Magic (1978)

After watching the cheesefest that was Contamination, I decided to venture into something different. Subsequently, I searched through Shudder until I found something down a stranger path, finally settling on the underrated 1978 flick Magic.

Plot/ A ventriloquist is at the mercy of his vicious dummy while he tries to renew a romance with his high school sweetheart.

This was an amazing film, and one that often flies under the RADAR for fans of horror flicks or thrillers. Directed by Sir Richard Attenbourough, this movie oozes atmosphere and is one of the creepier films from that era. Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins is amazing, creating a movie that is in many ways a precursor to his performance in Silence of the Lambs. The cast is strong, the cinematography is solid, the storyline works, and there is great tension sprinkled into the entire film. Yes, some of the pacing may seem slow and there are some head scratching moments, but those do not hold the movie back in any way. In the end, this is a creepy flick that for some reason often overlooked. With the movie now available on Shudder; give it a shot.