Customer Reviews

Devil Doll

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

The '64 black and white horror film 'Devil Doll' is a decidedly unnerving feature that has the feel of an extended episode of the old television series 'The Twilight Zone.' The camera work is expertly done adding to an surreal feel to the film already established by the hypnotic voice of magician, sorcerer Bryant Haliday (the Great Vorelli) and his scary little possessed dummy Hugo. The storyline is also well conceived, highly original for the time and will hold your attention from beginning to end.

One final accolade for this obsure all but forgotten film is the presence of the irresistible and exotic looking Yvonne Romain. She is definitely one of the most beautiful actresses of the sixties, why some intelligent producer or director didn't take her under his wing and make her an international star is a mystery to me.

My Rating: -4 1/2 Stars-.

hey guys this is a awsome little black and white thriller about a wooden dummy named hugo. i don't want to give the plot away but i'll tell you that i bought three copies of this one on dvd. this is the movie i waited for 25 years. i bought three of them just to have spare copies. the movie is exactly 80 minutes long. FANTASTIC FANTASTIC FANTASTIC.

One of the greatest Horror Movies ever but this film is largely unknown. This Film is better than any Horror film of it's type ever. Great, moody, spookfest loaded with suspense and oh yes a plot. Something missing in many of todays horror films. If you buy one Horror movie this year buy this one. I'll never know why this movie is so underapreciated.

I remember seeing this film as a kid on TV late at night. I was totally bored with the movie until the dressing room scene between Magda and Vorelli. What a well done romantic scene, loved Magda (Sandra Dorne) as a young kid and never tire of seeing her in her costume removing her shoes preparing for some "rest" with Vorelli.

I first saw this on Mystery Science Theater. Of course, now I can't watch it without hearing Mike Nelson and the robots riff on everything, but it's actually a suspensful British horror film.

Basically, ventriloquist/hypnotist "The Great Vorelli" thwarts Devil Doll Hugo's life long ambition to eat ham and drink wine.

Ventriloquist/hypnotist Vorelli (Bryant Haliday) has became a popular entertainer thanks to his acts of hypnotism and ventriloquism with his co-star Hugo. The dummy is too lifelike that it even can walk across the stage all by himself as it has amazed audiences, but an American reporter Mark English (William Slyvester) begins to notice that his rich British girlfriend Marianne (Yvonne Romain) has been acting strange and that the dummy begins to murder people.

An excellent 1964 British horror sleeper that has became a cult favorite over the years and a popular movie shown on the excellent series Mystery Science Theater 3000, but i don't believe it deserved to be on that show as it's not bad really. It's quite a creepy for it's time kind movie that is fun and enjoyable, Hugo is quite a creepy dummy himself and the film influenced the killer doll genre that even Child's Play was a direct homage to this movie including it's ideas.

This DVD has a nice transfer even on the sound to an old film as it contains both UK/US version and the "sexy" continental version with extras like commentary, poster and still gallery and trailer.

Also recommended: "Child's Play" and it's sequels, "Puppet Master series", "Magic", "Dolls (1987)", "Tourist Trap", "Making Contact (aka Joey)", "Dead Silence", "Trilogy of Terror", "Dolly Dearest", "Demonic Toys", "Dead of Night (1945)" and "The Pit".

Many of the things in Devil Doll seem trite and written to formula by todays standards, but view it while considering when it was done. The reason it may sometimes seem unoriginal is because so many of the themes in it have been repeated in other movies and TV shows after it was made. At the time it was first released they would have been new and in many cases shocking. If you insist on modern special effects and graphic volence, this isn't the film you want to see. If you like a solid, if no longer surprising plot and decent acting, it's well worth the price.