Synopsis
A ventriloquist is at the mercy of his vicious dummy while he tries to renew a romance with his high school sweetheart.
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Cast
- Anthony HopkinsCorky Withers / Fats (voice)
- Ann-MargretPeggy Ann Snow
- Burgess MeredithBen Greene
- Ed LauterDuke
- E.J. AndréMerlin
- Jerry HouserCab Driver
- David Ogden StiersGeorge Todson
- Lillian RandolphSadie
- Joe LowryClub M.C.
- Robert HackmanFather
Recommendations
- 90
Film Threat
Magic is one of the top-notch films of the 1970s. And if you haven’t heard of it by now, you should never forget the name at this point. It isn’t one of those psychological thrillers out to tie knots in your stomach right off. Like any good magic trick, the excitement comes with the waiting. - 80
Variety
In adapting his own best-seller, William Goldman has opted for an atmospheric thriller, a mood director Richard Attenborough fleshes out to its fullest. - 75
Chicago Tribune
There's a certain quirky charm to the young Hopkins in his creep-out role as Corky, a shy, failed stand-up magician. [25 Apr 2006, p.3] - 60
TV Guide Magazine
Aside from the obligatory shots of the dummy looking sinister, director Attenborough fails to evoke an effectively eerie mood, concentrating instead on the "drama" between Hopkins and Ann-Margaret. - 60
Los Angeles Times
Hopkins is quite good as the timid ventriloquist-magician, but the film suffers with the addition of an awkward subplot involving an unhappily married woman (Ann-Margret). [25 Apr 2006, p.E2] - 58
Entertainment Weekly
From the start, Hopkins forgoes the subtle route and heads straight over the top, squeezing what fun there is out of William Goldman’s humorless script. - 50
Time Out
A hammed-up version of the old chestnut about the ventriloquist who is 'taken over' by his dummy, clumsily adapted by William Goldman from his own novel and infinitely better done in The Great Gabbo and Dead of Night. - 40
The New York Times
A no-frills, no-imagination reworking of the story about the ventriloquist who is taken over by his dummy.
