The Devil's Hand

Plot synopsis:
THE DEVILS HAND Donna Trent (Ariadna Welter) is feeding ducks in the local park. Rick Turner (Robert Alda) approaches and remarks about her friends (the ducks). She says she has been waiting and that she shouldnt marry someone who is always late. He reassures her that she has been waiting years for the right man and can wait another twenty minutes. Turning away, he appears concerned. She asks whats wrong, to which he answers nothing. I didnt get any sleep last night. She suggests he see a doctor or get sleeping pills. He says it wouldnt help. He also informs her that he has quit his job. She is surprised and reminds him that he wanted the job so he could develop his own interests and provide security for their pending marriage. He asks for her patience.That night Rick is troubled in his sleep. He awakens in the dark to see the vision of a woman dancing in the clouds. The image fades and he dresses and goes out for a walk. We hear his thoughts as he confesses the same woman appears every night in his dreams, becoming more real each time and leading him to a certain location. He is drawn like a magnet to a courtyard of shops where he spies a doll in the window looking exactly like the woman.Rick shows the doll to Donna the next day, explaining it looks like the woman in his dreams. She remarks that its likely a coincidence and that they can ask who posed for it. At this moment a man inside, Francis Lamont (Neil Hamilton), takes up the doll. They enter the shop where the man calls him Mr. Turner and says he has the doll ready for him. Rick looks bewildered and Donna looks at him puzzledly. He is surprised and remarks that the man knows his name. Lamont assures him that he knows his customers well and shows them the photo Rick brought in to make the doll. Rick says there must be some mistake. Lamont goes to the back to check the order. He assures Donna that he didnt order any doll and she says its probably a misunderstanding. He protests that he doesnt sleepwalk and is not living a double life.Suddenly Donna notices another doll on a shelf that looks like her. She picks it up and thanks Rick for having it made. He confesses that he didnt have anything to do with it. Lamont returns and says the order is complete, signed by Mr. Turner. Rick asks about the doll resembling Donna and is told it was ordered by the woman in the photo. Lamont takes the Donna doll and says he knows the lady who ordered it. Rick says there must be some mistake; he didnt order the doll and has never been in the shop. Lamont tells him the doll is paid for and that he will send it to the lady, Bianca Milan (Linda Christian). Rick asks to buy the Donna doll but is told that it is not for sale. Lamont suggests a photo be brought in so that a doll may be made in Donnas image. Donna insists that the doll is her image. Lamont looks at her and says irately   No, it is NOT!   Donna is incensed and leaves.Lamont takes the Donna doll back and downstairs to a chamber where a man beats drums. Putting on a mantle, he takes a voodoo pin and stabs the doll. At this moment Donna feels a pain in her stomach and is helped to the car by Rick. He takes her to Belmont Hospital. Lamont comes back to the shop with the pierced doll and pins it to the wall on the shelf.At the hospital, the doctor (Roy Wright) comes out and tells Rick that Donna has a problem with a muscle spasm near the heart. Rick remarks that it came on suddenly. The doctor admits that the whole thing is somewhat suspicious and suggests that she is resting now, sedated, and that Rick can see her tomorrow.That night, Rick is awakened by the image of Bianca calling his name. She speaks to him and he rubs his eyes bewilderedly. Asking what she wants, he is told that she wants him. She tells him to come to her and vanishes.The next day the nurse (actress not identified) tells Donna that Rick can only stay three minutes or she will get too excited. Donna says she always gets excited when she sees Rick. The nurse agrees and admits Rick to the room. Donna tells him she feels like a steamroller ran over her. He confesses another dream with the woman talking to him. He tells Donna that he must see the woman and find out the truth. She believes him and warns him to be careful.Going back to the doll shop, Rick asks to see the name on the back of the photo of Donna. Lamont explains that the doll and picture were picked up by the owner that morning. Rick asks for the other doll and is presented with it, completely wrapped with the address on it. Reassuring him the doll is completely paid for, Lamont gives it to Rick. After Rick leaves, Lamont looks over to the shelf where the Donna doll is still pinned to the wall.Rick knocks on an apartment door and it is opened by Bianca, who calls him by name and invites him in. He gives her the doll and she opens it up, remarking how much it looks like her. She offers him a drink. He says he wants answers. She tells him there is plenty of time and he pours a drink. They sip their drinks and she mentions eating. She rings a bell and explains that her servant will prepare it. She explains that her servant lost his tongue as a sacrifice in a group that worships an ancient deity. As they take seats at the table, he asks how she knew he was coming. She tells him that she invited him, and he came. It was a matter of thought projection, she tells him. He is surprised that she was able to project her thoughts and images from her apartment to his.After dinner they take coffee on the sofa and he asks her why she chose him and such a strange manner of contact. She states simply that she wanted him and has been working to wear down his resistance. He tells her that he is going to be married. She says that she always gets what she wants and moves to kiss him. Rising, he asks more about the thought projection. She rings for the servant and asks for drinks for them. As the drinks are brought, she opens a cabinet and produces a doll of Rick. He recognizes his image and she places it on an altar. They drink their drinks and she tells him to sit and relax. She lights a candle and kneels before the doll and focuses her attention on it. Rick closes his eyes and she tells him to look and describe what he sees. He tells her of a vision of her in clouds surrounded by storms. She tells him to turn and look at her. He says he knows what she is: a sheena; a witch. She tells him she belongs to a cult that worships Gamba and that she can control her destiny. He confesses that he is strongly drawn to her and that she is definitely a witch. They embrace and she tells him he must swear an oath to Gamba that night. Taking the doll of him, they leave to go to a ceremony at midnight.The servant drives them to the doll shop where Bianca hands the dolls to Lamont, telling him that Mr. Turner wants to join them. He says he will perform the ceremony after the sacrifice. They go back to the ceremonial room, where a number of people are seated on pillows. The voodoo drums play ominously. A woman rises and begins dancing to the drumbeat. Bianca explains that it is the full moon and a human sacrifice must be made. She points out a wheel above with apparent blades hanging down. One of the blades is real and the others not. The wheel is spun and lowered on the sacrifice. If the blade pierces the heart, Gamba has chosen. If not, the sacrifice is spared. She tells him all must pass a loyalty test this way and that she has been proven loyal.The dancing ends and Lamont comes out in ceremonial robes carrying the two dolls. He places them on a high shelf alongside dolls representing others in the room. One fat man, Lindell (actor not identified), is seen nervously operating a hidden camera inside his coat. Lamont announces that Gamba the great devil god calls for a sacrifice. They bring in a girl who appears to be in a trance and lay her on the altar. Lamont gets a striped pole and begins spinning the wheel containing the knives. The wheel stops spinning and Lamont operates a lever which lowers it close to the girl. Suddenly it drops into position. The girl has been spared; Gamba has protected her. Those present praise Gamba.The girl is released and leaves. Bianca tells Rick that it is their turn. Lamont tells them to kneel and asks Bianca if Rick has been informed of their beliefs. She assures him that he has. Rick is asked if he pledges himself to serve Gamba, if he will obey Gamba no matter what and if he will keep the cult in secret from others. All of which he answers that he will. Bianca is charged with being his sponsor; she agrees. He is pronounced a member by Lamont and they leave. Lindell nervously marks something inside his coat.Back at the apartment, Rick relaxes on the sofa. Bianca comes in and tells him that although he does not fully believe, she will bring him in and that he cannot ever escape from her. He confesses that he wants it that way.Next they are seen at the horse races, where they win eight races in a row. Rick visits a broker, who has been successfully investing according to tips from Rick. Rick credits Bianca as his advisor.Returning at night to his own apartment building, he finds a note on his mailbox from Donna, telling him how much she misses him and wants him to visit her. Smiling, he wads up the note.Lamont is seen having a drink with Bianca. He tells her that Rick has successfully completed all tests so far and that her relationship with him has lasted longer than previous relationships. She professes her allegiance to Lamont and he urges her to keep the affair brief. Next, Rick will have the loyalty test.As he goes out to his car that night, he is approached by a blonde member of the cult (Jeanne Carmen as Jeannie Carman) who appears to be drunk but wants to talk in private. They go up to his apartment where she wants a drink but he offers her coffee. She confesses she wishes she were free from the cult and wants her life back. Rick tells her she is drunk and doesnt know what she is saying. Finally he urges her to leave.At Biancas apartment, Rick fixes drinks for them and confesses that a female cultist may be unfaithful. Bianca tells him that he must report her or they both will be punished.Waiting at the doll shop, Lamont comes out with the blonde cultist and informs Rick that he has passed the loyalty test. He asks Bianca to come to the back with him, leaving Rick alone in the shop. He begins looking at the dolls and finds the Donna doll with the voodoo pin through it. Before he can do anything, Lamont and Bianca return. He steps back where he was and they suspect nothing.That night in his bed, he thinks about Donna and looks at her picture. The next morning he visits her in her hospital room. He tells her that at midnight she will be free of her illness and to trust him. Donna tells him that the nurse is no longer on her case but a new nurse is now. As Rick leaves, the new nurse watches him carefully.At Biancas place she and Lamont discuss whether Rick can be trusted any further. The new nurse Mary (Gere Craft) reported that Rick came to visit Donna. Bianca recommends that Donna be eliminated.Rick goes to the shop to remove the pin, but hesitates. Meanwhile, Lamont suggests that they wait a few days and see what happens. Bianca agrees and Lamont leaves, saying he has to return to the shop for something.Back at the shop, Rick removes the pin from the doll at midnight and tries to stick it back into the wall underneath the dolls arm. The doll sags down, so Rick uses some tape to hold it up. As he is leaving, he sees and hears Lamont coming. He goes to the ceremonial room to hide. Lamont enters the shop and hears noises coming from the ceremonial chamber. Rick operates the foot levers that raise the spinning wheel. Pulling the curtains down, he finds a doorway and enters in. Lamont comes into the ceremony room and looks around. On the floor he finds a note written to the newspaper editor, promising photos and names of the cult.At the hospital Donna receives a call from Rick. She tells him the pain is gone and she feels fine, other than being a little weak. Mary enters with a tray of coffee and sets it down. Donna asks Rick if she will see him again. Her reaction shows the answer is no. She hangs up and the nurse asks how she feels. Donna lies down and the nurse goes out to call Bianca.When Rick sees Bianca at her apartment, they have a drink and talk. She informs him that his association with Donna could be misconstrued. He assures her that it is over between him and Donna. Bianca questions that and Rick moves in to kiss her. He confesses that his love and desire for her is like an addiction that he never wants to lose.That night at the ceremony, Lamont announces that there is a traitor among them and that Gamba will have retribution at midnight. They are told to return at 12:30. Lindell looks nervous.Driving in his car afterward, Lindell looks cautiously behind him. Rick looks at the clock at Biancas and notices it is five minutes before midnight. At the ceremonial chamber Lamont selects the doll of Lindell and sticks it with a pin in the head. He places it in an incense burner. At the same time, Lindell cries out in pain and his car goes over a cliff, crashing and burning.As the cult members return to their places, Lindells sponsor (Bruno VeSota as Bruno Ve-Sota) looks nervously at the spot where Lindell sat earlier. Lamont announces that Gamba has taken revenge and the traitor Lindell eliminated. He was planning an exposé of the cult.As cult members leave, Lamont detains Lindells sponsor and speaks to him from the podium. The sponsor insists that he knew nothing of Lindells plan and that he also had been lied to by Lindell. Lamont shows him the paper that was found. The sponsor nervously looks it over and apologizes again. Lamont asks him to retrieve his doll from the shelf. The terrified sponsor backs away and falls over pillows.Lamont answers the phone in the doll shop. It is Mary, who is calling for Bianca. She informs Bianca that Donna has been released and that Rick has just come to pick her up.Bianca picks up the Donna doll and sees that the pin was removed. She shows it to Lamont, who asks what she wants to do. Bianca tells him she has her own plans for the doll.Rick and Donna get into Biancas car and he tells her that she must leave town and go far away for her own safety and his sake. He is unable to explain why. She reluctantly agrees and they drive off.Bianca has the doll at her apartment and sets it up. She begins calling Donnas name as Donna is packing to leave. Hearing the voice, Donna sits and responds.At the ceremony, a man and woman do a ritual dance. Rick approaches Bianca, asking where she has been for several hours. She tells him she has been busy. They take their places as Lamont calls for a sacrifice to be made. They bring in the subject. Rick notices that it is Donna. He comes forward and claims he has done nothing disloyal. He denies removing the pin from her doll. Lamont says Gamba will decide if he is guilty or not and that he must spin the wheel. Very reluctantly he spins the wheel. Lamont operates the pedal to lower it.Rick blames Bianca and denounces the cult as murderers. He grabs Donna from the altar and puts her to one side of the room. A struggle breaks out between Rick and Lamont. The censer falls, igniting the curtains. Rick forces Lamont onto the altar, where the wheel falls, killing him. The fire spreads as cultists try to escape. Bianca picks up the Donna doll and leaves.Rick and Donna get into the car and she asks how she got there. He tells her that what matters now is that they are both safe and free. They drive away as the building burns.Bianca is seen in a vision as if responding to what Rick has said. She says   thats what he thinks.

Tags: cult

Review:
A sporty dressed Robert Alda goes through the film as if on tranquilizers adding to the black&white "dreamlike' quality of the movie.The actors should be credited for doing their best to sell this very kooky story with equally kooky dialog.
I think that in the same trip I purchased The Wasp Women, and Catwomen of the Moon in 3D.The first couple of times I watched this movie, I didn't feel it was that spectacular, but I did particularly like the opening sequence theme music, a definite nod to Dave Allen and the Arrows.
The movie is aided immeasurably by the performance of Neil Hamilton as the leader of a cult of devil worshipers.
The mega-blockbuster-only culture in film making persists to the present day.For audiences too young to remember the pre-1977 world, movies like "The Devil's Hand" are little more than a source of ridicule.
"The Devil's Hand" is one of them.The story is set among a modern-day, urban cult of devil worshipers and their interesting powers (making quick money, obtaining the lover of their choice, etc.).
This rock 'n' roll number was recorded specifically for the film at the dawn of the twist craze and it charted at #37 on San Fransisco's hot 100 in August of 1961.I remember how "The Devil's Hand" turned up regularly on Detroit's "Scream Theater" Friday nights at 11:30pm during the late '70s and early '80s.
Too bad it eventually didn't turn out to be a very good movie Rick Turner is an ordinary man, with loads of appeal to the ladies, whose dreams are disturbed by the reoccurring image of a beautiful blond girl.
Despite the silly and utterly implausible storyline, "The Devil's Hand" is occasionally atmospheric and several sequences are quite suspenseful, notably the ones set in the cult's headquarters where the members' loyalty to Gamba (the evil God) is tested.
He ventures in and is soon entwined in an underground voodoo cult.The Devil's Hand in another low budget offering from Crown International Pictures, who were one of the main B-movie producers of their time.
The Devil's Hand: Rick is your average guy with a nice, average fiancé except for one thing: he's having wildly lucid dreams about a sexy blonde.
It's very short, at just an hour and 10 minutes, and is definitely worth a watch for anyone looking into campy horror stories from the 50s (even though this was made in the 60s it doesn't have the free-love feel and was shot in black and white).
Rick Turner (Robert Alda) is engaged of Donna Trent (Ariadna Welter) and is having nightmares with a beautiful blonde woman dancing in the sky.
He finds a doll that resembles his fiancé, but the owner Francis Lamont (Neil Hamilton) delivers another doll to him, with the face of the woman of his dreams, Bianca Milan (Linda Christian).
Rick looks for Bianca and is seduced and convinced by her to join a sect that worships the diabolic Camba.I believe that "The Devil's Hand" does not deserve a review, and the word awful would be enough to define this movie.
He goes there the next day with his fiancé, and the man at the shop (Commissioner Gordon from Batman!) insists Alda dropped off a photo of the woman for his "portrait doll." They also see a doll that resembles his fiancé, and she thinks her fiancé was responsible.
I rather liked this weird start to the movie.Much of the movie revolves around a cult that worships the devil god Gamba or Gomba (it's pronounced both ways).
It's also been infiltrated by someone taking photos.In an interview with star Linda Christian in the book Screen Sirens Scream, she said she liked the original script better, which involved "clairvoyance and astrologers and numerologists." She had some bad things to say about the producers, which evidently was the reason behind her sister (also in this film) never doing another American film.Director William J.
Rick is having visions of a beautiful blond woman seducing him at night (I know, what's the problem?) when he tells his far too understanding fiancé Donna about it to which she merely shrugs it off.
Turns out this was all planed in advance as the dolls are used for voodoo rituals with Francis the leader of a cult that worships an evil god named Gamba.
Linda Christian is quite the head turner as Bianca and Rick is Alan Alda's dad Robert.
Rick Turner (Robert Alda), an ordinary man, becomes bewitched by Bianca Milan (Linda Christian), the beautiful high priestess of a voodoo cult; but when the cult kidnaps his fiancé, Donna Trent (Ariadna Welter), and prepares to offer her as human sacrifice, he engages in a battle with the all-powerful supernatural forces in a horrifying life-or-death struggle.Ariadna Welter (best known for starring in Luis Buñuel's 1955 film "The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz") delivers her lines in a terrible monotone and with some unidentifiable accent (though she was a Mexican national, so that should narrow the oddness down).
Interestingly, she was Linda Christian's real life sister.This would make a good episode of "Twilight Zone" or "Outer Limits", sort of weak as its own film, though short enough that the movie held my attention surprisingly well.
That is the film's downfall, though: it is a good film, but not enough meat to warrant ninety minutes, thus turning what could be memorable into something forgettable.Milan is a witch for Gamba, "the devil god of evil" (which, as others have pointed out, is sort of redundant).
It is interesting to see how easily good-natured people devote themselves to Gamba, who openly claims to be evil.I enjoyed this film, and of the "gorehouse greats" that I have watched so far from Mill Creek, this is one of the better ones.
one day he sees a doll that looks like her in a shop window, and from there is able to search the actual woman out.
It turns out she's a witch and she gets him to randomly join a Satanic cult, despite the fact that he has a fiancé to take care of and he has no real reason to be intrigued by her except that she's young and blond.Basically sounds like typical B-fare to me, though I warn you the tone is much like what I use above...
When he returns the next day with his girlfriend not only does the shop keeper (Neil "Commissioner Gordon" Hamilton) tell him he commissioned the doll, but he shows the couple one that looks like the girlfriend.
It soon transpires that the dolls are voodoo dolls and Alda is in the clutches of a voodoo cult run by Hamilton.Its weird seeing Commissioner Gordon from TV's Batman as an evil villain but here it is.
Actually the film reminded me of the erotic thrillers that populate some of the late night cable stations since its clear that the Alda and the blonde are sleeping together and she is always two steps from being undressed, it probably would have been better if there had been some sex.Worth seeing if you run across it but not something to search out..
An early effort from Crown International Pictures, The Devil's Hand stars Robert Alda (Alan's dad) as Rick Turner, who is visited nightly in his dreams by a beautiful blonde woman.
After finding a doll in a shop window that is the exact likeness of the mysterious woman, Rick is able to track down his nocturnal visitor, Miss Bianca Milan (Linda Christian), but, hypnotised by her beauty, finds himself lured away from his longtime girlfriend Donna (Ariadne Welter) and into a devil worshipping cult run by sinister doll-maker Francis Lamont (played by Neil Hamilton, TV Batman's Commissioner Gordon).A cheap and cheerful piece of '60s Satanic horror, The Devil's Hand is undemanding drive-in fodder that benefits from a brisk pace (and a not-too-long running time), reasonable performances, and a fun plot that includes voodoo, bongo drums, a traitor in the cult's midst, ritualistic gyrating, Russian roulette with swords, and a fiery demise for the baddies at the end.
All this and a cool twangy surf guitar number during the opening credits make for a reasonably fun, if not all that memorable, time.Favourite moment: when Rick sneaks into the doll shop, a front for the cult, and proceeds to make a total racket whilst bumbling around their place of worship.
The Plot.Rick Turner is engaged of Donna Trent and is having nightmares with a beautiful blonde woman dancing in the sky.
He finds a doll that resembles his fiancé, but the owner Francis Lamont delivers another doll to him, with the face of the woman of his dreams, Bianca Milan.
Rick looks for Bianca and is seduced and convinced by her to join a sect that worships the diabolic Camba, while the health of Donna is threatened by Francis and Bianca.Odd small film with Alan Alda's father.
Rick Turner (Robert Alda) is engaged to Donna Trent (Ariadna Welter), but every night he has strange dreams of a beautiful woman in the skies.
The owner of a doll shop, Francis Lamont (Neil Hamilton), introduces him - via a doll that looks exactly like the woman from his visions - to Bianca Milan (Linda Christian).
When Rick meets Bianca, he realizes that she is "evil but beautiful", in fact, she is a witch who invites him to a cult worshiping the devil god Gamba.
Rick starts fighting the bad influence that Bianca and Lamont have over him...This movie looked already old-fashioned in the 1980s when people watched movies like Alan Parker's 'Angel Heart', much more gory and terrifying.
Devil's Hand, The (1962)* (out of 4) Rick Turner (Robert Alda) is your average man who starts having dreams about a beautiful blonde who is trying to communicate with him.
These dreams keep occurring but Rick has no ideas what they are about until he enters a doll shop where he sees a doll that looks strikingly like the woman in his dreams.
The finely sculpted voodoo dolls are very creepy and the incidental music adds to the film's eeriness.The actors are all good, although I always felt Robert Alda wasn't attractive enough for the role of "Rick." When I was in high school and this was showing up on late night TV, I felt he "just missed" being handsome.
It's about a man Rick Turner (Robert Alda) who's engaged to Donna Trent(Ariadna Welter) but is seeing a beautiful woman Bianca Milan (Linda Christian) in his dreams.
A few strange things happen and without knowing he sees the doll that looks like his woman in his dream.
Frank Sinatra's recording of Witchcraft might have helped for the background as well.Robert Alda has been having some dreams about this wildly sexy woman played by Linda Christian and fates lead him to a doll shop where the mysterious Neil Hamilton manufactures some incredibly life like dolls.
But then he's got some control on you and you just might be joining his devil cult which worships a fallen angel named Gamba.Poor Alda he hasn't a prayer when Christian makes her move and it ain't just witchcraft that's making his hormones going into overdrive.
Succussful businessman Rick Turner (a solid performance by Robert Alda) experiences seductive visions of wicked and alluring witch Bianca Milan (a deliciously sultry portrayal by breathtaking blonde beauty Linda Christian).
Frank gets drawn to a toy doll shop run by the suave Francis Lamont (smoothly played by Neil Hamilton; Commissioner Gordon on "Batman") and becomes involved with a sinister satanic cult that worships the evil devil god Gamba.
Actually, this wasn't that bad of a film, given that it had such a low budget.The plot is that a member of a whacky devil cult ensnares Robert Alda by making a voodoo doll of him and enticing him through his dreams.
They then make a voodoo doll of his girlfriend and impale it with a pin to make her an invalid.Apparently, this was good old 1960's medicine where you got a private nurse.Anyway, they are led to a cult run by Commissioner Gordon from the Batman series.
Anyone wanting to just check this out should google it.In this rendition of devil-worship themed movies, we meet Rick Turner (Robert Alda) and his steady sweetie, Donna Trent (Ariadna Welter).
Soon after, Rick discovers a doll that looks exactly like the blonde woman sitting in the front window of a doll shop.
It turns out that the doll shop is actually a front for the evil cult of the devil-god Gamba, and in back, there's a ceremony room complete with a mechanical chandelier loaded with both fake and real knives.
The blonde woman is Bianca Milan (Linda Christian), a bona-fide witch who can project herself into dreams and hypnotize people from a distance.The Gamba Cult is adept at voodoo doll use and hypnotism, both of which they are reasonably good at using to control others.
** May contain Spoilers ** Robert Alda (Alan Alda's dad) stars as Rick, with Linda Christian (Bianca,the interloper) and Ariadna Welter (Donna, Rick's fiancée) in this short but competent horror flick from the 1960s.
After playing George Gershwin on "Rhapsody in Blue" and the original Sky Masrerson in the original Broadway production of "Guys and Dolls"' Robert Alda was reduced to this low grade supernatural horror film where he is haunted in dreams by the presence of a beautiful woman he's never met.
Later, when he wanders into a strange doll shop run by Neil Hamilton ("Commissioner Gordon" from the BATMAN television show), he sees a doll that looks just like the lady in his dreams.
Fans of classical film and of classical horror fiction, are sure to enjoy watching the movie from beginning to end..
He finds himself drawn to a doll shop, where Rick sees one that looks just like the woman in his dreams.
Turner insists that he has never been in that shop before.The blonde, Bianca, not only is real, she is the high priestess of a voodoo-styled religious cult that worships Gamba, "the Great Devil God." (The doll-shop owner is the cult's leader.) Bianca seduces Rick into taking an oath to Gamba.
The competent cast includes Roberta Alda in a low- key portrayal of Turner, the drop-dead gorgeous Linda Christian as the heinously seductive Bianca, and Neil Hamilton's highbrow take on the business-suit-wearing cult leader.
Other highlights include the racially diverse cultists (who dress like they're going to the opera), the bongo-fueled dance routine that accompanies the ritual, the knife-adorned "wheel of death" that serves as a loyalty test, and the dream sequence in which Bianca first appears to Rick.The entire thing has a low-budget look to it, including what obviously is a toy car during a scene in which a traitorous cult member dies in a voodoo-induced wreck.
Also, the building on fire at the end is clearly not the doll shop.Two more things: Donna's reaction to Rick's dream-and-doll story is oddly matter-of-fact, even when she finds out that there really is a Bianca.
Rick Turner (Robert Alda) is a man who starts having visions of Bianca Milan (Linda Christian) in his dreams.
These visions and a force bring him to a doll store where he meets Francis Lamont (Neil Hamilton) who runs the store and is the leader of a devil worshiping cult.
***SPOILERS*** Off the wall horror movie about this Devil Cullt called Gamba that poor out of work and trying to get back on his feet Rick Turner played by Robert Alda, Alphonso Giusseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo, ends up joining against his better judgment.
It was the girl of Rick's dreams Bianca Milan, Linda Christian, that got him to join the cult so he could get to know as well as be close to her.
That despite his girlfriend Donna Trent, Arindna Welter, trying to get him to see the danger he as well as she's facing in him being connected in this evil Devil Cult.Run by doll maker Francis Lamont, Neil Hamilton, the cult is obligated by it's master The Great and All Knowing Gamba to perform a human sacrifice once a month when the moon is full.
It's when Lamont is about to sacrifice Donna, after Rick refused, that all hell breaks loose with Rick setting the place, Gamba Central, on fire and together with Donna running for their lives as the place burns down.****SPOILERS**** In the end we get to see that the Devil Cult or at least Bianca survived the carnage with her again about to haunt Rick's dreams and get him under her control like she did before.
Rick Turner (Robert Alda) is an engaged man who begins having dreams about a very seductive blonde woman.
He is mysteriously drawn to a doll shop where he finds not only a doll that looks like his fiancé, but another that is the spitting image of the woman in his dreams.
In no time at all, Rick has all but forgotten his fiancé, professed his undying love for Bianca, and joined a cult that worships Gamba, the Devil God of Evil.
The main reason is Neil Hamilton as the doll shop owner / cult leader Francis Lamont.
But I suppose that's the type of character who could so easily be seduced into joining a the cult of Gamba, the Devil God of Evil.
This movie begins with a young man by the name of "Rick Turner" (Robert Alda) having strange dreams about a beautiful woman.
After walking around town one night he sees a doll in a store window that looks exactly like the woman of his dreams.
But Rick doesn't recall ever ordering this doll and certainly has never met the woman named "Bianca Milan" (Linda Christian) in whose image it was made.
Rick Turner(Robert Alda)is haunted nightly by visions of a seductive beautiful woman dancing.
Rick makes his delivery to Bianca Milan(Linda Christian), the dancing seductress in his dreams.
She will have her way with Rick and convinces him to join a coven of devil worshipers that actually wants his fiancée Donna as a human sacrifice.