Line #32 Film/DevilDoll


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/devil_doll_poster.jpg]]
2
3	->''"In Berlin... 1948. Find... me."''
4	-->--'''Hugo'''
5
6	''Devil Doll'' is a 1964 British horror film directed by Lindsay Shonteff.
7
8	It's about sinister hypnotist-cum-ventriloquist "The Great Vorelli" (Bryant Haliday) and his struggle to prove to the people who laughed at him long ago that yes, he ''can'' transfer a mind into the body of a wooden vent figure. At one show, by what seems to be pure serendipity, the "[[DesignatedHero good guy]]" Mark English (William Sylvester, before ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'') ropes his girlfriend Marianne (Yvonne Romain) into volunteering for Vorelli's act. English's obsessive skepticism results in acquisition of expert testimony and even an impromptu, depressing trip to UsefulNotes/{{Germany}}. Along the way, minds are controlled, people are menaced with knives, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking dummies are insulted]]. Somehow, Vorelli's dummy [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal turns the tables]] at the close of the movie, and everything ends.
9
10	For the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' version, please go to the [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E18DevilDoll episode recap page]].
11
12	Not to be confused with 1936 film ''Film/TheDevilDoll''. Also not to be confused with the Slovenian/Italian band Music/DevilDoll (who named themselves after the 1936 film). And for the love of God, do ''not'' confuse this movie with ''Black Devil Doll from Hell.'' [[NotSafeForWork You will thank us later.]]
13
14	----
15	!!''Devil Doll'' provides examples of:
16	* AbhorrentAdmirer: Vorelli on Marianne, especially considering his real plans for her.
17	* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Hugo, after having his soul transferred into the dummy. For a long time he couldn't even move or speak, though he did eventually develop that ability.]]
18	* BeardOfEvil: Vorelli has one, which totally makes him look like the devil. [[spoiler: It's a fake beard, meaning this pretty much has to be intentional.]]
19	* DemonicDummy: Hugo. [[spoiler:Subverted, though. Hugo is actually a good person unfairly trapped in the body of a ventriloquist dummy by the evil Vorelli. Once he gets the chance to escape he takes his revenge with gusto.]]
20	* DullSurprise: Marianne, most of the time, even when she's NOT being mind-controlled by Vorelli, has a rather creepy blank stare.
21	* {{Fanservice}}: Magda's... revealing costume.
22	* GlassOfChianti: Vorelli drinks ''Sangue Di La Vergine'' - "Blood of the Virgin"
23	* GoldDigger: Vorelli, [[spoiler:whose plan is to stage Marianne's death and transfer her soul to a doll once he's tired of her, taking her fortune for himself and giving Hugo an "ugly wooden companion"]].
24	* GrandTheftMe: A rare heroic example-- [[spoiler: at the end of the film Hugo forcibly swaps bodies with Vorelli, trapping the magician in the body of the doll.]]
25	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Vorelli's KarmicTransformation at the film's TwistEnding.]]
26	* HorrifyingHero: Hugo is a creepy animated dummy, [[spoiler: but he ends up being the true hero of the movie and the one who defeats Vorelli.]]
27	* HotterAndSexier: The international version has a decent amount of nudity, with a topless scene from Magda, a woman is hypnotized into doing a striptease on stage, eventually going topless, and a topless scene from a woman in the background.
28	* JerkAss: Vorelli. He even uses it in his ''stage act'', which at one point involves hypnotizing a guy into believing he's being shot in the head. At another point he forces a woman from the audience to do a striptease in front of the entire audience [[spoiler:And in the good old days, he used to hypnotize the human Hugo to not bleed when he was stabbed. Most of the time, it worked.]]
29	* LargeHam: Vorelli, so much so that Hugo literally calls him one when he eats ham on stage.
30	--> '''Hugo:''' [[LampshadeHanging You cannibal!]]
31	* MagiciansAreWizards: Ventriloquist Vorelli is really a soul-manipulating hypnotist.
32	* MaleGaze: The introduction of Grace, the [[LovelyAssistant Replacement Lovely Assistant]].
33	* MindRape:
34	** Almost literally. Vorelli uses hypnotism to force a girl to get naked in front of an entire audience.
35	** Vorelli does it again to Marianne, having sex with her [[DudeShesLikeInAComa while she's hypnotized]].
36	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: English, [[spoiler:upon realizing his actions have allowed Hugo to swap bodies with Vorelli.]]
37	* NonIndicativeTitle: Hugo isn't a devil. He's not really even evil. [[spoiler:Though you could say this applies at the end when the very evil Vorelli gets trapped in the doll.]]
38	* ObviouslyEvil: Vorelli, oh so much. For instance, during the flashback to Vorelli's StartOfDarkness:
39	-->'''Vorelli:''' (To [[spoiler:Human]] Hugo) This time, [[spoiler:Hugo]]... you're going to ''die!''
40	* PowerPerversionPotential: Vorelli is well aware of the perversion he can pull off with his hypnotism.
41	* PrettyInMink: We immediately know Marianne has money since she has a white fox wrap draped over her chair when she first appears.
42	* HeKnowsTooMuch: She knows too much bout Vorelli's sordid past, so Magda [[MurderIsTheBestSolution has to go.]]
43	* SoulJar: Hugo is stuck in the body of a puppet.
44	* SpannerInTheWorks: Grace, Vorelli's replacement assistant; [[spoiler:she interrupts him in the last scene before he can reinforce the MindControl on Hugo -- and after he opens the door to Hugo's cage, allowing the puppet to destroy the plans of the Great Vorelli.]]
45	* UselessProtagonist: English in no way facilitates the resolution of all that's made wrong...not even his urgent trip to UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}}, nor the consultations with the experts. [[spoiler: Because of this, it makes Hugo TheHero.]]
46	* WhosLaughingNow: [[spoiler:Vorelli does this constantly to Hugo, and Hugo does it right back at the end.]]
47	* WimpFight: Vorelli gets his ass kicked by a ''puppet!''
48	* YourSoulIsMine: Vorelli can manipulate souls to transfer them back and forth between different bodies or even inanimate objects.

Context Film / DevilDoll