DEVIL DOLL Creepy ’60s ventriloquist horror – free on Hoopla, Tubi and YouTube

‘Can a beautiful woman be enslaved against her will?’
Devil Doll is a 1963 British horror film about an evil hypnotist/ventriloquist who plots to gain an heiress’s millions.

The movie was directed by Lindsay Shonteff (Curse of the Voodoo; Night, After Night, After Night) from a screenplay by Ronald Kinnoch, based on a 1951 story by Frederick E. Smith.

The Galaworldfilm Productions-Gordon Films production stars Bryant Haliday (Tower of Evil; The Projected Man; Curse of the Voodoo), William Sylvester (The Hand of Night; Devils of Darkness; Gorgo), Yvonne Romain (Captain Clegg; Curse of the Werewolf; Circus of Horrors; Corridors of Blood), Sandra Dorne (Eat the Rich; The Playbirds; The House in Marsh Road), Nora Nicholson, Alan Gifford, Karel Stepanek, Francis De Wolff (The Hound of the Baskervilles; Corridors of Blood), Anthony Baird, David Charlesworth, Lorenza Colville, Sadie Corre, Trixie Dallas, Guy Deghy, Margaret Durnell and Heidi Erich.

Plot:
Hypnotist/magician “The Great Vorelli” (Bryant Haliday) and his dummy Hugo are seen performing in front of a packed audience in London. The spectators observe tension between the ventriloquist and his dummy.

American reporter Mark English (William Sylvester) becomes fascinated with Vorelli while attending the performance. English solicits his girlfriend Marianne Horn (Hammer Films regular Yvonne Romain) to go with him to another show…

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Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Buy DVD: Amazon.co.uk

Buy Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Buy Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Trailer:

Free on YouTube:

Choice dialogue:
Doctor Keisling: “She seems to be in a semi-coma. With overtones of delirium.”

Continental version:
Although filmed in 1963, Devil Doll did not receive a UK release by Gala Films until September 1964, in a version cut by British censors, the BBFC. As became the practice during the 1960s and early 1970s, alternate scenes (three in this case) were filmed with topless images for the film’s European release.

Filming locations:
Merton Park Studios, South Wimbledon, London, England – studio
Piccadilly Circus, Embankment, Trafalgar Square, London, England – opening montage

Technical specs:
1 hour 21 minutes
Black and white
Aspect ratio: 1.85: 1
Audio: Mono – Westrex Recording

Fun facts:
Frederick E. Smith submitted the story to London Mystery Magazine in 1951, earning £10 for it. He was unaware it had been adapted as a film until Devil Doll was shown at his local cinema!

More movies involving ventriloquism

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