Magic (1978).....surely stood apart from most horror movies of the 1970's.....in that from top to bottom, it was created, produced, written, acted and directed by overqualified A-Listers whom nobody would ever associate with horror.
Supremely clever and talented novelist-screenwriter William Goldman ("Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid", "The Princess Bride", "Marathon Man") thought he possessed the smarts to freshen up a classic horror trope.......the ventriloquist tormented by his dummy, who's become a sentient, evil being all by himself.
Dedicated film buffs of course remember this creepy concept from one of the episodes of the classic, multi-story 1945 British film "Dead Of Night". And an equally unsettling 'Twilight Zone' half hour did its own nasty version too.
And through the decades numerous other novelists, screenwriters and directors took advantage of the fact that ventriloquist dummies ,just like circus clowns are deep down scary sons of bitches........
Mega-producer Joseph E. Levine made distinguished British actor-director Richard Attenborough an offer he couldn't refuse.......the chance to finally gather the financing required to create his dream project, the sweeping biography of Gandhi.
......but only if he agreed to direct "Magic" the scary dummy movie scripted by Goldman from his own novel.
To class up the movie even more, the role of Corky, the ventriloquist-magician bedeviled by his dummy 'Fats' , went to the brilliant young Anthony Hopkins, who rampaged through the part with Shakespearian fervor.
But Hopkins play-to-the-rafters performance, skilled as it was, only served to sabotage the effectiveness of Goldman's script, which wanted to keep you guessing as to whether 'Fats' was a genuine supernatural monster or just a figment of Corky's rapidly deteriorating psychosis. ( a la Norman Bates and his mummified mommy in "Psycho") i
And with the overbearing intensity that Hopkins brings to Corky, there's never any question that he's batshit crazy from the get-go......which is why the filmmakers shouldn't have rejected the idea of casting an actual comedian in the role.
Also ringing in a false note was Goldman's clumsy attempts to duplicate typical nightclub comic patter and all of 'Fats's supposed side-splitting insults and asides. He really should have relied on some real comedy writers to supply the gags.
After taking its own sweet time to set up Corky and Fats' origin story, the film settles in to its main location, a remote, desolate Catskills lakeside cabin-motel. Corky's fled there from his high powered agent Ben Greene (Burgess Meredeith) who needed him to take a required medical exam to star in a network pilot.....an exam certain to reveal Corky as an unstable loon ready for rubber room.
Wouldn't you know, it, the place is managed by Corky's long lost high school crush Peggy Ann Snow, (a de-glammed by still luminous Ann-Margaret). They quickly spark and re-connect, but Peggy's trapped in an abusive marriage to Duke, a hot tempered lout perfectly played by one of the best purveyors of such roles, Ed Lauter.
Typical horror film complications ensue with the arrivals both Ben and the the mean-spirited Duke Ben right away discerns Corky's madness and Duke, riddled with regret over his failed marriage, suspects Corky and Peggy Ann slept together......which they did indeed....which doesn't sit well with Duke..
And neither of these guys sit very well with the eye-rolling, foul-mouthed Fats ( voiced by Hopkins and disturbingly outfitted and sculpted to resemble the actor as well.) As Scooby-Doo so well put it......ruh-roh. Anyone who's encountered even a few horror movies won't work up a sweat wondering how this is all going to end......
13 years later, as we all know, Anthony Hopkins would take the art of a scary performance to award winning heights in "Silence Of The Lambs". But here in "Magic", his work comes off as uncertain and at times, wildly uneven. Fortunately his small but powerful supporting cast of Ann-Margaret, Meredith and Lauter all deliver MVP-worthy work.
Richard Attenborough, however, never really has his heart in this material and his 'Masterpiece Theater' direction keeps the film from ever moving out of low gear........(imagine, if you will this script in the hands of Sam Raimi, Tobe Hooper, George Romero or Wes Craven .....)
We found enough quality on display for a 2 & 1/2 star (**1/2) rating, but for everyone involved in "Magic", it's never more than slumming......(though we did love that Ann-Margaret, off all people, gets to cap the film with a great weird little moment......)
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