818 - DEVIL DOLL (1964; 1963; England; NR; 80m)

a.k.a. THE DEVIL DOLL (variation)

Ad: "What Is the Strange Terrifying Evil Secret of the Dummy... and Why Is It Locked in a Case Every Night?"

Ad: "Can a Beautiful Woman Be Enslaved Against Her Will?"

Plot: An American reporter becomes suspicious, after watching a British ventriloquist act.

Exec: Richard Gordon
(First Man into Space)
Prod: Kenneth Rive
(Curse of the Voodoo)
Prod: Lindsay Shonteff (The Fast Kill)
Dir: Lindsay Shonteff
(K18-Million Eyes of Su-Muru)
Asst Dir: Ernie Lewis
(Ring of Bright Water)
Scr: George Barclay a.k.a. Ronald Kinnoch
(Village of the Damned)
Scr: Lance Z. Hargreaves
(First Man Into Space)
Sto: Frederick E. Smith (633 Squadron)
Cin: Gerald Gibbs (X the Unknown)
Ed: Ernest Bullingham
Cos: Mary Gibson (The Nanny; The Psychopath)
M/U: Jack Craig (Konga; Hidden Homicide)
PMgr: Fred Slark (The Boys in Company C)
ADir: Stan Shields (The Fool and the Princess; sfx/Invasion)
Sound Rec: Derek McCalm

The Great Vorelli / Bryant Halliday (901-The Projected Man)
Mark English / William Sylvester
(814-Riding with Death; 909-Gorgo; 2001: A Space Odyssey)
Marianne / Yvonne Romain (Circus of Horrors)
Magda / Sandra Dorne (The Secret Door; The Invisible Creature)
Dr. Heller / Karel Stepanek (Anastasia; The Heroes of Telemark)
Dr. Keisling / Francis de Wolff (From Russia With Love)
Aunt Eva / Nora Nicholson (The Captain's Table)
Uncle Walter / Philip Ray (Frankenstein Created Woman)
Bob Garrett / Alan Gifford (K09-Phase IV; 2001: A Space Odyssey)
Garrett's girlfriend / Pamela Law
Grace / Heidi Erich (The Fast Lady; A Weekend with Lulu; V.I.P.)
soldier / Anthony Baird (Dead of Night; The Ipcress File)
Miss Penton / Trixie Dallas
The Countess / Margaret Durnell
twist dancer / Ray Landor
Louisa / Ella Tracey
Hans / Guy Deghy (The Yellow Rolls-Royce; Looking Glass War)
Hugo Novik / David Charlesworth (The Magnificent Two)
Mercedes / Lorenza Coalville (Port Afrique)
nurse / Jackie Ramsden

Classic Line: "You're a dummy, Hugo. A common puppet."

Trivia: The plot of DEVIL DOLL was inspired by the excellent 1945 British thriller, Dead of Night, starring Michael Redgrave as a nightmare-troubled houseguest. One of his depicted dreams involves a dummy and a man named Hugo, just like in this film.

Want to watch some other thrillers, in which a dummy plays a crutial role? Try 1929's The Great Gabbo, starring Erich von Stroheim, and 1978's Magic, starring Anthony Hopkins and Ann-Margret. A couple of TV shows involving creepy dummies are: a Twilight Zone episode entitled The Dummy, starring Cliff Robertson, and an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents entitled The Glass Eye.

Last Updated: 3/28/1999