Fats and Tiffany: The Extremes of The Killer Dolls

* Will Contain Spoilers.

When Killer Dolls Where Just Killers

When we think about Killer Dolls, they’re exactly that… Killers. Slasher proxies stuffed into something even more terrifying than a seven foot machete wielding psycho or fried demon who can invade our nightmares, a doll. The end of the eighties and into the nineties recognised the potential for the pint sized terrors, and like the Space Critters, gave them the ability to kill. To be terrifying menaces. From Chucky in Child’s Play to the assortment of dolls in Stuart Gordons Dolls, or David Schmoeller’s Puppet Master, dolls became the new mindless killers. Even Pinocchio was replaced with Chip Hazard.

And they remained essentially Slashers for some time. But, there were different kinds of Killer Dolls before and after this period. Before the Killer Doll trope had really been formed and Chucky wrote the rulebook there was Fats from William Goldman’s fantastic book (and movie, although I haven’t seen it to judge) Magic. While Fats was a killer, he definitely didn’t go about his business like Chucky. He was more psychological manipulator than rampaging menace.

As for afterwards, while I could use a more modern example like Megan (M3gan) to investigate the evolving attitude, that’s not really my style. As much as I enjoyed the movie, an example came along before Megan which better exhibited the change in Killer Doll attitude: Bride of Chucky.

It won’t be Chucky who I look at however. Despite his own slight change in attitude, he was still essentially the same Slasher psychopath he’d always been, just with added one-liners. Tiffany on the other hand felt very different. But first, let’s talk about Fats.

William Goldman's Magic — Magic: Image From IMDB

What Makes Fats Unique?

Introducing Fats

One of the things which instantly makes Fats different from any of the other Killer Dolls was the ventriloquist dummy had a relationship with Corky, it’s human ‘owner.’ The pair were a team. First in making the magician famous, then in keeping him in that position. Fats was Corky’s confidence. The brash outspoken one of the pair, to Corky’s more shy and passive approach.

Fat’s was foul mouthed and crude, giving a disturbing vibe from the start, but for long periods we didn’t know how dangerous or evil he was. After all, he saved Corky’s life. He helped in making him famous with their unique double act. He gave his human counterpart some much needed self-assurance. But, he was still a creepy ventriloquist doll. That uncanny valley nature came right off the page. Not through looks, but through the way the doll acted and spoke. It felt human. There was something perturbing about Fat’s from the offset.

Alongside the doll being friends with a human Fat’s reliance on Corky also made him unique. He didn’t go anyway without him (for reasons which reveal themself late in the book) He wasn’t scampering around the house or streets like Chucky or Megan. He wasn’t getting himself into all kinds of mischief while Corky wasn’t looking. If Fats was going to insult or threatening anyone, he done it in front of Corky, or often in front of a whole room full of people.

But this codependency didn’t mean the doll didn’t have a strong hold over Corky. This wasn’t an equal relationship. While Corky may have believed he had free will, he didn’t. Fats was in charge of the operation, even if he sometimes allowed Corky to believe he could make his own choices.

This was the dangerous side of Fats. What made him so different from all the other Killer Dolls. He wasn’t a Slasher, he was a manipulator. His evil ironically came from his tongue. Fat’s was more of a cult leader personality than a Jason or Michael wannabe.

Fats as a Doll/Dummy

It’s fascinating to me that this was how William Goldman originally saw the idea of a Killer Doll. The book was written a few years before Halloween braced the screens so maybe the idea of the doll being a Slasher wasn’t in his mind, but he saw the potential creepiness of Dolls and related them to a psychological fear, rather than a physical one.

Dolls by their nature are meant to offer comfort. They’re not just toys, they are protection for our children. Something to make them feel safe while Mum and Dad are out the room. They’re our children’s friends, and watchful eyes during the night. I personally don’t believe any of that, I think they’re fucking evil incarnate, but they’re meant to be pure.

And Fats plays this role. He was Corky’s comfort blanket from the world. His protector during adult situations and difficult conversations. He inspired Corky, and gave him confidence. He was a great doll in the way we believe a doll should be, but unlike an innocent child’s doll which they snuggle up to during the night, Fats had his own agenda.

It was absolutely fantastic writing to give the ventriloquist dummy all the attributes it needed for it to be a good doll, only for it to then use them for evil. There’s no denying Fats helped Corky a lot, but he was also the magicians downfall.

Ultimately, they were to dependent on one another, so much so that neither could ever be truly happy due to that dependency. They were each others life, quite literally.

What Makes Tiffany Unique?

Tiffany Isn’t Chucky

Bride of Chucky was Child’s Play 4. It was meant to be a Chucky’s movie, and the titular character didn’t take a back seat. But, I think it’s fair to say most people remember Bride of Chucky for Tiffany rather than the stitched together Good Guy Doll. You mention the title, you think of Tiffany, not Chucky. But, what made her so memorable and different four Child’s Play (and however many Puppet Master and Killer Doll) movies in?

The answer for me was, much like William Goldman’s Fats, Tiffany had her own personality. She wasn’t just some kill crazy doll, or puppet with catchphrases. Tiffany was a character. She had her own unique look, even within the world of Killer Dolls which did already offer some incredible designs. We could see what see was thinking, even with her plastic somewhat expressionless face.

Maybe it was because we got to know her before she became a possessed doll. Or, maybe it was because she was the first female doll I can recall who had any kind of character (Leech doesn’t really count) Either way, Tiffany was instantly unique. Fresh.

Killing wasn’t the first thing on her mind, even if she had a thirst for it. Tiffany wanted a life outside of murdering whoever was nearby. She’d fuck up whoever crossed her, but she wasn’t out to destroy everything and everyone in her path… just those she didn’t like.

She had glamour and style. She talked, which few killer dolls had (They sort of did in Stuart Gordon’s Doll’s but they were more crazed Killer Dolls who made nosies) Tiffany thought about things. Cared about things. Found beauty and love. Baked cookies. Everything about her felt different and leapt off the screen.

Tiffany’s Aesthetics

Before Tiffany Killer Dolls looked like Killer Dolls. All the puppets and porcelain dolls in Puppet Master and Dolls had a psychotic look to them. Drills on their heads. Knife’s in their hands. Or, in Mr Punch’s case in Dolls, an extremely creepy disposition. Even before Chucky got all fucked up and ugly he was still designed like the stereotypical problematic red headed step child (albeit a year or two before Problem Child)

Tiffany looked like a badass rock chick and definitely had a dangerous feel about her, however she could have easily sat on someone’s shelf and felt like a cool ornament. No one would have questioned her appearance the way they would have Leech or Pinhead (not that one)

Maybe it was because we saw her transformation when we never saw the others. We knew she wasn’t possessed by some ancient Egyptian curse, or a bona fide serial killer. Although she was possessed, we could see her as human as we’d spent time with Jennifer Tilly.

It could have even been because we saw her die in such a nasty way. Maybe there was a level of empathy with her we didn’t have with the other Killer Dolls. A connection which was normally skipped over. Whatever the reason, she didn’t feel as one note as the other dolls. Tiffany was unique. She wasn’t a Slasher, she was just a Killer Doll looking for happiness.

Why Did Killer Dolls Change From Slashers?

If Bride of Chucky was made ten years before it was I’m certain Tiffany would have just been a female Chucky. But, the horror landscaped had changed dramatically between Childs Play 3 and 4. In between those 7 years we had Scream and New Nightmare. Horror had entered a new cycle. It had become more self aware. Meta Horror.

With that self awareness came the fact that Killer Dolls just weren’t as scary as they once were. They couldn’t be mindless Slashers because new rules had emerged. Slashers couldn’t even be Slashers anymore. Ordinary (albeit fucking mental) Human’s were the new slashers now. Even the likes of Jason and Freddy were getting revamped and ‘modernised.’

With this Meta Horror came a more comedic aspect to Horror that previously hadn’t been there.

A development of this new approach was it gave room for Killer Dolls (and slashers in general) to develop personalities. Chucky could fugitively grow, and Tiffany could start as something more than just a bloodthirsty doll. The whole Martha Fucking Stuart scene wouldn’t have worked in previous Killer Doll Horrors. Nor would the dolls fucking. The change in horror gave licence to try something different within the subgenre, and Bride of Chucky and others ran with it.

Killer Doll movies will always have Slasher vibes, but I like that there’s alternatives before and after the late eighties early nineties Killer Doll boom. Films were the Dolls have personality and character outside of killing. I’m glad the likes of Fats and Tiffany are part of the subgenres history, they make it richer.