MartinHafer Years ago, French film critics/authors (such as Truffaut and Godard) came up with what's called the 'Auteur Theory'. This states that the director's voice or personality comes out through his work. And, they felt that great 'auteurs', such as Howard Hawks, Jean Renoir and Alfred Hitchcock were to admired, studied and celebrated. However, this auteur theory only emphasized GREAT filmmakers. I have my own auteur theory---the 'anti-auteur theory'--and it emphasizes the absolute worst directors--folks who also, incidentally, usually wrote, produced and edited their films. Why? Because the films were so low-budgeted and crappy, no one else would dare do these jobs and they're mostly, unintentionally funny!! Of course, there are the well-known auteurs in my theory--such as Ed Wood Jr.. But there are also many other filmmakers waiting to be discovered by the lovers of horrible films--with a ton of inept and totally stupid films that reflect the personal vision of the likes of Larry Buchanan, William Grefe, Al Adamson and Ted V. Mikels. All these guys managed to carve out a niche for themselves as the absolute worst in their field. And, unlike the rest, Mikels is STILL working and has managed a difficult achievement--the more films he makes, the worst the results!! In light of my love of the anti-auteur theory, it's not surprising that I'd watch "The Doll Squad". Unfortunately, while it's a god-awful film, it's not as bad as some of his more recent efforts like "Apartheid Slave-Women's Justice" and "Cauldron: Baptism of Blood"--though it's hard to imagine ANY films being as bad as these two! Like any Mikels film, "The Doll Squad" features terrible acting, terrible writing, terrible direction and a laughable plot. But, unlike most of his films, it actually has a couple real actors in the film. Somehow Michael Ansara and John Carter got hooked into this one--and I assume it MUST have been the result of some blackmail scheme! The film begins with the launch of a Saturn V rocket. While it's approaching the outer atmosphere, the Senator receives a call from an unknown voice telling him that he's about to demonstrate his power--and only seconds later the rocket explodes! What does the Senator do? Yup, he calls for the Doll Squad--a group of women with big hair and attitude! In many ways, it's like a grade-z version of "Charlie's Angels" but with even less impressive martial arts skills! And, surprisingly, the film is a bit slow and dull--even with such a wonderfully cheesy premise. Plus, its soundtrack will make you want to rip off your ears--it's so crappy and repetitive! However, because one or two scenes are actually somewhat watchable (such as the exploding guards), it manages to score a 2--an excellent achievement for a Mikels film.By the way, Mikels has directed, written and/or produced some other horrible worst films in history such as "The Astro Zombies", "Girl in Gold Boots" (currently in IMDb's Bottom 100 List), "Blood Orgy of the She-Devils", "The Corpse Grinders", "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things" and "The Worm Eaters". Many are available from Netflix and you have to see a couple just to understand how bad these films can be! Although, I must admit, the titles of the films are awfully clever and a clear indicator of the sorts of films you can expect!

utgard14 Grade Z clunker from garbageman Ted V. Mikels. It's about a band of female assassins led by Francine York who are supposed to save the world from a madman. Cheap boring movie that's nowhere near as fun as you want it to be. A movie like this should be sexy, exciting, and maybe a little campy. But this is a tired colorless affair directed with less flourish than an episode of Marcus Welby. Much has been said about this movie's influence on Charlie's Angels. Except Aaron Spelling got it right. Tura Satana is also in this. She was also in the much superior "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" See that instead. Oh and I hope Jim Steranko knows they ripped him off with that movie poster.

tomgillespie2002 The Doll Squad pre-dates the hugely successful television series Charlie's Angels (1976 - 1981), and it's intentions are similar. After a catastrophic space shuttle launch, the clandestine group of government agents, must form to conquer this criminal conspiracy. Sabrina Kincaid (Francine York) is called to gather the scattered doll squad, a group of female agents. Practically all American films and television in the 1970's that involved crime were embroiled in conspiracy, from Starsky and Hutch (1975 - 1979), Police Woman (1974 - 1978) to The Amazing Spider-Man (1977 - 1979), and this film seems to have paved the way. It's certainly true that the producer of Charlie's Angels (Aaron Spelling) did go to the premier of The Doll Squad.The films production is obviously incredibly low budget. Ted V. Mikels was previously known for the grindhouse cheapie's The Corpse Grinders (1971) and Blood Orgy of the She-Devils (1972), but this film's production values certainly rise above the limitations, and also look a lot better than the horror films. Where the film really fails is in the pace. It struggles through several clunky dialogue scenes, and often uses a piece of funky, disco-esque soundtrack (which is used far too much throughout the film) seemingly to attempt to give a dull scene a bit of pep - such as what appears to be either a fast walk down a long corridor, or a slow walk in a short one.However, when the action does heighten, and that same piece of music is used appropriately, the film does have its moments of fun. It's always good to see the heavily made-up, statuesque '70's women beating up the weak men, from the women in prison movies, to proto-punk Switchblade Sisters (1975) - and of course their raison-d'etre, seduction. The film also boasts an appearance by Tura Satana, who was electric in Russ Meyer's Faster Pussycat. Kill! Kill! (1965). Whilst the film has it's lagging moments, and tedious dialogue, it doesn't ever really become boring. All the limitations actually function well within the context of the ludicrous scenes, and gives the film humour. A lasting example would be, of course, the technical effects for explosions. Mikels's solution? Superimpose a flare of red over the exploded object, then cutting object out: ridiculous, cheap-as-chips, hilarious!

J. Mike Perkins One of schlock film master Ted Mikels' best bad films. Not as famous or fun as the Astro Zombies, but certainly worth checking out. Mikels is said to have sued TV Mogul Aron Spelling over Doll Squad, claiming Spelling created "Charlie's Angels" based on this film! That gives Spelling way too much credit. Don't know what ever came of the law suit, but I would like to listen to Mikels' legal arguments! Typical Grade Z government actor types program a big secret super computer to choose the ideal squad of secret agents to save the world, and it comes up with 4 fighting bimbos for the job. They use their sex appeal and unconvincing martial art skills to get the bad guy and titilate the audience. Everything in the movie has a very brown-orange shag carpet 1970's look. I'm sure Mikels was the first on his block to get a leisure suit.