Devil Doll (1964)

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

If You are into horror this movie is "definitely" worth a watch. There are of course some minor things to take into consideration like ... well, the acting, the dialog, budget, story, and almost everything technical. BUT, but really, that's not why you should watch this "gem" or "hidden gold treasure". You should check this movie out because there is something about the "feel" of this movie that is what "horror" movies are all about. The movie also does not shy away from the sex or what's allowed of it back then, and of course the "Devil Doll" is as creepy as evil dolls get. The filmmakers may not have got everything right, but they definitely nailed the coffin shut with a genuine feel of horror.

Janus Films (now part of The Criterion Collection) can be credited with helping to introduce American audiences to the films of Ingmar Bergman, François Truffaut, Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa and many other well-regarded directors. What has that to do with this? Is it a classic? No, the lead actor in this film, The Great Vorelli, Bryant Haliday was a co-founder of Janus Films in 1956.He stars in a really creepy film. There is an air of sophistication about it, and I am sure that Haliday had something to do with that. Vorelli uses his mesmerizing powers to get Marianne (Yvonne Romain) and it works like a date-rape drug. He is not after sex, but money, but, off-camera...Asthe intrepid reports (William Sylvester) rushes to dig up the dirt before Marianne is killed, we wait with bated breath.No nudity, no blood, just classic horror.

What an act the Great Vorelli has, in the 1964 British horror thriller "Devil Doll"! Not only can he hypnotize audience volunteers to perform any kind of outlandish stunt, but he can also make his ventriloquist's dummy, Hugo, talk and act most uncannily lifelike. But how to explain Hugo's ability to locomote all by himself? That's what reporter Mark English (excellently portrayed by American actor William Sylvester) tries to find out, in this very effective little sleeper. While I would never dream of revealing Hugo's back story, I will say that he is a much creepier presence than the modern-day Chucky, if perhaps not as homicidal; the filmmakers of "Devil Doll" get maximum bang out of Hugo's merest eye movements and head turnings. It really is remarkable how much emotion can be inferred in the little puppet's homely mug; his is hardly a wooden performance! In addition to this living doll's eerie presence, the film boasts stunning B&W photography, uniformly fine acting (especially by Bryant Haliday as Vorelli, who comes off far more sinister here than the evil hypnotist played by Jose Ferrer in 1949's "Whirlpool"), intriguing FX (negative images, freeze frames) and a literate script. Despite the central doll character, this is very much an adult film that is not suitable for the kiddies. The crisp-looking DVD from Image that I just watched also includes the so-called "Continental" version of the film, which contains a striptease sequence and several bits of nudity not present in the American release. As does producer Richard Gordon, I prefer the American version, simply because the "racier" print excises an entire scene between Vorelli and his assistant Magda that helps us better understand Vorelli's character. Either version, though, is a surprisingly winning entertainment.

First of all, Devil Doll has nothing do with the 1936 movie of the same title. This is a rather creepy movie about a ventriloquist's dummy named Hugo.A hypnotist, Vorelli has a strange dummy called Hugo and it seems that Hugo is actually "living". Vorelli has put the soul of one of his past assistants also named Hugo into the dummy. He is now trying to do it to a woman and he has a wooden female doll as a potential girl for Hugo. A reporter becomes suspicious of Vorelli's activities. Towards the end, after a woman is murdered, Hugo and Vorelli seemed to have swapped minds...This movie is quite creepy throughout, especially that dummy, Hugo. A rather spooky score too.The cast includes Bryant Haliday (Tower of Evil, The Projected Man), William Sylvester (Gorgo, 2001: A Space Oddyessy), Yvonne Romain (Captain Clegg), Sandra Dorne and Francis De Wolff.Devil Doll is at times quite a spooky movie. Excellent.Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5.