Cheap Devil Doll (Video) (Sidney J. Furie, Lindsay Shonteff) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Devil Doll

Good low budget chiller with a few unintentional laughs
Unrelated to the 1936 Tod Browning movie of the same name; DEVIL DOLL has a similar story to the (later) famed segment of DEAD OF NIGHT and also to William Goldman's later novel MAGIC, which was filmed in 1978 with Anthony Hopkins.
Scripted by George Barclay and Lance Z. Hargreaves, and based on a story by Frederick Escreet Smith; DEVIL DOLL is a compact but enjoyable little chiller.
The Great Vorelli (Bryant Halliday) is a charismatic hypnotist/ ventriloquist who arrives in London to do his famed show, in which his dummy Hugo can walk and talk by himself- but there's one hitch: This is no trick.But the audience don't realize that. Of course no magic show would be the same without audience participation; and co-incidentally one of the chosen patrons is Marian Hore (Yvonne Romain), the attractive daughter of one of England's richest men. Vorelli uses this opportunity to offer to do a charity performance for her.
But during the act Hugo gets carried away and he reveals his homicidal tendencies. Would it have anything to do with his "Master" locking him in a cage and goading him into committing murder? There's an amusing bit at this performance where Vorelli makes Hugo drink wine, saying to him: "Don't drink too much, Hugo. It might make the sawdust in your stomach swell".
DEVIL DOLL is more funny today than frightening, but Halliday is perfect as Vorelli; helping make a silly idea into a fairly good chiller, albeit one with a wholly predictable resolution.

---

Superb DVD release of creepy Brit-horror classic
Reporter Mark English (William Sylvester; Gorgo, 2001: A Space Odyssey) is assigned to write a story on dark, sadistic hypnotist/ventriloquist The Great Vorelli (Bryant Haliday). English convinces his girlfriend Marianne (Yvonne Romain; Curse of the Werewolf, Circus of Horrors) to volunteer to be an on-stage hypnotic subject of Vorelliýs, whose popular act also involves his sarcastic talking, walking dummy Hugo. Determined to discover the secret of the dummyýs animation, Mark indirectly arranges to have Vorelli perform at Marianneýs auntýs charity ball, to which Vorelli readily agrees since heýs become obsessed with Marianne. While staying over at the auntýs after the ball, Vorelli puts Marianne in a strange, lingering trance and Hugo himself gives Mark a clue to as to his ýsecret.ý Further plot threads, which shouldnýt be disclosed, are interwoven, leading ultimately to an open-ended yet satisfying ýtwistý ending. Haliday, in his finest hour, is terrific as Vorelli, intense and creepy, in a makeup reminiscent of Barrymoreýs Svengali, if a bit better groomed. Lindsay Shonteffýs direction (closely ýsupervisedý by Sidney J. Furie) is also better than usual here (try watching Shonteffýs Curse of the Voodoo sometime), utilizing lots of expressionistic low camera angles and a few avant-garde-ish negative image inserts. The (part electronic?) soundtrack is also surprisingly effective, especially since itýs made up entirely of ýlibraryý cues, some of them scored by the likes of Malcolm Lockyer (Dr. Who and the Daleks, Island of Terror). The story moves along briskly, there is some brief, mild gore and nudity, and the acting is generally of high caliber (Yvonne Romain displays some surprising chops, and the little person inside Hugo very convincingly assays the shambling gait of a living doll). The overall effect is that of an excellent extended Anglicized episode of Twilight Zone or Thriller (and thatýs meant as a compliment) with echoes of both Dead of Night and Svengali for good measure. Both the original English/American version of the film and the ýhotý continental version are included on the DVD. Purists will probably prefer the English cut, especially as the continental version completely replaces a key dialogue scene between Vorelli and his assistant Magda (Sandra Dorne) with a relatively unerotic and superfluous striptease number. This cut completely removes the motivation for the following scene and creates needless confusion, particularly for the first-time viewer. Definitely watch the English version first if youýve never seen the film before. The other two scenes with added nudity (bared breasts) were reshot for the continental version, hence donýt affect the story line or running time.
Source prints for both versions are virtually pristine. Physical damage is limited to some very light speckling; black level, brightness, contrast, sharpness, and shadow/highlight detail are uniformly excellent. The digitally remastered transfers are matted at 1.66:1 and anamorphically enhanced. A lightly speckled but fairly sharp trailer with very good to excellent tonal values is included, as well as a nicely done gallery of approximately 95 stills, ad mats, and posters. The liner notes by Tom Weaver consist primarily of an interview with Frederick E. West, who wrote the original short story upon which the film was based. The audio commentary by producer Richard Gordon, with Weaver, (who also paired for Criterionýs terrific Fiend without a Face DVD) is, as usual, exhaustively informative, although they do not directly comment on the on-screen action a great deal. Iýve always believed Devil Doll to be one of the underrated gems of non-Hammer British horror (along with Circus of Horrors) and this DVD is the ultimate tribute. Highly recommended.

---

STRANGE LITTLE CHILLER
I saw this on tv as a teenager and remembered it as just being a weird movie and I felt sorry for the little dummy but couldn't remember why. Having now purchased "DEVIL DOLL" and sat down and watched it again I now remember. Image has done another fine job of lovingly presenting a rare film to be re-appreciated by a target audience. It features beautiful, crisp black & white photography and clear soundtrack. Seeing it now must be what it was like seeing it on it's release in 1964. It also features the stunning Yvonne Romain ("Circus of Horrors" and Hammer's "Curse of the Werewolf") as the girl-in-peril and you can't take your eyes off her. Another added feature is the "hot continental version" that I'll get around to watching one day. In the meantime, I'm completely satisfied with it as it is. The performances are good--especially Britisher Bryant Haliday as the evil Vorelli. He makes the predicament of Hugo the dummy truly sinister and you want Hugo to break free...but how? I have to admit, as jaded a horror film fan as I am, I did not see the shock ending coming. I recommend this little gem to anyone fond of obscure black & white shockers as a satisfying staple of their DVD collection. I certainly have. Enjoy.