Product Details

• Actors: Bryant Haliday, William Sylvester, Yvonne Romain, Sandra Dorne, Nora Nicholson
• Directors: Lindsay Shonteff
• Writers: Charles F. Vetter, Frederick E. Smith, Ronald Kinnoch
• Producers: Lindsay Shonteff, Gerald A. Fernback, Kenneth Rive, Richard Gordon
• Format: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, Special Edition, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: September 3, 2002
• Run Time: 81 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000639GG
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,831 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Devil Doll" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

DEVIL DOLL - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb DVD release of creepy Brit-horror classic, September 22, 2002

By 

Surfink "Surfink" (Racine, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Devil Doll (DVD)

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 Vorellis, whose popular act also involves his sarcastic talking, walking dummy Hugo. Determined to discover the secret of the dummys animation, Mark indirectly arranges to have Vorelli perform at Mariannes aunts charity ball, to which Vorelli readily agrees since hes become obsessed with Marianne. While staying over at the aunts after the ball, Vorelli puts Marianne in a strange, lingering trance and Hugo himself gives Mark a clue to as to his secret. Further plot threads, which shouldnt be disclosed, are interwoven, leading ultimately to an open-ended yet satisfying twist ending. Haliday, in his finest hour, is terrific as Vorelli, intense and creepy, in a makeup reminiscent of Barrymores Svengali, if a bit better groomed. Lindsay Shonteffs direction (closely supervised by Sidney J. Furie) is also better than usual here (try watching Shonteffs 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 its made up entirely of library 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 thats 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 hot 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 youve never seen the film before. The other two scenes with added nudity (bared breasts) were reshot for the continental version, hence dont 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 Criterions 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. Ive 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.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensational, Edgy chiller...........a forgotten classic, June 20, 2002

By 

O. Khan "bubonicus Rex" (Cambridge, England United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Devil Doll (DVD)

masterly performances especially by Halliday as Vorelli the ventriloquist. This is undoubtedly the finest of the psychotic Ventriloquist movies along with Dead of Night. There is a quality to the film that makes it compelling viewing.........the scenes where Vorelli is performing on stage are chilling to the bone. Its an fantastic little film - not one to be missed by horror fans. The person below isnt the only person to have ordered two copies of this great film........I too have had to place two orders in my total devotion to this film. The release has been delayed till august........one waits patiently! Bravo to image for putting an obscure classic like this out on DVD.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STRANGE LITTLE CHILLER, September 7, 2002

By 

Mark Norvell (HOUSTON) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Devil Doll (DVD)

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.