Magic Reviews

(OK) Attenborough is so effective here playing in the edge of psycological crime thriller and fantasy horror maniac film with a proto Chucky model. Hopkins ans wonderful magret and even frank Lauter, improves everything. Burgess Meredith is excellent..

Very, very creepy – the story of Corky Withers, a successful but weak-minded ventriloquist who tumbles into insanity and projects his madness onto Fats, his vicious side-kick dummy. Initially, Corky tries to master his inner demons by returning to his home town. He leaves behind an unhappy agent who has designs on his success, and he returns to a fond welcome from Peggy Anne, a childhood sweetheart who owns the local motel. The signs look decent for Corky’s recovery but his darkside – the one that brings Fats to life, isn’t having any of it. Eventually, Corky succumbs to Fats and ends up being controlled by him. Most of their psychological battles and dark deeds take place at the motel, the kind of dim-lit haunt that makes your skin crawl - shadowy rooms, awkward corridors and dark stairwells that look as though they descend into a crypt. And in the background the soundtrack is either silent or jarred with bits of discordant music that tag onto Fats - especially in the horrible moments when he turns his head or when he bangs around in the box. It’s really disturbing. If you haven’t seen it, Anthony Hopkins stars as the ventriloquist who slowly frays and falls apart, and he supplies the voice and personality of the maniac killer dummy Fats.