Mathias, you cheater you
Ok, I have a few problems with this (potentially great) piece.
Perspective: to me it looked seen from a low angle, as the characters frontal view and lamp post (both versions) imply. Consequently I didn't see water at all in the bg, only fog. The pavement was partly inconsistent with that, but I saw the scene as taking place on some sort of hillock and all that would be needed in this case was some rounding of the pavement.
At such an angle we wouldn't (or barely) see anything behind the hillock.
The higher angle of view implied by the water is seriously inconsistent with the characters frontal view and lamp post; and more importantly, it's not as 'spooky' as the lower view.
Also it then looks that the dolls are standing just at the edge of the water, yet they're not dripping wet as if they had just emerged, we don't see a pavement-water transition, the presence of bushes and lamp at the edge of water is weird, etc.
Focus: I think the water, esp animated, takes too much attention from the characters anyway. You just want to give a few visual clues of where the scene is located. Also an elaborate scene animation which leaves the main potentially animated element(s) still (characters) looks unfinished to me.
Light: it's good, but could be more striking. Remember the inverse square law: the bushes on the left being 2 to 3 times more distant from the lamp than the large doll's head, they should look 4-9 times darker (whatever that means!). These bushes (also pavement and dress to a lesser extent) should be just hinted at with a few dark patches.
That might also help with the luminous eyes visibility.
If you keep going with the animation, you should have some low diffuse light in the dark phases, at least on the characters, to reduce the jarring blinking contrast.
Bushes: I'd go for some easier and more defined elements such as a few grass blades or other plants that could convey some atmosphere (twisted, lifeless, etc), rocks, derelict wall or fence, etc.
