Eric Stevenson I was surprised when I found out that Leonard Maltin gave this film a three stars rating. It's not one of the worst shown on MST3K, but it's still really bad. I admit that the premise isn't that terrible. I think this might have worked if it was just a short film. Like most movies of this time, it has the flaw of using too much of its length for exposition and not showing us interesting imagery. It's weird to see black and white movies decline at this point. It really looks dated.The most interesting part of the film is in fact when we learn more about the backstory, but even that seems to go on too long. It really is funny just watching this silly dummy walk around and attack people. Then again, that doesn't really show up until the very end of the movie. It's mostly pointless and there's not much to talk about. I'm surprised MST3K didn't make a joke about Maltin's review, but then again, they did already do that in "The Undead". I was hoping this would be in color. *1/2

Aaron1375 This film was shown on the cult riffing television show, Mystery Science Theater 3000 and was most likely the only way I was ever going to see this film about a strange doll and his master. 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. The poor guy just could not catch a break. The film is not a totally horrible film as many films that are featured on MST3K are, but it is not really that good either. It is a case of rather good premise that really does not live up to its full potential as too many times things that make the film more interesting or would help it be more entertaining are either not really long scenes or left out entirely in lieu of scenes that really go no where and make the film a bit duller than a film featuring a killer ventriloquist dummy should be! How many times did we need to see the female lead in the film in her hospital bed? 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. As bad as this show sounds, it looks a lot more enjoyable than Dr. Carlo Lombardi's act in "She Creature" (another MST3K riffed film). All that guy did was ask his assistant questions and then shout, "The monster is coming!" when the show was losing its steam. 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. Granted, William Sylvester was kind of bad in it (the newspaper guy). His reactions just are not very good. When a ventriloquist dummy walks into his room he responds in a way that is less shocked and more like, "Why are you here at this hour?" Several times he seems to not react well to what is going on around him and MST3K calls him out on it. The jokes about the act and the whole arguing are good as well. The bumps are pretty funny too with the highlight coming when Tom becomes a toaster strudel.So it is not a super terrible film, but it just did not work for me. Bryant Haliday does a fine job in this one as he did as Paul in the Projected man, but William Sylvester was very bland. Surprising considering he was the more famous of the two men. I kind of wonder if the orange hair that Haliday sported in the "Projected Man" was his natural color because if so, then this film would have been thoroughly more disturbing in color! In the end, I cannot help but feel sorry for Bryant Haliday. In this film he ends up breaking up with his partner and then he would move on to projecting things and that would end up even worse for him!

John W Chance 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. English finally uncovers Vorelli's past in Germany where he had effected the transfer. After Vorellli puts Marianne into a hypnotic coma prior to transferring her to a new female dummy, Hugo leaps into the act when English suddenly bursts in upon Vorelli.The film is notable more for its well composed close up photography, suspenseful tympani playing that heightens the tension, and great acting by Halliday, who barely did any acting after this; he was one of the founders of Janus films, and then moved to France. Yvonne Romain can be seen in 'Circus of Horrors' (1960) and as the jailer's daughter in 'Curse of the Werewolf' (1961). And then there's William Sylvester, also in 'Gorgo' (1961) who does a fine job.Go with the film despite the cheap looking opening titles. I'll give it a 5.

Greg Eichelberger Movie is an Associated Film Dist. Corp. release of a Galaworld Ldfilm-Gordon Films production, directed by Lindsey Shonteff, and tells the story of a ventriloquist who is outwitted by his dummy. 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. You know it's going to be bad, though, because picture takes place in England, and the headliner is the pale, gaunt, pock-mocked loser from "The Projected Man," Bryant Haliday, the poor man's Anthony Cardoza. 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. The act basically consists of Vorelli berating the dummy and arguing with it like a second-grader (saying things like "The sawdust in your stomach will explode," and "You're ugly."). Vorelli then ingratiates himself into a rich family with an above-average-looking daughter (for Britain), Marianne (Yvonne Romain). He hypnotizes her to fall in love with him, which makes her "boyfriend," reporter Sylvester, pout like a little baby. Here's my gripe with that. It seems in a lot of these films, the hero is someone who doesn't deserve it. Like the reporter is "Teenagers From Outer Space," among others. They get the girl with no effort, while the villain, or alien, in some cases, in much more interesting. Here, Vorelli is homely, deeply disturbed and psychotic, but he's light years more intriguing than the dullard Sylvester - which makes me wonder what a normal-looking woman would see in him in the first place. And as much pawing and groping as Vorelli does to his assistant, the brief make out scene between Sylvester and Romain is nauseating beyond description. Anyway, Sylvester, with the help of several pug-ugly Brits, discovers that Hugo is embodied with the spirit of a murder victim from Berlin. However, Sylvester's obsession with Hugo borders on the perverted and makes you want to slap him around, especially during the scene where he sneaks in a room to fondle it. A lame fight at the end (not unlike the one that concludes "Santa Claus Conquers The Martians"), however, causes Hugo to become "alive" and take Vorelli's place, while the audience is left feeling sad and empty, not unlike Vorelli's sex life or Hugo's cranium.