Devil Doll

Plot synopsis:
Paul Lavond (Barrymore), who was wrongly convicted of robbing his own Paris bank and killing a night watchman more than seventeen years ago, escapes Devil's Island with Marcel (Henry B. Walthall), a scientist who is trying to create a formula to reduce people to one-sixth of their original size. The intended purpose of the formula is to make the Earth's limited resources last longer for an ever-growing population. The scientist dies after their escape.
Lavond joins the scientist's widow, Malita (Rafaela Ottiano), and decides to use the shrinking technique to obtain revenge on the three former business associates who had framed him and to vindicate himself. He returns to Paris and disguises himself as an old woman who sells lifelike dolls. He shrinks a young girl and one of his former associates to infiltrate the homes of the other two former associates, paralyzing one.
When the final associate confesses before he is attacked, Lavond clears his name and secures the future happiness of his estranged daughter, Lorraine (O'Sullivan), in the process. Malita isn't satisfied, and wants to continue to use the formula to carry on her husband's work. She tries to kill Paul when he announces that he is finished with their partnership, having accomplished all he intended, but she blows up their lab, killing herself.
Paul tells Toto, Lorraine's fiancé, about what happened. He meets his daughter, pretending to be the deceased Marcel. He tells Lorraine that Paul Lavond died during their escape from prison, but that he loved her very much. Lavond then departs, to an uncertain fate.

Tags: paranormal, suspenseful

Review:
In this new scene (which does not appear in the original version and was especially filmed for the Continental print) he invites a woman on stage and hypnotizes her into performing a striptease which continues at length until the woman is topless.(c) 48m15sA shot of Dorne turning in her sleep is filmed in an alternate cut in the Continental print to show more of her exposed breast.(d) 48m54sIn the follow-up shot of Hugo approaching to stab Dorne the Continental print has an alternate take in which you see her exposed breast.(e) 49m47s to 51m07sSylvester has a phone conversation with an American colleague in Berlin.
The Great Vorelli has a successful act where he hypnotizes people on stage and then ends with his dummy Hugo, a dummy that can not only talk and pull menacing grimaces, but also walk all by himself!
The skeptical journalist Mark English is intrigued with the act, and whilst he's trying to unravel the mystery of Hugo's ability to walk, Vorelli has set his mind on conquering the heart and soul of Mark's enchanting fiancée Marianne, whether she wants to or not.
The acting performances are good, notably Bryant Haliday's sinister role of the Great Vorelli is memorable, there's a constant atmosphere of tension and Hugo is one scary Pinocchio!
It may be not nearly as good as other wicked-dummy movies, like "The Great Gabbo" and the downright brilliant short segment in the horror anthology "Dead of Night", but it's unquestionably a worthwhile 60's horror effort..
A beautifully-crafted low budget shocker which has unfortunately been overlooked in view of the classic 'Ventriloquist's Dummy' episode from the horror compendium film, DEAD OF NIGHT (1945; episode directed by Alberto Cavalcanti).
Actually, it bears very few similarities to it: the dummy may be called Hugo as in the earlier film (though DEVIL DOLL was in fact based on a short story written by Frederick E.
Smith), but here we have the ventriloquist who is doing the mind-controlling and the dummy who is subservient to him, whereas in the 1945 film it was the other way around.Some dated elements like the dance number early in the film (couldn't they have thought of something more sinister as a way of making the heroine, Yvonne Romain, fall under the hypnotist's spell?) are not enough to spoil DEVIL DOLL's very effective suspense sequences, especially whenever The Great Vorelli and Hugo get to share the screen.
Performances are generally adequate (including William Sylvester as the requisite American 'star') but Bryant Halliday obviously dominates the film as the villainous Vorelli.
(On a side note, we DVD Maniacs should also feel obligated towards him for his capacity as co-founder of Janus Films, 'home owner' of The Criterion Collection!)Some critics find the film a bit flat, almost like a made-for-TV film: it does have a tendency towards showing the actors in close-up but this, as explained in the commentary, was more due to budgetary limitations than to a conscious choice of film-making style adopted by the director; furthermore, the plot's very dependence on various states of emotion on the characters' part makes the intimacy of it all entirely appropriate!Which brings us to the ending: though unconvincing in detail (Vorelli's transference of souls gradually took place over a period of months but here it happens in a flash!), the impact of it is undeniable and makes for a hugely satisfying climax to a wonderful little film, a genuine sleeper and now regaining some well-deserved momentum with Image Entertainment's excellent DVD release..
It deserves better than the MST3K treatment since the acting isn't bad at all.The Great Vorelli (Bryant Haliday) knows the art of transferring souls into inanimate objects, in the case a ventriloquist's dummy Vorelli uses in his stage act.
William Sylvester plays the reporter (and boyfriend) of Romain who's investigating Vorelli.The ending fight scene between the dummy and Vorelli is unintentionally hilarious so I can see why MST3K picked it for an episode, but the rest of the film isn't played for laughs.
What an act the Great Vorelli has, in the 1964 British horror thriller "Devil Doll"!
In addition to this living doll's eerie presence, the film boasts stunning B&W photography, uniformly fine acting (especially by Bryant Haliday as Vorelli, who comes off far more sinister here than the evil hypnotist played by Jose Ferrer in 1949's "Whirlpool"), intriguing FX (negative images, freeze frames) and a literate script.
The crisp-looking DVD from Image that I just watched also includes the so-called "Continental" version of the film, which contains a striptease sequence and several bits of nudity not present in the American release.
So, Mark who's worried about Marianne tries to dig up the history of Vorelli and discovers some startling facts about Hugo.I picked up this particular film knowing zilch about it, but the plot's outline sounded like it could be good fun and maybe even a hidden little gem.
Hugo, the dummy looked pretty good and some scenes definitely inspired "Child's Play" to some point, like shots involving the dummy's feet when moving.
No real atmosphere was staged, colourless is the best way of putting it, excuse the unintended pun since film is shot in black and white.Like many dummy film's it owes a lot to the classier "Dead of Night", which that particular ventriloquist story has never been beaten, nor matched.
Although, why it differs from the likes of "Dead of Night" and also "Magic" is that the dummy, Hugo is the victim of its manipulative master, which was the opposite way around in those other films.
Like I typed early, it centres more on the master than the doll, which Hugo does come across as a gimmick especially that the title of the feature could be classed a little misleading.
There is a great deal of tension in the film, as we wait to discover the ventriloquist's "secret."  The film is shot and cut so that Hugo the dummy seems like just another animated (viz.
Good movie and certainly one of the best films ever made for dummies..
After seeing Devil Doll, I do have to say that it is not a great film; but it's certainly not a particularly bad one either and in no way does this film deserve a rating of 2.8 on this site.
The plot is similar to a number of more modern films such as Magic and Child's Play and focuses on the common horror theme of a malevolent ventriloquist's dummy.
The main character is "The Great Vorelli", a ventriloquist with a dummy named Hugo.
gray, drab bit of English fare about an evil ventriloquist(are there any other kind?) and his dummy Hugo, who's toting around the disembodied soul of a German guy.The storyline wasn't bad, but unfortunately it was burdened with long sequences of no action interspersed with some interesting bits.
Also, the scene where Verelli hypnotizes a pretty young English girl into going to bed with him(the only way he could ever get her to touch him, obviously)is totally shudder worthy, and the German guy Hugo(when he was still alive)walking around in tights so tight you can tell what religion he is was a scene to make you close your eyes in horror.The basic story, which is only about thirty minutes long(the other hour and a half is dedicated to long scenes of people talking and smoking), is that Verelli used ancient Tibetan techniques to separate his German assistant's soul from his body.
The Great Vorelli, a creepy and oddly popular ventriloquist/hypnotist (there's an appealing combo), and his disobedient dummy Hugo entertain an old lady's party.
After witnessing a ventriloquist's show with a seemingly-magical puppet, a reporter and his girlfriend get close to the performer but learn the deadly secret of his controlling the puppet and his deadly obsession with her.A pretty inciting British killer doll film, though this is actually a bit more flawed than expected.
Devil Doll (1964) *** (out of 4) Effective and perfectly made British horror film has Bryant Haliday play The Great Vorelli, a hypnotist/ventriloquist who can do things that no other can.
Effective British thriller about a cruel ventriloquist called The Great Vorelli (Bryant Haliday) who keeps the soul of his former partner imprisoned within the confines of his wooden dummy, Hugo.
There have been a number of such movies made about ventriloquist dummies that come to life and kill, but DEVIL DOLL is one of the more unsettling ones I've seen.
The music was incredibly bad and the ending was unintentional comic genius.The only good thing in this abysmal movie is the creepy doll.
The acting isn't awful, the dialog isn't always awful, and the film is creepy thus my giving it an almost passing grade of 5 out of 10...The movie may not be completely terrible, but its not good either as the MST3K version points out...
Having a puppet portrayed as a scary character can be difficult, but this movie makes the situation worse by overplaying the tension between Vorelli and Hugo(the puppet) making the whole thing look ridiculous, overdone, and amusing in its clumsiness.
"The Projected Man" star Bryant Haliday plays The Great Vorelli, a ventriloquist who loathes his horrible, stupid, smelly, ugly dummy Hugo.
But Marianne's American reporter boyfriend is on to Vorelli, and he gets a lead from Hugo, the once human man now trapped inside of the wooden dummy!This movie is creepy and depressing, with characters whose facial expressions never change no matter the situation.
You could apply that to any one of the characters in this movie, but since this one has a ventriloquist's dummy in it, that only widens the field for one more wooden-head.In "Devil Doll", The Great (or Not-So-Great) Vorelli has an act that packs them in the theaters of London, England.
Anyway, his dummy Hugo is really the star - he talks while Vorelli drinks wine, eats sandwiches and berates his wooden companion, making him get up and walk on occasion.
Mama, keep the puppet away, he scary....As for the movie itself; if you don't watch it on MST3K, you don't deserve any ham either.One star for "Devil Doll"; eight stars for the MST3K version.Myself, give me Topo Gigio any old day..
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.
The plot features some people named Marianne Horn (Yvonne Romain), her boyfriend and reporter Mark English (William Sylvester) investigating this hypnotist named The Great Vorelli (Bryant Haliday) that they believe is really using mirrors and smoke for his shows.
Gathering up titles to watch for this year's IMDb's Horror Challenge,I was happy to discover on the side of a shelf a movie which I've been meaning to re-watch since 2012!,which led to me getting 'Hugo' off the shelf,so that he could at last speak again.The plot:Note:this is a review for the 'British cut' of the film.Attending a performance by a magician called 'The Great Vorelli' journalist Mark English finds himself becoming unexpectedly unsettled by the display of aggravation from Vorelli towards a dummy which he calls Hugo.Requesting for an audience member to come up on the stage,English's girlfriend Marianne Horn decides that if no one else in the crowd will go up,then she will go up for them.Recognizing Horn as the daughter of a wealthy heiress,Vorelli hypnotises Horn to perform a dance.Desperate to keep some grip on her,Vorelli secretly leaves Horn partially hypnotised.Being incredibly interested in finding out more about Vorelli and Hugo,English gets Horn to arrange for the pair to perform at her mum's party.As everyone starts to leave the party,Vorelli invites Horn to his room.Using his hypnotising skills,Vorelli seduces Horn and begins making plans for how she can become his slave.As Vorelli seduces Horn,English witnesses a living nightmare,when Hugo enters his bedroom from out of nowhere,and gives English a cryptic message.View on the film:Opening on a stage performance of Vorelli and Hugo,director Lindsay Shonteff and cinematographer Gerald Gibbs give the title a haunting Film Noir flavor,thanks to Shonteff and Gibbs making each of the locations look like a macabre magician's playhouse,with hues of smoke,abrasive low-lights showing the mysterious world that Horn and English find themselves entering.Along with the Film Noir mood,Shonteff also shows a tremendous skill in pulling every shred of terror out of Hugo's wooden face,with Shonteff using low angles so that the viewer is unable to escape from Hugo's (voiced eerily by actress Sadie Corre) actions.Adapted from Fredric E.Smith's 1951 London Mystery Magazine pulp short story,writers Robert Kinnoch and Charles F.Vetter smartly match the titles most wonderfully rough moments (from strippers to a fighting dummy!) with a number of striking psychological chiller aspects,as Vetter and Kinnoch gradually unravel the history around Hugo,and reveal who the real puppet master really is..
This is a rather creepy movie about a ventriloquist's dummy named Hugo.A hypnotist, Vorelli has a strange dummy called Hugo and it seems that Hugo is actually "living".
Vorelli has put the soul of one of his past assistants also named Hugo into the dummy.
Towards the end, after a woman is murdered, Hugo and Vorelli seemed to have swapped minds...This movie is quite creepy throughout, especially that dummy, Hugo.
A rather spooky score too.The cast includes Bryant Haliday (Tower of Evil, The Projected Man), William Sylvester (Gorgo, 2001: A Space Oddyessy), Yvonne Romain (Captain Clegg), Sandra Dorne and Francis De Wolff.Devil Doll is at times quite a spooky movie.
This plot has been done better many times before including the "Twilight Zone's" version, "The Dummy," The Great Gabbo (1929)," and "Michael Redgrave's segment in the chilling, "Dead Of Night" from 1949.
Also on the menu is the pudgy, laconic William Sylvester, who has appeared "Riding With Death" and "Gorgo," as well as "2001: A Space Odyssey." Haliday plays "The Great Vorelli," a ventriloquist with a tacky beard and a dummy named Hugo that can perform amazing routines, such as walk towards the audience and eat ham.
Sinister hypnotist has transfered the soul of his dead assistant into a ventriloquist dummy and is using 'him' for evil!Occasionally slow, but over all this B thriller isn't half bad.
Such films either concern the descent into madness of the ventriloquist or the demonically possessed doll.Devil Doll centres around The Great Vorelli', a stage hypnotist and ventriloquist, aided' by his dummy Hugo.
This allows the Hugo dummy to gain the upper hand, no thanks to the intrepid Mike English.To summarise, Devil Doll has some good moments and ideas but is irredeemably flawed.
This a fine little British horror film, with an engaging story, good to great acting, suspenseful music and wonderfully composed photography; it is only slowed down by a few too long sequences (Marianne on stage doing the Twist; English's frequent repetitive conversations with Doctors Keisling and Heller).At first you think, "Oh no, not another ventriloquist and his dummy story!" Even if living doll films haven't been ruined for you by 'Chuckie' movies, this one has a unique spin, though the main theme is really how the ventriloquist, the Great Vorelli (played with great sinister tones by Bryant Halliday), uses hypnotism to try to control (and marry) the rich and beautiful Marianne Horn (played by Yvonne Romain), originally in love with American newspaperman Mark English (well played by Dr. Heywood Floyd of '2001' (1968) himself, William Sylvester).Unlike the classic dummy story in 'Dead of Night' (1945), here Vorelli, after years of study of the arcane in Tibet and the Orient, has succeeded in transferring the soul of one of his stage assistants into the wooden frame of his dummy Hugo.
Devil Doll is one of those movies that, while it will never be confused with a masterpiece of horror, is effective in its on little way.
Finally, in the case of Devil Doll, the ending really works as the villainous Great Vorelli gets what he deserves.
While Bryant Haliday is effectively villainous, William Sylvester is a complete bore as the film's hero.
Her talents are wasted walking around in a trance for most of the movie.Devil Doll is another of those films that I've seen both with and without the Mystery Science Theater 3000 commentary.
"Devil Doll" does have a good twist, though in that the dummy, who initially seems to be a sinister, evil figure, turns out instead to be a victim of the the ventriloquist (the "Great Vorelli"), rather than the usual way around.
However, there was something about that scene where Vorelli and Hugo were fighting, and the shot that looked like a negative at the end of it, that gave me a really weird feeling about the whole thing.
Bryant Haliday plays the ventriloquist/hypnotist in this one and he would also star in the film, "The Projected Man" which would also be lampooned by MST3K and was another film where things just did not turn out so well for him.
I would much rather of seen a more backstory on the Great Vorelli or more creepy Hugo stalking the halls.The story of the film has a man calling himself The Great Vorelli who has a show where he hypnotizes people and then for the finale argues with his ventriloquist dummy and insults it.
In this film a man wants to do a story on the Great Vorelli and gets his fiancé or girlfriend to volunteer which turns out to be a big mistake.
As Vorelli puts the moves on this girl, the newspaper man gets a strange visit, not from the Great Vorelli, but from Hugo, the ventriloquist doll!
This was a rather funny episode of MST3K as it was just a good movie to work with though it was not necessarily a bad film.