5 Horror Movies About Ventriloquists and Their Dummies

I’ve got dummies on my brain this week. Why? Because, as I wrote in “The Vent Haven Museum: The World’s Only Museum Dedicated to Ventriloquism,” National Ventriloquism Week is upon us. (If it even still exists. But that’s a post for another time –after I’ve done some further research.)

The Vent Haven Museum seems like a happy place. A place created by a man who was passionate about (or obsessed with, I’m not sure) the art of ventriloquism. The museum even hosts a conference which draws about 500 people each year. Including a lot of children.

Say what? If that thought freaked you out and/or struck horror in your heart, then you’re envisioning the same kind of dummies that I do: the creepy old-fashioned ones. Kind of like this one that we met on one of our cruises after his performance with his human.

Granted, many dummies these days are not near as creepy looking as some of their early predecessors. They’re more akin to fun, friendly Muppet-type puppets. (Think Darci Lynne and her Petunia or Jeff Dunham and Peanut.)

Not all. But may these days don’t resemble the ones that inspired the following five movies. Which have you seen?

1. The Unholy Three (1925) – 7.3 IMDB / 83% Rotten Tomatoes

A ventriloquist launches a series of criminal schemes with the help of his sideshow friends.

Okay, this one isn’t exactly horror. It’s labeled as Drama/Thriller, but thriller’s are oftentimes within the horror realm.

It’s also not one about the dummy as much as the ventriloquist, who is played by Lon Chaney, one of the early great horror actors. (That’s why I felt compelled to include it on the list.)

As you might be able to guess from it’s age (1925), it’s not only a black and white, but also a silent film. However, of all the films on this list, this is the one that has the highest IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes scores.

I haven’t seen it, but I plan to hunt it down and see if I can find it.

2. Devil Doll (1964) – 4.1 IMDB / 20% Rotten Tomatoes

A ventriloquist hypnotizes a newsman’s girlfriend to put her soul in his dummy, Hugo.

I’ve never heard of this British horror movie, and it sounds ridiculous (and a little confusing; what good is her soul in his dummy?). Must not have been very good, judging by the ratings. But I included it because it fits the bill for horror movies about ventriloquists and their dummies!

3. Magic (1978) – 6.8 IMDB / 83% Rotten Tomatoes

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

Before Silence of the Lams, Anthony Hopkins starred in this horror movie that most definitely features a creepy dummy. Another one I’ve got to watch. I know I started watching it once upon a time, but I don’t really remember it. Time for a memory refresh!

4. Dead Silence (2007) – 6.2 IMDB, 19% Rotten Tomatoes

After his wife meets a grisly end, Jamie Ashen returns to their creepy hometown of Ravens Fair to unravel the mystery of her murder. Once there, he discovers the legend of Mary Shaw, a murdered ventriloquist whose eerie presence still looms over the town. As he desperately digs for answers, Jamie encounters the curse that took his wife’s life and threatens his own.

Curses, ventriloquists, haunted dummies…perfect elements for a horror movie, right? Sadly, I think I was in the Rotten Tomatoes group on this one –the 81% that didn’t like it, that is. I heard great things about it, but when I rented it I could not suspend my disbelief –nor did it hold my interest long enough– to make it all the way through it.

However, I think it has an amazing cover. Super creepy!

5. Triloquist (2008) – 4.1 IMDB /15% Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Score)

 

Psychopathic orphans Angelica and Norbert, along with their murderous ventriloquist’s dummy, embark on a gut-wrenching killing spree.

Lesson one: you never want to piss off a dummy. Or, apparently, any of its people. You don’t know when they might suddenly become possessed and decide to seek revenge against you.

It sounds like an ambitious and fresh idea for a horror movie with a dummy in it, but it was so bad it didn’t even get a Tomato Meter score and barely rated on Rotten Tomatoes’ Audience scale.

Check-In

How do you feel about dummies? (The ventriloquism kind. Not your run-of-the-mill every day dummies.) Do they freak you out, or do they not bother you?