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Magic is one of those old-timey horror flicks filled with quality performances, lots of tension, and a complete lack of anything horrific. All the technical elements of the film are in place, but in the end, Magic doesn’t seem to have any magic. The film takes one of the most terrifying premises in horror history, the living doll, and spins it into a yarn about a magician on the verge of greatness (I know; it does sound far-fetched. Everyone knows magician’s are lame), who retires to a cabin by a lake to try and get into the pants of some chick he hasn’t seen in 15 years. I’m not sure if this was a realistic plot back in the seventies, but the last time I showed up at some chicks door that I hadn’t seen in a while it involved a lot of screaming, middle fingers, and a couple of hastily thrown objects. Ahhh, the seventies… a magical time when dinosaurs still roamed the earth and bell bottoms could get you laid.

Magic is directed by Oscar wining director Richard Attenborough in what seems like one of the stranger project choices by a respected director. Attenborough’s film doesn’t play out like a horror film, but more like a suspenseful flick full of interpersonal conflict and the decaying wits of a man losing his mind. There is one supernatural element in the film, that if overlooked, would disqualify this film as being a horror flick at all. That being said, Magic is a wonderful looking suspense film. The imagery is sparse and dreary and quite likely to inspire some larger members of the audience to start downing whole cartons of Häagen-Dazs in one sitting due to its depressing nature. While Attenborough’s direction is skillful and effective, it’s not really what I would call exciting.

The cast in the film is excellent. Anthony Hopkins is skillfully insane as both the main character Corky and the voice of his ventriloquist doll Fats. Hopkins is the main source of tension in the film and much of the tension comes from Hopkins ability to switch between mild-mannered virgin (as all magicians are) and raging mad man. Ann-Margret plays Hopkins’ love interest, the abysmally bland Peggy Ann Snow. Ann-Margret’s performance isn’t bad or great, but she is definitely the weakest link in the cast, mostly because her character is bland as fuck and there are no fire crotch jokes made at her red-haired expense. Burgess Meredith is awesome as Ben Greene, a no-nonsense agent that is trying to score big with Corky and Fats’ act. Meredith is fantastic as a slick talking, cigar smoking man that tracks Corky down on his remote getaway. Ed Lauter, the poor man’s Craig T. Nelson, turns in a powerful performance as Duke, the husband of Corky’s love interest. The cast is by far the best aspect of the film.

Magic tries to be more than it really is and the puppet storyline almost seems thrown in as an afterthought creating a bit of a disconnect between the focus of the film and what the film seems to be trying to do. Magic doesn’t know whether it wants to be a bit of psychological horror with a touch of ambiguity concerning the main character’s mental state or a straight up horror flick. The blend of the two is less than satisfying and the filmmakers would have been better off deciding one way or the other. But does it really matter? It’s about a goddamned ventriloquist and his dummy. There’s just something wrong about a guy spending the majority of his life with his hand up a doll’s ass.

Final Synopsis: The film is alright. It has a great cast and some strong directing, but the pacing and the plot leave a little to be desired. The film doesn’t do any one thing particularly well, but does a lot of things alright. This one is a skip.

Points Lost: -1 for not knowing exactly what type of film it wants to be, -1 for bad pacing, -1 for giving the big “reveal” a little too early, -1 for being about a ventriloquist, -1 for boring the shit out of me and not making any fire crotch jokes… you disappoint me Fats

Lesson Learned: Magic is lame. Ventriloquism is lame. Burgess Meredith is awesome.

Burning Question: If you’re going to stab yourself, why would you stab yourself in the stomach? That seems like an unnecessarily painful and slow way to die.

Magic
5/10

Tags: 1978, ann-margret, anthony hopkins, burgess meredith, ed lauter, horror, horror movie, killer dolls, latest movie review, mystery, recent1, richard attenborough, thriller, ventriloquist