Day 191: Magic

Magic

What beautiful, unblinking, uncaring, unloving blue eyes

Ventriloquism, with the exception of “comedian” Jeff Dunham, has not been popular in mainstream culture since the 1950's and 1960's. Despite it's fade from the spotlight, ventriloquism and ventriloquist dummies have managed to find a place in horror movies. We've seen them used in movies such as Dead Silence, The Great Gabbo, and The Dummy episode from The Twilight Zone. Maybe it's the emotionless faces or the child-like bodies, but these dummies has an unmistakable creepiness to them making them perfect villains for horror. They are a relatively cheap to make and effective in making audiences uneasy. What makes these movies work, though, is a solid story and a good cast and who is a better than Sir Anthony Hopkins?

Magic is a 1978 psychological horror movie starring Anthony Hopkins (Silence Of The Lambs, Amistad) as Charles “Corky” Withers, based on the novel of the same name by William Goldman. Corky is a magician's apprentice who bombs in his first attempt performing in front of a live audience. His mentor tells him that he lacks personality and needs to gain one in order to succeed. Flash forward a year and Corky's act is a smash hit, thanks to the inclusion of a foul-mouthed ventriloquist dummy named Fats. His act has gained the attention of powerful agent Ben Green (Burgess Meredith, Rocky, The Twilight Zone). Ben is on the verge of procuring Corky a television show when he informs Corky that he must take a medical exam before the television company agrees to the deal. Corky refuses, basing his decision on principal, and flees to the Catskills in upstate New York. He reunites with his high school crush, Peggy Ann Snow (Ann-Margaret, Bye, Bye, Birdie, Tommy). Corky and Fats charm Peggy, who is unhappy with her marriage to her husband, Duke (Ed Lauter, Cujo, Youngblood). He even performs a card trick that leads Peggy to believe that they have a psychic and spiritual connection. They consummate their reconnection that sparks jealousy in Fats when Corky is alone with him. Ben is able to track down Corky and finds him arguing with Fats. He asks Corky if he can go five minutes without speaking as Fats. He is unable and Ben leaves, vowing to get Corky help for his mental problems. In a fit of rage, Fats convinces Corky to kill Ben. Corky smashes him in the head with Fats and swims out to the middle of a lake to hide the body. The next morning, Fats's jealousy grows even larger when Corky mentions running away with Peggy. Duke arrives back home and suspects that Peggy has slept with Corky. He takes Corky out on a boat to question him when they discover Ben's body on shore. With help from Corky, Fats stabs Duke to death. With “Fats” now calling the shots, what will happen to Corky and Peggy?

"I can't believe that guy is wearing the same sweater!"

Most horror movies involving ventriloquist dummies focus on supernatural elements to turn the dolls into killers. Magic goes the psychological route, with Corky being “controlled” by his Fats personality. Modern audiences would recognize the arguments between Corky and Fats in scenes involving Gollum's inner turmoil from The Lord of the Rings. The move itself is not scary in the sense that you will jump out of your seat or hide under the covers. The movie has an underlying creepiness the grows as Corky's mind begins to fall apart while Fats takes over. The story is pretty straight-forward, but still intriguing, sucking the audience into a movie where a dummy is a main character. The ending is particularly heart-breaking, but fits in well with the movie's overall sadness.

The movie is effective because of the strong performances of Anthony Hopkins and Ann-Margaret. Their relationship on screen is very believable which makes the rest of the movie believable. Burgess Meredith is great as Agent Ben Greene and is most identifiable with the audience. Along with Ben, we see Corky's potential and then discover his scary mental state. Hopkins's Corky is stiff and nervous which plays well against the loose and dirty Corky. It's also nice to see a younger Hopkins at work. His split-personality is the real villain of the movie and his interaction with Fats provides more cerebral action than most horror movies. Those who want lots of action and blood will have to find it elsewhere, because Magic just isn't that type of movie.

Three is the "Magic" number

Doll and dummy horror movies are nothing new. While most focus on killer dolls stabbing and tripping human victims, Magic is a psychological trip into a fragile and broken mind. We feel for Corky and want him to succeed, but we know that he cannot. Performances by Anthony Hopkins and Ann-Margaret really make the movie work and bring an emotional authenticity not seen in a lot of horror. The movie lacks in action and violence, but it is thrilling and creepy nonetheless. If you like your horror movies smart and cerebral, you'll enjoy Magic.

7/10

Day 155: Dead Silence

Dead Silence

Is that puppet giving me the finger?

Pediophobia is the fear of dolls. It's a fairly common phobia that can range from small porcelain dolls to electronic baby dolls. Thankfully, I don't suffer from that phobia. Sure, certain dolls can be creepy looking, but I don't fall into a heap of crying flesh whenever I see a Cabbage Patch kid. The “evil doll” subgenre of horror is nothing new. I've even reviewed a few like Demonic Toys and Dolls. They were most famously portrayed by Talking Tina in The Twilight Zone's “Living Doll” and Chucky from Child's Play. Since then, there hasn't been a new doll-based movie to really break out into the mainstream. Maybe it's time for a doll resurgence in horror.

Dead Silence is a 2007 horror movie starring Ryan Kwanten (True Blood, Summerland) as Jamie Ashen. A package containing a creepy-looking ventriloquist dummy named Billy is anonymously dropped off at Jamie's apartment. He briefly leaves and when he returns, he finds his wife Lisa brutally murdered with her tongue ripped out with Billy lying near her. Jamie is questioned by Det. Jim Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg, Dream Catcher, Saw II), but is not arrested. Jamie goes back to his old hometown of Ravens Fair to bury Lisa. He visits his estranged father (Bob Gunton, The Shawshank Redemption, Demolition Man), who has just suffered a stroke) and his new wife, Ella. Jamie confronts his father about ventriloquist Mary Shaw, a local legend who cut out her victim's tongues. Following Lisa's funeral, Jamie comes across Mary Shaw's grave along with the graves of all her dolls. He reburies Billy, but Billy turns up in his motel room, along with Det. Lipton who is still pursuing Jamie. The next morning, Jamie steals Billy and meets with Henry the mortician who tells Jamie about Mary Shaw's history. During a show, Mary was heckled by a young boy named Michael Ashen. Michael disappeared soon after. Mary was killed by his family and townspeople and her tongue was cut out. Mary has now come back, killing the Ashen family and the town of Ravens Fair by ripping out their tongues when they scream. Jamie goes to the old theater where Mary Shaw lived, joined by Det. Lipton. They find the body of Michael Ashen along with 100 of Mary's dolls. Mary is there as well, looking to finish off Jamie. Will he be able to stop her?

And will she use sunscreen?

For being a doll-based movie, there really isn't much action involving the dolls. Sure, they're around, turning their heads and moving their eyes, but that's really it. I expected a doll to chase after people with a butcher knife or trip someone down the stairs. Instead, we really get a ghost revenge story. Why bother have a shitload of dolls if you're not going to have fun with them? It doesn't have to be over-the-top like Demonic Toys or Puppet Master, but you might as well use them if you have them. Dead Silence reminded me a lot of Darkness Falls; the local legend, a nursery rhyme, an adult coming back to the town he left, an old lady seeking revenge from beyond the grave. Even the both town's names are hilariously ominous. The story is pretty uninspired and not particularly original. They try to go for a spooky atmosphere, but every scene has a bland grey wash to it that makes everything look dull and boring.

The movie was touted as being from the creators of Saw. I enjoyed the first Saw movie, but not enough to care about the creators. The doll from the Saw franchise is show in the foreground in one scene, which was a nice touch. The movie doesn't have violence anywhere near the levels of Saw. There is some action, but it's not particularly excited. The dialogue is weak and the characters are boring. The acting is fine, but not enough to carry the movie. There's a few decent effects and the makeup used to show Mary Shaw's victims actually looks pretty scary. The movie goes for a twist ending that falls flat and is completely unnecessary. A movie like this didn't need a twist ending and it really reflects poorly on the rest of the film. Note to filmmakers: If it doesn't need a twist, don't do it. Don't be M. Night Shyamalan.

Laaaaaaaaaaa!

Dead Silence leads you to believe that you are going to be watching a movie with killer dolls and instead gives us a typical and uninspired ghost story. I thought I was getting "Dolls" and ended up with "Darkness Falls". Why bother having all those dolls if you're not really going to use them? The acting is passable, but the dialogue and story just don't work. The movie is brought down especially hard by an unnecessary twist ending. There's a few startling moments and an overall creepiness with the dolls, but it's not particularly scary. If you suffer from pediophobia, you might be terrified, but if not, you'll just shrug your shoulders. What should have been a crazy, violent romp was just a worn-out, tired revenge story with a ghost. We've seen it all before, so there's no need to bother with Dead Silence.

3/10