Anthony Hopkins plays Corky, a magician with absolutely zero personality. He's a nebbish who can't seem to communicate with anyone - a bad quality for someone whose career depends upon how well he interacts with his audience. Fortunately his manager is none other than Mickey who, just two years prior, whipped Sylvester Stallone into shape to win a boxing title. Lucky Corky. He restarts his career as a ventriloquist, using a creepy wooden dummy named Fats.

Something strange begins to happen to Corky though. He becomes so successful with Fats that he soon discovers he can't communicate without him, and actually begins speaking through the dummy. Is he sliding deeper into insanity, or is something more sinister going on?

Magic is one of my favorite films from my childhood. By age 10, I'd read the William Goldman book on which it was based (he also wrote the screenplay), and was completely creeped out by this adaptation when it was released a couple of years later. Fortunately, although the look of the movie is a bit washed out in places, it's aged quite well. But then, how could you go wrong with a pedigree like this film has?

Magic is directed by Richard Attenborough (Ghandi), and stars Hopkins, Ann-Margaret (together in one of the best love scenes since the infamous Don't Look Now), Burgess Meredith, Ed Lauter, and David Ogden Stiers. This is not only a classic horror film, people, it's a horror film with class.

I don't normally go into detail about DVD releases, but this one (from Dark Sky Films) deserves special mention. Not only have they managed to cull together some pretty cool interviews and screen tests from a fairly forgotten movie, but they have included a thirty-plus minute documentary on how the dummy effects were created. Basically, it's just an interview with the man responsible for creating and controlling Fats, but he has some pretty cool stories to tell (including one about how freaked out Hopkins became when he realized Fats was deliberately created to resemble him). Additionally, the original television trailer is included – notable, because so many irate parents complained that it was freaking their kids out (and I was one of them), that the commercial was pulled after only airing once or twice.

Ok, I may be biased, but Magic is a rarity even today: a cerebral suspense film with the original Chucky. It's definitely worth a look if you're into any of the actors, or just a cool, oft-overlooked (and multi-award winning) horror pedigree.

Pros: Pre-Saw, pre-Chucky, creepy goodness. Hopkins provides a chilling voice for Fats. Or is it the other way around?
Cons: Film is a bit grainy, and the real tension doesn't begin until act three.
Review Rating: 7.5 out of 10 times you ask someone to stop talking for five minutes, they just can't. seem. to. do. it.