Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Sanjeev Waters A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

MartinHafer DEVIL DOLL is a British horror film from 1964 and should not be confused with the exceptional film, THE DEVIL DOLL which starred Lionel Barrymore in 1936. Both films are worth seeing but their plots have nothing whatsoever to do with each other.When I went to rate this film, I was shocked that it had a score of only 2.9--indicating it is a "stinker" of a film. However, having just watched the film I can assure you that despite a relatively low budget, it was exciting throughout and is one of the better horror films of the 1960s. Sure, the doll (a ventriloquist's dummy to be exact) did look a bit cheesy, but amazing special effects in horror films are only a recent invention--moviegoers could easily be expected to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the film like I did.The film is about an evil hypnotist/ventriloquist named 'The Great Vorelli' and menacingly played by Bryant Haliday. Not only does he have an amazing act where his dummy appears to be able to walk and talk on its own, but he's also a great stage hypnotist. However, people do not realize that his doll is actually possessed AND his hypnotic powers are far stronger--such that he's able to control people. When he meets a rich and sexy lady, he's able to get her to fall in love with him and agree to marry him. Her fiancé is naturally NOT pleased with this and suspects Vorelli's powers are far more diabolical in nature. He's right about this but no one suspects he actually plans on killing the beautiful woman after he marries her, so I assume Vorelli is either crazy or gay.The film excels at creating a creepy and menacing atmosphere throughout and fortunately, the film also manages to end very well--with this evil jerk getting a taste of his own medicine. All in all, a very good film and I still have no idea why it's scored so low.PS--Unfortunately, you cannot use hypnosis to do any of the evil things Vorelli does in the film. It's a pity, really, as I am trained in hypnosis and would love to use it for evil (or at least to make my boss come to work naked). If only it were possible....

monoceros4 It's not the MST3K influence. The Great Vorelli is the biggest problem with the film. Whether it's the character or the performance that's more to blame I don't know, but Vorelli is for whatever reason a dull, flat, one-note villain. He plays every scene at the same pitch, no matter what's going on. Seductive or scared out of his wits he sounds exactly the same. He's got no backstory; he's evil...just because, I guess, and even his greed for an heiress's money seems more a requirement of the plot than anything else. He's not charming and he's not visibly talented, and the movie gives us no earthly reason why anyone should applaud his act. Who wants to pay to see a monotonous ventriloquist heap abuse on a dummy? In any case, with such a dead lump of a villain at the heart of the movie, and a hero who does nothing at all, the best production values in the world couldn't save this movie.

VinnieRattolle I've never been particularly enamored by IMDb's ratings system (most of my favorite films rank a 5 or 6), but currently rated at 2.8, this one has me completely baffled. I have to wonder if the low ranking comes from people who've seen the "Mystery Science Theatre" version and decided the film was utter crap. Perhaps if you have idiots mocking the film, that could sway your perception of it (haven't seen that version and I don't intend to).Though it's not the first film to use the concept of a sinister living doll, it's one of the earliest and one of the best. The cinematography is absolutely exquisite, the story was fresh at the time, the acting is very good (despite the occasionally corny dialog), it's pretty well-paced and certainly involving. Perhaps most importantly, the titular doll is genuinely creepy. "Devil Doll" seems like it could have been an overlong episode of "The Twilight Zone" (which also had a few living doll stories) -- and by my logic, that's a huge compliment.I'm glad that I'm not swayed by popular opinion. And it just reinforces my theory that many of the people ranking films on this site are adolescents and buffoons.

HAWKEYE While watching this film you often have the feeling that this was supposed to be a longer, more fleshed out film. Vorelli re-gluing his beard back on is never really explained, among a few other open-ended events.The one thing that can be said is that this film is genuinely creepy at several points throughout. Watching it late at night in the dark when everyone else is asleep will lead to looks over one's shoulder! The fight scene at the end between Vorelli and Hugo is actually nightmare inducing! If you have the chance, do see it! Oh, how I long for the actually SCARY films of days gone by! Hey Hollywood take note... CGI doesn't scare anyone! A film like this one will definitely give you the heebies and the jeebies! If you want to see a creepy movie, get a hold of this one!