The 1970s, Extremely R-Rated, Thriller That Inspired An Entire Franchise

Written by Robert Scocchi | Published 14 seconds ago

If you’re a fan of the Child’s Play series, you owe it to yourself to look back a decade before its release and catch up on the events of 1978. charm. He is often cited as a direct inspiration for the series’ popular character, Chucky. charm It leans more into psychological thriller territory, though its story still centers around a ventriloquist’s dummy that may or may not be possessed by a murderous entity. Half the fun charm He discovers whether the puppet itself is responsible for a series of killings that seem to be occurring nearby, or whether the unstable puppet master is the real culprit.

Better yet, the very unstable man in the position charm He’s portrayed by none other than Anthony Hopkins, who clearly knows a thing or two about playing total psychopaths (hello, Clarice!). The dynamic between Hopkins and the puppet he constantly drags turns the film into a disturbing journey into the Catskills, where isolation becomes its own kind of antagonist and ensures that nighttime screams go unheard.

Magician, turned ventriloquist, turned psychopath

When Corky Weathers (Anthony Hopkins) endures another night of harassment as an aspiring magician, he realizes it’s time to change his act. This realization leads him to introduce a talking doll named Fats (voiced by Hopkins) into his routine. Almost overnight, Corky and Fats dominate the comedy circuit, eventually attracting the attention of Ben Greene (Burgess Meredith), an experienced talent agent with deep connections in the industry.

The cracks in Corky’s character begin to appear as soon as he is offered a television pilot, on the condition that he undergo a full medical evaluation before entering into any contract. For Penn, this is standard practice, as networks want to avoid pouring money into talent whose health may be declining. However, Corky sees the evaluation as a threat and rejects the offer outright, because he and Ben know that his mental health is far from stable.

The main problem Corky has is that he can’t turn off the fat, even when he’s not on stage. The two bicker constantly, and Corky can barely go five minutes without slipping back into his antics, even when doing so makes things worse. Fully aware that he needs to get himself together if he wants to advance his career, Corky retreats to the Catskills, where Peggy Ann Snow (Ann-Margret), his former high school crush, runs a quiet bed and breakfast.

A budding romance, and a wild weekend

charm It takes a darker turn once Corky and Fats settle down and reacquaint themselves with their old stomping grounds. Peggy admits that she has always had a crush on Corky and admits that her marriage to Duke (Ed Lauter) is falling apart. With some help from Fats, Corky quickly charms Peggy, and for a brief moment, things seem to be going his way. He gets the rest he needs before planning his next move in the city, but that calm is shattered when Ben suddenly arrives to calm things down, a confrontation that ends fatally. Corky begins to step up, trusting Fats when he’s alone while continuing his ventriloquist routine when he’s around Peggy and Duke.

Teetering on the brink of a psychotic breakdown, Corky grows increasingly fearful of what he and Fats might do next, especially after Duke begins to catch up with Corky and Peggy’s shared past. Tensions rise further when Duke notices Ben’s car on the property but is unable to find Ben himself, leading him to suspect Corky’s involvement in his disappearance.

With no agent, no one he can trust, and a dangerous puppet who seems to be the one calling the shots, Corky is forced to confront what’s really going on. Does he split his personality in two, allowing his violent urges to live through the fat? Or is the doll truly possessed by a malevolent spirit, leaving Corky to reckon with the destruction he leaves behind?

charm He does an excellent job of exploring Corky’s broken psyche and fat-dwelling character, ultimately leaving viewers with far more questions than answers. And most importantly, Magic The legacy cannot be overstated, as it directly inspired screenwriter Don Mancini to create Child’s Play in 1988, which quickly became a media juggernaut. If you want to watch the movie that helped start it all, you can stream charm Free on Tubi as of this writing.