Black Devil Doll from Hell (1984)

Helen Black (Shirley L. Jones) is a devoutly religious Plain Jane who goes shopping in an antiques store one day. There she spots a rastafarian ventriloquists' dummy; she's given warnings about the nature of the dummy, but she's quite taken with it and goes ahead and buys it anyway. Soon after she's taken it home, it comes to life and reveals a salacious nature, having its way with her and leaving her wanting more.Auteur Chester Novell Turner tackles the subjects of sexual repression and awakening in a "Holy expletive, I can't believe what I'm seeing" style. Suffice it to say, those people who thought that the 'Prey' segment of 'Trilogy of Terror' wasn't cheap enough or crass enough are treated to this mind-boggling, jaw-dropping no budget oddity. It's painfully slow, and extremely crude, but damn if it isn't fascinating in spite of itself.The acting is by and large atrocious, the effects quite primitive, and the persistent keyboard score is by turns aggravating, hilarious, and even kind of catchy. The main attraction is the Devil Doll itself; operated and voiced by Keefe Turner, it's an incredibly horny and nasty little demon who actually demands that Helen *beg* to be taken. This character is so memorable, and priceless, that one really does miss it when it's gone.This is the kind of thing a dedicated B movie enthusiast should see at least once, even if only to say that they *have* seen it.Five out of 10.

Not only is the plot idiotic and the racial stereotyping painful to watch, but the acting is putrid, the direction inept and the special effects ... well: they're "special" all right. Avoid this one like plague unless you either want to learn how NOT to make a film, or you're really toasted. There are also a few notable continuity issues. The lighting is awful (the background changes colours several times during several scenes). In a number of shots that are supposed to be scary, the camera is badly out of focus ... when it is not jiggling. It is really hard to believe that this thing was actually shot on film, because the resolution seems so bad, but that is probably the result of the combination of bad camera-work, bad lighting and using a photo kiosk in a car park somewhere to process the film.

Do we really need a title sequence which lasts for six minutes, forty-nine seconds? Do we really need a bone-gratingly bad metal song played over the aforementioned six minutes, forty-nine seconds-long title sequence? Do we really need to hear a five-minutes-long telephone conversation, while the camera aimlessly roams about the girl's apartment, drifting slowly in and out of focus, as if the cameraman forgot what the hell he was supposed to be filming and why? Do we really need such obnoxious, over-poweringly LOUD noises, buzzes, and hissing on the soundtrack? Buzzing noises which can make dogs start baying two blocks away? And must those ear-shattering noises accompany such ugly female nudity? Do we really need to see this woman repeatedly getting boned by the doll that she bears an uncanny resemblance to? What was the purpose of the still-photographs used during the attack scenes? Was it to conceal the crappy effects? And if the doll keeps returning to the same Thrift Store by itself, why the hell doesn't the Thrift store worker just get rid of the bloody haunted thing? None of these questions, and less, may ever be answered, even by the few people who have the tolerance to endure this putrid example of shot-on-video horror. Not that it matters, but this is basically a one-person story, about the title object terrorising a pug fugly woman in her house. Well, actually it was probably filmed in Chester Novell Turner's house, on Chester Novell Turner's camcorder, written by Chester Novell Turner, directed by Chester Novell Turner, produced by Chester Novell Turner, edited by Chester Novell Turner, scored by Chester Novell Turner, with sound effects by Chester Novell Turner, featuring friends of Chester Novell Turner, and probably distributed by Chester Novell Turner, who handed copies of this to random passersby on the street, and leaving copies of it in local video stores, and perhaps anonymously mailing copies to people he didn't like. It is kind of admirable, really, that this goofball had the commitment to actually see something like this through, and that he could actually persuade his friends to be in, and work on, a film like this, and see it through fruition. But really, it is an awful monstrosity of a so-bad-it's-good movie. Chester Novell Turner's friend David Ichikawa provides what is quite possibly the worst song in the history of recorded music, until that little toilet-bug Damon Fox came along nine years later with "his" Traces of Death. The Simpsons tackled this same basic premise far more effectively (and funnier) eight years later, in the 'Klown Without Pity' segment of Treehouse Of Horrors III. Watch that instead.

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