There is a scene, buried in the middle of Lucky McKee‘s romantic riff on dolls and Frankenstein, that achieves a graceful and majestic form of horror. Do not take this the wrong way, there are dozens of memorable scenes May, from the titular lead’s (Angela Bettis) creepy schizophrenic relationship to her doll Suzie, to her cute courting of Argento-loving hunk Adam (Jeremy Sisto) and his charming brand of amateur short-filmmaking, her gory veterinary anecdotes, and her passive-aggressive lesbian relationship with pet-hospital secretary Polly (Ana Farris). It is nice to see a horror film built almost entirely on relationships, rather than external supernatural or criminal elements. But there is a sequence in the film that is playfully exploitative, skin-crawling-ly physical and executed with flair.

May, acutely aware of loneliness and imperfection (her own lazy-eye being the subject of childhood trauma), takes to volunteering in a classroom for blind children. In an attempt to giving a bit of herself to get to know the kids, she brings her childhood ‘friend’ Suzie, a Gothic hand-made doll that gives good reaction-shot from any angle, to ‘show’ the kids. Perplexed that her friend is in a box, the children make a rather intense play for May to open up the glass case, something that has never been done since her mother crafted Suzie a couple decades past. Various ‘all-in-her-head’ exchanges with Suzie have elevated into a full on psychological battle with the doll, visually (and aurally) represented by the glass grinding and cracking from the electric tension of the two ‘women.’ The blind tots making a grab for the cracked case causes Suzie to fall to the floor, and the kids, in a surreal fashion (high on symbolism, low on the reality of being blind) gather that Suzie is ‘free.’ They make a grab for her – across the floor scattered broken glass. Not since John McTiernan’s Die Hard has walking (crawling) on glass been so wince-worthy. At one point, while May tries to wipe the accumulating blood from Suzie and herself from her face, a piece of glass in her on her hand scalpels further; more blood ensues. May’s scars and Suzie’s broken amputated body and a collection of frantic children scrambling are a beautifully scored hint as to what is to come for the big finale of the film. In context or out of context, the scene is a winner.