Project Dorothy was written by George Henry Horton and Ryan Scaringe and directed by George Henry Horton. It is about James and Blake, two thieves portrayed by Tim DeZarn and Adam Budron, who infiltrate an abandoned facility to escape the law. Unknown to them, the facility is home to a dangerous artificial intelligence named Dorothy, voiced by lauded scream queen Danielle Harris.

The quality of the performances varied. Some were great, others were decent, but occasionally a line fell flat. The characters were ok. The standout character was James, the leader of the pair. The other characters were well-presented but somewhat shallow. Dorothy’s motivations weren’t different from most rogue A.I.’s in fiction, but I enjoyed her big personality. Danielle Harris is an experienced voice actor, and that experience shined here. The relationship between James and his partner, Blake, was a boon to both characters. This movie was built on the back of this relationship, and it was well explored. The dialogue was ok. I’d say it had some kinks, but the dialogue got better as the plot progressed and the above relationship was expanded.

The pacing was fair. Project Dorothy is shorter than feature length, so it didn’t waste much time. The audio was excellent. The sounds and the soundtrack were impressive, but it was rather reliant on this. The bulk of this was two guys stumbling through a facility. If you took the spooky sounds away there wouldn’t be a lot of spookiness here. “Two guys stumbling through a facility,” may be considered a harsh description. To clarify, I must add they weren’t stumbling around aimlessly. Most of what took place was for the sake of the plot or the characters. If there is one thing that could have been removed, it was the time taken to explore James’ wound. I like gore as much as the next guy, but I don’t think lingering on his wound was a particularly impactful addition to this tale. Generally, Project Dorothy wasn’t suspenseful or thrilling to me, but it had a moment I thought worked very well. There was a unique sense of humor expressed through the dialogue. It didn’t mesh with mine, but it wasn’t too distracting either. The practical effects were ok. They were on the level of something like a Troma film or a theater production. The other effects faired better. Dorothy was well-realized. There were scenes in “DorothyVision” I enjoyed; it was a unique touch. None of the post-production effects looked bad.

It may stumble from time to time, but I thought Project Dorothy was an enjoyable experience. It was middling at the start, but once Dorothy started interacting with the other characters things got far better. It isn’t saying anything new about A.I., but refreshingly, it didn’t zero in on the A.I. The focus was on the bond between James and Blake, and it never lost focus. I suspect we are going to get tons of A.I.-related horror content in the future with a lot of exploration of A.I. from people who don’t understand it. Amid the A.I. fatigue of that future, I will think back on Project Dorothy and consider how smart it was for it to put its characters first.

7 out of 10