Black Devil Doll

Black Devil Doll is a nasty little picture, one with no apparent moral compass and the desire to mix the elements and aesthetics of blaxploitation films of the 1970's while loosely following the premise of the Child's Play series and making a priority out of including numerous scenes of doll-on-human sexual intercourse.

The film is inspired by the 1984 film of the same name just with "from Hell" added to the end of the title so we know exactly where this absurd little character once resided. This film's director, Jonathan Louis Lewis, clearly has admiration and a love for the films of the blaxploitation genre, a genre which was largely responsible for hiring young and old black talent in the 1970's to headline such inane pictures as Blacula and Black Dynamite. Lewis, however, creates a film that, while easy to admire for its devotion to such a quirky chapter in cinema's history, is hard to watch and incredibly uncomfortable to sit through, even in its barely-cinematic state of sixty-three minutes.

The main issue is with the approach Lewis chooses to take, which is seemingly to cater to the people who love to watch two foot tall wooden dolls have sex with full-grown women, with the camera, of course, focused on their voluptuous figures. This gets tedious really quickly, especially when the film's one-note joke isn't overplayed but severely underplayed once its intentions become clear. The film is a horror film, like many blaxploitation films were, but it takes so long to build to its horror elements and scenes of violence and gore that we've already laughed so much to even be ready for the horror elements. When they come, it's the most awkward "oh yeah" moment, after we just watched a black puppet have hardcore sex with several different women.

The film's slender story involves Heather (Heather Murphy), a young teen with a bulging bust in a cleavage-bearing top, who is bored one day and decides to remedy her boredom by screwing about with an Ouija board. Heather's antics come back to bite her when the Ouija Board brings her doll to life in the form of a recently deceased serial killer who murdered fifteen Caucasian women before raping them. Now, Heather meets the "black devil doll," falls in love with it, has sex with it numerous times, and so forth.

The second act takes a wee bit of a darker turn, with Heather inviting numerous friends over for an afternoon of fun and drinks but not before the doll can violently assault and have sex with each one.

Films like Black Devil Doll take the very principles of what film criticism was erected off of and shred them so they're unrecognizable. How to rate a film like this effectively is a mystery to me. While the film technically does what it sets out to do, that doesn't mean I had a grand time watching it. The film is so bogged down in dirty-mindedness, gratuitous nudity, graphic, redundant scenes of puppet-on-human sex that do nothing but make one uncomfortable, and then gore and violence to conclude the picture that is tacked on in a way that makes it seem unsure of its own direction.

As stated, Lewis clearly has a fondness for old school horror and the blaxploitation genre. Because of that, I hope he chooses to exercise it again at a later date. This is a picture that would've worked as a short rather than a medium-length film. Better yet, it would've worked best as a daydream.

Starring: Heather Murphy. Voiced by: Martin Boone. Directed by: Jonathan Louis Lewis.

It's all in good fun... Right? No, I don't believe it is. What would be the fun in that, anyway? I don't care who you think you are. I don't care if you think Combat Shock was hilarious. This new and greatly improved Black Devil Doll will grab your sensibilities by the throat and cut it open, and whatever happens after that is your own damn fault. Black Devil Doll is a half homage, half remake of a mind-numbingly awful pile of Z-grade garbage, from the 80's, entitled Black Devil Doll From Hell. A film that, over the years, has gained a bit of a reputation as (arguably) the worst in history. And might I add, a film that has been seen by far too few. but apparently, one day, an aspiring director asked himself a very important question. "What if Black Devil Doll From Hell was a masterpiece?"

Sure, with a little tweaking, here and there. Hire some actual actors. Put some actual money into it. Maybe even cut a few minutes off the opening credits. It could actually turn into something. And what this new Black Devil Doll has turned into will cause a laughing/crying fit, which will know no relief until it's all over. So, a dim-witted chick named Heather messes around with a ouija board, for no particular reason, instantly causing a doll to be possessed by the soul of an executed black-militant (Mubia), who despised white people, and loved raping and slaughtering white women. It's pretty much love at first sight. Although, it might be a short-lived romance, because one woman ain't never enough for this guy, but maybe with a little smooth-talk, Mubia can convince Heather to not only let him cheat on her, but maybe even let him rape and slaughter all her friends... As if she has a choice. Only problem now is just getting her out of the house.

What we have here is simply the most offensive, most outrageous comedy of the past decade. Possibly the most offensive movie since Pink Flamingo's. that's right, I'm a John Waters fan, a Troma fan, and an LBP fan, and now that I've seen Black Devil Doll. I can finally say that I've seen it all. Besides the obvious, Black Devil Doll is also a homage to old Blaxploitation, and Exploitation, in general. I suppose what this film is homaging, and what it actually is, is one in the same. Folks, this is a perfect example of modern Exploitation. For more in future cult classics from this past decade, check out Special Dead, and Sick Girl. If you're smart enough to not take movies seriously, and If you have a sick sense of humor, like someone I know, you will find Black Devil Doll to be positively delightful. And that's a guarantee. 10/10

Worst "film" ever made. Unless you're on a self-torturing adventure to watch the crappiest "movies" ever made, (which in this case would take the cake), please, please spare yourself the torment.

Basically, this is a crappy blacksploitation rip-off of Child's Play. Only, instead of the classic horror character of Chucky, this film is centered around a racist, black womanizing doll who has a sick, twisted compulsion to have sex with the nastiest looking white chicks, before killing them.

An episode of Barney the Dinosaur has more genius to its writing than this crapfest. The "comedy" is bottom of the barrel, racist nonsense. It's repetitiveness is more painful than drilling through your own head. The "acting" is the worst I've ever seen. You'd be more likely to find better actors simply asking random people on the street to read the lines from the script. The camera-work sucks, the "directing" is awful, and the "special effects" stink. Everything about this "movie" sucks.

I don't care how small this "film's" budget was. There's simply no excuse for such mediocrity. Clerks, Eraserhead, and Paranormal Activity are three films that were made with roughly equal budgets. And those can actually be called films, unlike this pile of garbage.

It kills me that I have to even give this a 1 out of 10, because a 1 is a far too-generous rating for this crap.

The hype surrounding this flick was enormous. I was at a horror convention a few weeks ago and it was all about this title. Even here in our local DVD shop they sold this movie for only 8 euro's and full uncut. Be clear, this isn't a remake of Black Devil Doll From Hell. That one was also about a black doll possessed by some spirit and starts doing weird things. And don't think that it is in the tradition of Chucky in Child's Play. No it isn't. This is pure exploitation. Everything is included, blood, chicks and gratuitous nudity. And the last part is available in such a way that it is more erotic than exploitation. The acting is way below zero but don't be bothered, the director never made this flick to became a hit, but it surely will become a cult hit. The black doll walks around only to doing his stuff with the girls, afterwards he kill them or is doing necrophilia. let's say that the first part is all about naked chicks. All shown full frontal but how, they shown their tits to each other for no reason, just like, hey, you have beautiful ones, yes I know do you want to see them, yes okay, would you like to see mine. Big fun. The last part the red stuff starts flowing and in cheap effects but slightly gory. And then 10 minutes before the end the credits starts rolling, I thought, o no, not ten minutes of that crap, but keep watching, there is fun included. Anyway, never take this film seriously. Just watch it as it is, pure exploitation entertainment.

Ahh where do I begin? I had been following this movie for probably over a year, and since I first saw the hilarious looking trailer, I had put it at the top of my list with movies to see, along with Bad Biology. And I remember that the DVD was supposed to be released last year, and I was disappointed to find that they delayed the release, but I am happy because I got to experience Black Devil Doll on the big screen, in a theater, the way it should be seen. And it was more than worth the wait. Trust me. This movie is like no other film you have seen in your life, trust me. And you will never see a film like this again. And that is more than a good thing. This film is definitely not for the easily offended, not for the faint of heart, not for those who are easily grossed out, and you get the idea. Full of nudity, violence, gore, and more awesomeness, this must be the most fun I have had in a theater since I saw Poultrygeist. There are scenes that will make you scream OH MY GOD, scenes that will make you laugh your butt off, and scenes that are just plain wrong. It all adds up to one hilarious fun time. I must also add that the score from Giallos Flame is excellent, 70's style music. From the credits, I knew I was in the presence of greatness. The black devil doll is one of the most entertaining characters in film history, and will be sure to make you laugh. Whether you like the movie or not, you will be entertained. Just know what you are in for. It is sick, twisted, funny, gross, and so wrong, but oh, so right. I really wish there were more movies like this. It screams sequel!