Blu-ray Review: Magic
Blu-ray Review: Magic (1978)
Distributor: Dark Sky Films
DVD Release Date: October 12, 2010
Directed by: Richard Attenborough
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margret, Burgess Meredith, Ed Lauter, David Ogden Stiers
Review by: Robert Saucedo
There’s just something about a ventriloquist dummy without a hand up its ass that’s inherently creepy. Perched on a performer’s knee and telling knock knock jokes, ventriloquist dummies are a mildly entertaining act. Sitting alone on a chair or hiding in a closet, though, the wooden buggers are only slightly less likely to induce pants wetting than a clown holding a carving knife.
Magic, the 1978 Richard Attenborough film recently released on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time, successfully capitalizes on the creepy nature of puppets through an engaging performance by a young Anthony Hopkins as a schizophrenic ventriloquist.
In the William Goldman-penned adaptation of his own novel, Hopkins plays Corky, a shy magician with an anger problem who has found a way to enhance his act by utilizing a foul-mouthed dummy named Fats. Poised to find big-time success thanks to the hard work of an agent (played by Burgess Meredith) who genuinely cares for the magician, Corky sends his fast-tracked career to a grinding halt when he refuses to undergo a network television’s required physical.
Instead of letting a doctor poke and prod at him, Corky flees to his childhood home in the Catskills. Finding no family to return to, Corky shacks up at the bed and breakfast operated by Peggy Ann Snow, a high school crush of his played by Ann-Margret.
And, for a while, things are good. Peggy, stuck in a loveless marriage, responds to Corky’s newfound charisma — specifically the irascible charm of Fats, the curmudgeon dummy for which Hopkins also provides the voice.
Things turn sour quickly, though, when Corky’s agent tracks him down and a tense encounter reveals that Corky lacks a clear separation between his personality and that of Fats’. To make matters worse, Peggy’s often absent husband (Ed Lauter) returns — complicating Corky’s attempts to woo the good-natured but lonely Peggy.
Magic is a film that’s success rests solely on the strong shoulders of Hopkins and puppeteer Dennis Alwood. Corky and Fats are great characters — co-dependent in nature to the point where it becomes truly scary. A tense scene in which Burgess Meredith’s character asks Corky if he can silence Fats for five minutes is a standout scene not just from the film but also from the horror genre as a whole. As Hopkins transforms from a confident ventriloquist assuring his agent he does not have mental problems into a squirming mess — sweating profusely as he constantly asks how much time has passed — Magic shows it has the stuff to make the film stand out from the rest of the killer dummy sub-genre.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Jerry Goldsmith’s wonderful score. It truly is a thing of beauty and perfectly accentuates the film’s quirky horror tone.
The Blu-ray version of the film looks fantastic. Reproduced from the original 35mm negative and supervised by the film’s cinematographer Victor J. Kemper, the transfer is remarkable in its crispness. Everything from Hopkins’ constant sweating to the obviously handmade nature of Fats stands out in beautiful clarity.
The audio is presented in 2.0 mono — pretty lame for a Blu-ray, right? It actually doesn’t sound too bad — though some of Anthony Hopkins’ more frantic monologues are a bit hard to understand.
The Blu-ray features a nice, if a little underwhelming, assortment of special features — both new and vintage.
First up is a short interview with screenwriter William Goldman titled Screenwriting for Dummies. Exclusive to the Blu-ray, this interview offers a look at the origins of the film — from producer Joseph E. Levine optioning the original novel to its could-have been production as a Norman Jewison-directed, Jack Nicholson-starring film. Goldman’s interview is pretty candid, if a little skimpy in the details. Of particular note, though, is his discussion of adapting the novel (written as a series of diary entries written by Fats) into a movie without revealing the depth of Corky’s madness from the start.
Next up is a nearly half-hour featurette about the history of ventriloquism titled Fats & Friends. Hosted by Dennis Alwood, this glorified interview gives a brief rundown of dummies before going into more detail about the making of the film. If you’re only going to watch one special feature on this Blu-ray, Fats & Friends is the one to view.
There’s also a brief interview with Victor J. Kemper on the disc that talks a bit about the film’s cinematography. Also included is a vintage interview with Anthony Hopkins from what appears to be a Spanish-language entertainment show.
Besides the television interview, there is another vintage Hopkins interview — this time from a radio broadcast — played over behind-the-scenes footage from the film. In his interviews, Hopkins talks about learning the art of ventriloquism in preparation for the movie — a pretty impressive feat, if you ask me.
There’s a two-minute long make-up test for Ann-Margret which pretty much amounts to one long take of the actress smiling in front of a camera as she flips her hair and ‘70s porno music plays in the background. In other words, the featurette seems to be designed purely for lonely film buffs to masturbate to.
Finally, there’s a collection of trailers, radio spots and TV ads — both in English and Spanish. The TV spot for Magic is famous for the fact that it was banned from television after parents complained that their kids were getting nightmares from it.
Whether you are already a fan of Magic or you haven’t yet had the chance to witness a young Anthony Hopkins tell dirty jokes through the Bugs Bunny-esque voice of a homicidal dummy, Magic is a Blu-ray worth buying. The movie itself is a very entertaining late ‘70s psychological thriller that more than holds up and the Blu-ray features a fantastic restoration and some short but sweet extra features. This disc is definitely something horror fans need to check out.
