*Get "Hammer House of Horror- The Complete Series" on Amazon here*
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A good episode in the series is certainly better than the similarly themed voodoo doll section of "Trilogy of Terror" with Karen Black.
Graham (Leigh Lawson) and Sarah (Angela Bruce) inherit a voodoo fetish doll after Graham's uncle is accidentally killed. According to expert Heinz (Marius Goring), the doll can make bad things happen to any person who is associated with it. After a drunken pity party Graham throws for himself (where he stabs the doll with a knife), family and friends around him begin dying violent deaths, with the now-panicked couple next on the list.
While the reasoning behind the doll (named Charlie Boy) able to kill people is tenuous at best, the film makers wisely have the fetish do its murdering remotely. Thankfully, there are no tiny figures running down hallways after its prey, which makes the viewer wonder if this is all in a stressed-out Graham's mind. The cast is great. While many anthology entries cannot concentrate too much on characterization, screenwriters Bernie Cooper and Francis Megahy are able to put some nice touches in here and there like Gwen (Frances Cuka) and her relationship with Graham's uncle. David Lindup provides a different, jazzy score and veteran director Robert Young keeps things moving at a brisk pace.
Nothing groundbreaking, but I don't understand the weak reception this episode has received. A good entry in the sometimes terrible "killer voodoo doll" horror subgenre.
-Unrated, contains strong physical violence, gore, very brief female nudity, sexual content, adult situations, alcohol use
