Hugo Your Way

 

 (imdb)

DEVIL DOLL-1964-Strange seemingly evil hypnotist/ventriloquist The Great Vorelli (Bryant Haliday) makes subjects react to imagined bad situations. He also has an act with Hugo, a scary dummy that talks and walks. Investigative reporter Mark English (William Sylvester) has his friend Marianne (Yvonne Romain) volunteer for one of the hypnotism acts. He makes her twist on stage. Marianne is very rich and when her aunt gives a charity benefit Mark convinces Marianne to invite Vorelli so he might examine Hugo. Meanwhile Vorelli puts Mary under his thrall and makes her his lover. Later Hugo goes to Mark's room and drops some hints about his origin. Before Mark can act, Mary's doctor says he should see her as she's acting strange. Vorelli's long suffering assistant Magda (Sandra Dorne) stirs up trouble. Enter Dr. Heller (Karel Stepanak) who says Vorelli is not to blame. Later after Vorelli and Magda have sex, Vorelli orders Hugo to kill Magda. Mark hires idiot Bob Garrett (Alan Gifford) to find out about Vorelli's past which he does. It seems Hugo was once a real person but through hypnotism he learned in Tibet, Vorelli made Hugo into his puppet-slave. It seems Vorelli wants to marry Mary, kill her to inherit her fortune and make her a companion for Hugo. In the finale the tables are turned. 

This is a kooky but creepy little horror film and was the directorial debut of Canadian Lindsey Shonteff, who went on to director another horror movie CURSE OF THE VOODOO (1965), also starring Haliday. American co-star Sylvester had been in GORGO (1961) and would play Heywood Floyd in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968). Romain had been the mute servant girl in Hammer's CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF in 1961.

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Hammer Werewolf

THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF-1961-In Spain in the 1700's a beggar (Richard Wordsworth) is mocked and imprisoned by the local marquis (Anthony Dawson). He languishes for years in a dungeon with his only human contact being the jailer's mute daughter (Yvonne Romaine) who grows up before his eyes. When she rejects the now decrepit zombie look marquis he has her thrown in the same dungeon as the old beggar. He rapes her and later she kills the marquis (quite viciously). She runs away and is taken in my a kindly aristocrat Alfredo (Clifford Evans) and his maid. The girl gives birth to a baby boy but dies. Unfortunately the baby was born on Christmas and according to the maid an unwanted child born on the 25^th is an insult to God. When the boy named Leon is baptized thunder sounds and the holy water swirls. A few years later Leon has nightmares and fangs and seems to kill sheep at night although a wild dog is blamed. He grows into a man (Oliver Reed) and leaves home. He gets a job bottling wine and meets Christina (Catherine Feller). They fall in love but while out partying with a co-worker Leon turns into a scary werewolf (slightly reminiscent of THE WEREWOLF OF LONDON) and kills the co-worker and a hooker. He's arrested and put in jail where his cellmate becomes a future victim. As a wolf he breaks out, kills some more and the townsfolk go after him. He takes refuge in a church where “dad” shoots a silver bullet through his heart. 

 This Technicolor Hammer production released in the US though Universal International was directed by the great Terence Fisher and written by Anthony Hinds who teamed several times for Hammer. It's based on a novel by Guy Endore  

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