Black Devil Doll from Hell (1984)

Waste of time

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Better Late Then Never

Black Devil Doll from Hell has gained something of a cult following but think carefully before paying large sums of money to obtain it - it's not worthy of any serious investment. It is, however totally, hysterically, funny entertainment.Shot on home video without a budget using home locations and presumably friends and family as actors, the story tells of a cursed doll, that when purchased, grants it's owner any wish, but this service obviously comes at a price. And the star of our tale, meek, church- going Helen, is about to find out what that is! Helen spies the doll in a curiosity shop one day and is compelled to buy it, despite the shop owner's doom-laden warnings. On getting the doll home. she makes a place for it in the toilet (!?) and then the terror beings, as Helen first starts to be visited by weird hallucinations about the doll coming to life - and then it actually does come to life and subjects her to a "puppet sex attack"!Now already this sounds absurd, not to mention very sleazy, but as the film is so amateurish, you can only laugh at the proceedings rather than anything else. Everything is played straight, in fact the actress playing Helen does her best to contribute a performance of sorts - but it's all for nothing as once the Black Devil Doll himself starts to wake up, you'll forget about any realism at all. Basically, the doll is a commercially bought ventriloquist's puppet with a Rick James style hairstyle, and when he comes to life, he's pretty much animated in the same way (ie, with a stage hand's arm up him, waggling him about). The scenes in which the puppet assaults Helen are what this film is famous for and you may have to pinch yourself to know that what you are seeing has actually been committed to film. There's nothing graphic in the film, Helen is never shown fully naked and there is no violence to speak of, it's just the hilarity of the situation that will imprint it on your memory. That and the doll's foul-mouthed, "Mr T" accented vocal tirade, which good taste prevents me from transcribing here.The whole wretched thing is scored with a Casio organ, seemingly set on one single demo loop that goes "boom-titty-boom-tish" over and over again, oh except for the serious scenes when what are presumably supposed to be sinister chords are represented by a sound more like ear-splitting feedback.Due to the rarity of any copies of this item, it has become more talked about than actually seen. Sadly if more people did see it, the fog of curiosity would probably evaporate leaving what is simply, one man's very warped attempt at a home horror movie. It's not shocking or extreme, so if you do get a copy, my advice is to have a party and invite a bunch of friends over to watch it. Personally i am very glad my love of bad movies led me to it, and I feel all the richer for having a copy to enjoy.

Black Devil Doll from Hell (1984) * (out of 4) Visiting the one and only Wild and Woolly store in Louisville, KY, you always come across some sort of weird, forgotten flick. On my latest visit I came across this one here and the weirdness certainly lived up the hype brought on from the title. The storyline is fairly simple and unoriginal as a deeply religious black woman (Shirley L. Jones) buys a doll in an antique shop and of course it turns out the doll is possessed and soon starts to make the good woman bad. This forgotten film was one of many movies that were shot on video and released straight into rental stores across the country. There's no doubt the horror genre got most of these type of releases but we've gotten some decent stuff like VIDEO VIOLENCE but we also got many, many horrid titles and this one falls into that group. However, there's a catch to this one here because while it's true that the thing is unoriginal, poorly shot, poorly acted and poorly directed, somewhere in your heart you must admit that it's hard to make a movie and on that level this low-budget horror film has some charm. There were a few things I was shocked about. I thought Jones was actually fairly decent in the film considering she didn't have too much to work with. I also thought she was rather brave to do her nude scenes, which included some sequence where the doll was sexually attacking her. It appears this was her first film and she only made one more, again with the director of this one. If you're a movie snob or someone who can't get a laugh out of something bad then there's not a single reason in the world to view this thing. If you enjoy all of what cinema has to offer then this one here is a must see just because of its low-budget roots as well as some of the decent things it does do. The music score is downright awful and obviously done on some keyboard bought at a small store so keep ear plugs near by.

BLACK DEVIL DOLL FROM HELL, is one of those films that fit into a category of abysmal, but watchable. Watchable for all the wrong reasons that is. When a devoutly religious women, purchases a black doll, with dreadlocks, from a thrift store, a doll which the store owner says always returns to the store under its own powers, the women intrigued takes the doll home, yet isn't prepared for what happens, when the doll comes to life and attacks her, ties her to a bed and rapes her. Rather than being traumatised by the rape, the women ends up liking it and throws her religious convictions out of the window, and since the doll has gone she searches for another man who can fulfil her unwanted sexual desires, though this is unsuccessful and she longs for the 'black devil doll.' Never before have i sat through a film and looked on in amazement, at the shoddy production, wooden, more like very wooden acting and awful keyboard soundtrack, that sounds like someone has just brought a new keyboard and is trying it out for the first time, oh and the keyboard soundtrack also is so loud and interfering that it makes some scenes hard to understand what the characters are saying. Its the lowest end of Blaxploitation and is crudely politically incorrect, yet oddly watchable and in times of political correctness, there's seems something refreshing in seeing something so bad, that it ascends or many ways transcends to a sort of transgressive style of underground trash cinema. In many respects it would work as a great film to watch under the influence of alcohol or any other substance. A funny and abysmal little film, well worth seeking out, if you want to see what a zero budget film, with no money and terrible soundtrack can achieve. Ed Wood would be proud!!

First of all, I don't think I ever laughed so hard ever watching a so-bad it's good horror movie.That being said, with all due respect to BDDFH, there is a much worse horror movie out there folks. Trust me, I've seen a lot. If you haven't seen this, you have to put it high on your list. Good luck finding it though.....I give you:#1) Barn of the Blood Llama #2) Attack of the Beast Creatures #3) Black Devil Doll from HellAlso, you can go to Badmovies.org. It's an awesome sight.You might also look at:God Monster of Indian Flats Night of the Lepus Frankenstein Island:-) Spencer