKNESS pale greatly to SMELL OF HONEY, making that film look like a masterwork in comparison. For the age of these three films, the picture quality is outstanding. In fact, the latter two are hardly deserving of such grand treatment. The sound is average, but the extras are where this disc really shines. SWV have included a commentary on SMELL OF HONEY with producer David F. Friedman, the original trailer for A SWEET SICKNESS, bonus Friedman trailers, a special shot-on-video short called "A Visit to the Apple Theater", and a gallery of posters from David F. Friedman productions. All in all, a very worthwhile set for any fan of sexploitation films, and even though A SWEET SICKNESS and THE BRICK DOLLHOUSE aren't very interesting, SMELL OF HONEY alone is worth the retail price.

Kudos to Something Weird Video for putting "A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine," one of David F. Friedman's best movies, on DVD! Sexy Stacey Walker, with her arched eyebrows, wicked smile and heavily sprayed hair, burns up the screen as Sharon Winters, a character who gets her kicks seducing men, then crying "Rape!" (In his commentary, the always-enteraining Friedman tells how he considered calling the movie "C.T.", but figured no one would get it.) It's a performance that's fun to watch, and certainly uses Walker to much greater effect than the nudie-cutie "The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill." Shot in black and white, "A Smell of Honey" has a deliciously tawdry look, yet shows some artful flourishes (likely attributed to cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs as director Byron Mabe was never known for artful flourishes. Even when the actors are clothed, our imaginations are nudged into the gutter (Walker and "victim" framed in a tree that looks like spread thighs; Walker suggestively drinking from a Coke bottle while the camera periodically cuts to the thrusting, bulging crotch of her boyfriend singing in a bar). Walker could've easily gone on to stardom, in either exploitation or even mainstream movies (she reportedly was courted by Paramount). But, as Friedman tells it, she married "some gazoony" and moved back to her home state of Texas after only making two feature-length movies.Friedman only distributed "A Sweet Sickness," but the movie is a worthy second feature to "A Smell of Honey." Starring Vincene Wallace as a Hollywood hopeful who tries to hold on to her virtue while pursuing an acting career, "A Sweet Sickness" is nastier than most '60s sex pics, but not quite crossing over into '70s soft-X territory. Some amusing moments include Wallace's sleazy agent getting cornered on his casting couch by a Rubinesque stripper (named Bertha, naturally); Wallace sporting a hairstyle that looks like she has a giant gourd perched atop her head; a hyperkenetic performance by a spindly exotic dancer who looks a lot like Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss; and a bed brought to life through stop-motion animation. Look for Carol Channing in an opening scene (calm down, she's not naked)."The Brick Dollhouse" is another Friedman pickup, and even he refers to it as a "worthless piece of crap." Swinging roommates come home to discover one of their roomies has been shot dead. By the time the police arrive, they've all changed into sexy lingerie--perfect attire for telling the police about all those swingin', topless pot parties they go to on a daily basis. There a few moments in this lame whodunnit that'll produce giggles, and if you like looking at topless '60s babes go-go dancing you'll be in heaven. Otherwise, even with a running time of 55 minutes, "The Brick Dollhouse" goes on waaaay too long.There are trailers for other Friedman movies, like "The Defilers," "The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill" and "The Lustful Turk" (in which all the men wear obviously fake beards). But the best extra is Friedman's commentary on "A Smell of Honey." This sultan of sleaze and Allah of alliteration (sorry, got carried away) livens up any DVD with his frankly-told, frequently humorous anecdotes of exploitation's golden age. At times, his commentary can be more entertaining than the movie (e.g. "Fanny Hill" and "The Head Mistress"). Though "A Smell of Honey" easily stands on its own, Friedman's commentary is icing on the cake.

Rebounding from their disappointing Flesh Trilogy disc, Something Weird presents one certified sexploitation classic in A Smell of Honey, A Swallow of Brine, and throws in two lesser but enjoyably kitschy nudies, A Sweet Sickness and The Brick Dollhouse, for a satisfying David Friedman triple-bill.In Smell of Honey, Sharon Winters (Stacey Walker) makes a hobby of seducing her dullard male coworkers then screaming rape, ruining their careers and reputations. While not destroying men, Sharon spends her time teasing her big-haired lesbian roommate Paula. Sharon embarks on a "serious relationship" with new man at the office Lowell Carter, leading to his inevitable seduction/rejection. He reacts by having an erotic, kinky, soft-focus bondage dream about Sharon whipping and being whipped by him. After Sharon cries rape on Carter, he stalks and sexually assaults another woman and is shot in the back by her boyfriend. Finally, Sharon picks up young stud Tony, they dance at a bar, and she takes him home to try her usual routine only to find that she's more than met her match. Friedman's script nicely balances plot and dialogue with the obligatory petting/bathing scenes, and first-time director Byron Mabe (She Freak, The Acid Eaters) actually goes for the occasional arty montage. As Friedman observes, Walker ("discovered" by him on a Florida beach) perfectly personifies white-trash sexuality, playing the harlot with obvious relish as she spits out such lines as "Some of us, Paula, would rather fight than switch" or the now-famous "I may be a bi**h, but I'll never be a bu**h." The strangely appropriate soundtrack is by an anonymous garage band (Et Cetra) that falls somewhere between hippieish folk-psych and Stooges-like proto-punk, and often seems on the verge of completely falling apart. Another of Laszlo Kovacs's early pre-fame movies, this looks great even when nothing spectacular is happening; unfortunately the print is far from perfect. The tonal values, detail, sharpness, and grain are generally fine, but there is light speckling and blemishing, light lining, some heavier damage around reel changes, and a series of horizontal emulsion dings that appears for about 15 or 20 minutes midway through. Worse, the opening scene in the car, a shower scene with Sharon and Carter, and a few other spots are marred by jump cuts and missing dialogue. Considering the logistics of finding any decent print of a film like this after 35 years, these are forgivable flaws, yet still disappointing. Ignoring the print problems, Smell of Honey is terrific fun for fans of 60s roughie sexploitation and a nice bookend to Friedman and Lee Frost's The Defilers.A Sweet Sickness tells the story of the "young gals" who come to Hollywood looking for stardom only to find that unless they "put out" they'll get nothing but a "one-way ticket back to Hicksville." The narrator snidely informs us that Connie, a seasoned casting-couch veteran, has a three-day $750 Vegas gig, while roommate Dee, a newcomer who wants to make it without compromising herself, is broke and unemployed ("but then, she still has her pride"). Dee is molested by their scuzzy landlord, applies for a job with a lecherous agent (then tells him to "shove it"), and is shown an apartment by a realtor who drugs her and imprisons her (in a distorted "trip" sequence) in a room full of pot-smoking white slave girls. Later, at a club holding a strange "strip auction," Dee and a "cute" guy in silk shirt and white pants dance on stage, backed by The Tigers and the Pussycat, a novelty garage trio featuring a female guitarist with long blonde hair. The owner threatens to withhold Dee's pay for spurning the winning "bidder" and a skinny topless "hippie" chick dances wildly. Back at the realtor's, Dee's involved in a drugged-out slo-mo bisexual whipped-cream party. In the hilarious final scene, a lustful casting agent reveals his pushbutton roll-away "casting" bed. These sequences, with their goofy dialogue, sarcastic narration, and bizarre plot twists are amusing enough; unfortunately they only account for about 25 percent of the 65-minute movie. The rest is the usual "nudie" padding of dressing, showering, bathing, hairbrushing, dancing, etc., that seems at times to go on forever (at least the women are generally good looking). The soundtrack is again provided by an unknown garage/frat rock band (Raul and the Revelations), and some vintage Bell System dial telephones are featured prominently. Print quality is quite good, better than the main feature, with generally excellent tonal values, sharpness, and detail, marred only by some light speckling and visible grain. Entertaining in a mid-60s schlock sort of way, just be ready with the fast-forward button.The Brick Dollhouse, is ostensibly a murder mystery set in a "swinging" apartment building. The framing story of detectives questioning the (mostly female) residents about the murder is really just an excuse for extended flashback "party" scenes of backyard/poolside bongo playing, semi-naked go-go dancing, water-pipe smoking, joint Bogarting, chess playing, showering, dressing, keyhole-peeping, whipping, spanking, macho posturing, and spin-the-bottle sessions. There's plenty of hideous 1960s decor, clothing, and hairdos on display, backed by sub-Ventures guitar, sax, and organ. Print quality is surpisingly good, with very good to excellent color balance and saturation, acceptable contrast and detail, and some light speckling/blemishing the only evident damage. While far from classic, Brick Dollhouse is a painless, mildly amusing 55 minutes, more so for serious students of 1960s kitsch. "Yeah, she's outasight. Really outasight!"The outstanding "extra" is a florid, fanciful, fascinating audio commentary on Smell of Honey by storyteller extraordinaire Dave Friedman, easily worth half the price of the disc if you're at all interested in the history of exploitation cinema. Friedman trailers include A Sweet Sickness, The Defilers, The Lustful Turk (looks pretty painful), Starlet, and The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill (with Stacey Walker). There is also a Friedman exploitation art gallery and an odd short containing the (videotaped) trailer for Brick Dollhouse. Overall, a solid buy for 1960s sexploitation fans. Recommended.

Reviews

My 3 yr old granddaughter especially liked this pack. She kept telling me this was "Mama" and "Me". She used the Daddy figure as well to have a book read at bedtime.

This set is quite adorable,and has inspired more regular bedtime stories at our house. All of the Caring Corners Mrs. Goodbee companion packs are just what modern day families need. It can bring out the good in all of us.

The mother can't grasp the book well at all. Sitting in the chair is nearly impossible for the mother figurine because her legs don't bend. My 3 year old is most fascinated with the lamp that lights up and the cat. The furniture is too large to store in the house when the house is closed up. I honestly felt for the money I paid there would be more to this accessory. Complete disappoint!

These items were purchased for my 3 1/2 year old granddaughter. I'm sure she will have lots of fun with them and hopefully they will be educational as well.

I purchased this item to go with the Mrs Goodbee Dollhouse, and I love it! The light on the lamp really lights up, the kittens are adorable, and both parents (dad or second mom sold separately)fit perfectly in the bed.

Reviews

The Fisher-Price Loving Family Kids Bedroom set is a great little addition to our F-P LF dollhouse. The bed is the perfect size for the "child" doll, and the chair folds out nicely; my daughter likes to lay the "baby" dolls on it. It comes well packaged like all of the LF dollhouse sets, and I'm sure it will hold up well (as that has been our experience with the rest of our LF dollhouse furniture). Very cute, and well worth the [...] deal we got :) Note: The drawer does NOT pull out on the nightstand. Not an issue for me, but I know some people like their furniture "functional" in the dollhouse :) Also, the bed is not a "soft" bed. It is a plastic formed piece with a really cute bedspread over it. As I doubt the dolls will complain about not having a goose-down mattress topper, it's probably not a problem :)

A nice addition to the dollhouse. Just a note, the bed is for the children. The adult figures do not really fit on the bed. There is a separate set for the adults.

I bought this toy for my 5 year old granddaughter. She loves pretending with her doll house and furnishings and this was a great addition.

For what you are getting it is not up to Fisher Prices' quality or for the cost. This item is not as bad of price as compared to most of the other sets they sell. It is not very real looking. Most children's bedrooms do not look like this. They have a bed, dresser maybe a night stand and lots of toys & maybe a pet.

A cute kid's room for The Loving Family Doll House. Nothing spectacular about it, but it is very cute and my daughter liked it as it sort of matched her own bedding. It probably could have used a few small touches to really make it pop.

Reviews

All of the Melissa and Doug furniture is prone to break, but the spindly chairs of other sets and the lamps of this one will go first.

I got these for a dollhouse I'm making for my daughters, and they love them.

As a homeschooling mom of 7 I can authoritatively say that Melissa and Doug products are the best. So sturdy and durable but realistic at the same time. Read the book The Doll People (or listen on tape) while your little ones play. With these accessories my 3 littlest girls (6, 7 and 9) imagine that their dolls are real and play at night with all the of the food, plates, silverware, and use the lamps and toys. You can't go wrong with this company all around.

All of these Melissa and Doug products are accurately scaled and can be played with by kids and adults both. They are very detailed and well made and will make a doll house look like a real miniature house. Every piece of furniture I have bought from them is beautiful and authentically styled,also.

Reviews

This is a very nice book, but.... I bought this book on the rave reviews it got. I bought one for my daughter and one as a gift. Guess with the reviews I read I expected something more? something different? Not sure. I would recommend this book if the person you are buying it for is REALLY into dolls/doll houses. My daughter is 5yrs old and it does not hold her interest. I think it would be better for older girls (maybe 7or8yrs?) and ones into dolls and doll houses.

I actually purchased The Enchanted Dolls' House Wedding prior to getting this. Both are beautiful works of art, and though the target age group is said to be 4-8, I feel anyone who loves dolls and dollhouses will adore these two books. The dolls in the enchanted dolls' house have names - Albert, Lucinda, Kristen, Oscar, Hattie, and many more. Beginning with the medieval/Tudor period [16th century], readers are introduced to the fashion of the times with interesting lift-the-flap features that open to reveal secret delights. This is followed by a pop-up of a medieval dollhouse which is simply gorgeous and has intricate detailing. The 16th century is followed by the 18th century with a feature on masquerades. Readers are then treated to a full-spread pop-up of an 18th century neoclassical dollhouse. There is also a pop-up of a late Victorian dollhouse and an early 20th century dollhouse. As one lifts the flaps or peeks through the windows of these well-detailed dollhouses, readers get a glimpse of a long ago world, and closer inspection reveals little secrets that simply delight the senses. The book is filled with historical detail, and thus makes not just for a pleasurable browsing experience, but also an engaging read. Highly recommended for dolls and dollhouse enthusiasts, as well as pop-up fans.

I was so delighted with this book that I bought for my grandaughter, that I am going to buy one for myself. It arrived in perfect condition. The illustrations and die cuttings are beautiful. The little doors and windows that open with pictures underneath make it fun, and the stories are sweet and historically informative. I would recommend this book to anyone, and have shown it to many of my friends.

I received this book as a gift from my Mother and even though I'm 36 I absolutely love it. I has a nice story and it's full of interesting information. Even though it's for reading ages 4-8 you're never too old for this book. I'm buying it for each of my nieces and some of my friends. I want to get entire series. There's an Enchanted Dollhouse Theatre that's not available on Amazon.com so I will probably order it from Amazon.co.uk.

My daughter was given this book for her fifth birthday a few months ago. She adores it! There is so much detail - visual, textural, information about the era of each house. It's a lot of fun for both my daughter and her father and me - something we enjoy doing with her, and something she can enjoy on her own. We like the "I Spy"-type questions for each era, as well. Fun book!

Reviews

The reason I read this book is because it was a novel my class was working on. Amy is the main character. She is my favorite because she solves the mystery. She is alert and always on the job to find clues. Amy is sick of taking care of her sister, so she runs away. She goes to her Aunt Clare's house. Aunt Clare is the sister of Amy's dad. Amy found a dollhouse in the attic. It looked the same as Aunt Clare's house and it had every little detail. Aunt Clare hates the dollhouse because it gave her bad memories of her parents dying. My favorite part of this book was when Amy went to the attic to find a blanket. She saw a light in the dollhouse. She was frightened and she hoped it was a mouse, but it wasn't. I do not want to give it all away, but it was spooky. Other kids will like this book. It is a great book. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. You never know what is going to happen next.

My 9 year old daughter needed a "mystery" book for her 4th grade language arts class. I found this had won many awards for the 4th-6th grade reading level. She usually struggles to get through an entire book if the content is not very interesting, but she could not put this one down! It is not a long book (150 pages or so) and it was a pretty good story with mystery and a little scary too! She loved it. [...]

I read this book as a kid, it came in a boxed set of creepy stories. I loved them all, but they terrified me. I kept them, and at age 28 I imagine they'd still be scary! I'm about to read the set again though, for a glimpse into the worlds they paint. Aside from The Dollhouse Murders, there's also Christina's Ghost and Ghosts Beneath Our Feet. That last one, especially, is really creepy. At least as I remember it from years ago. I recommend them all. But not if your kid is squeamish ;)

If you like ghost stories and the supernatural, then this book is for you. Even though it's geared towards a younger audience, I think even adults may enjoy this book as well. It has suspense, drama and an age old murder mystery. I've always loved this book when I was a kid and still do today. It gave me goosebumps and chills. I still get shivery when I read certain parts. This is a good first mystery for a young one.

This book has a great premise --- a young girl stumbles onto a wonderful dollhouse which holds the key to a very old mystery. There are some suspenseful parts but not so spooky to be worried about nightmares (I hope).