Muñecos infernales (1961)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Benito Alazraki

Writer:

Alfredo Salazar (story)

Release Date:

13 April 1961 (Mexico)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A psychadelic trip into the 5th dimension!

Plot:

Four men are cursed by a voodoo priest for stealing a sacred idol from his temple. Soon a band of murderous "doll men" are after the men and their families. |

Plot Keywords:

Curse | Doll | Idol | Voodoo | Murder

Cast

Elvira Quintana	...	Karina
Ramón Gay	...	Dr. Armando Valdés
Roberto G. Rivera	...	Molinar
Quintín Bulnes	...	Voodoo Priest
Nora Veryán	...	Marta
Luis Aragón	...	Daniel
Alfonso Arnold
Jorge Mondragón	...	Luis
Salvador Lozano
Margarita Villegas
Norma Navarro
Xavier Loya	...	Juan

Also Known As:

Devil Doll Men (USA)
The Curse of the Doll People (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company:

Cinematográfica Calderón S.A.

Original Spanish version is the best

Many years ago (the 60's) I saw this as a kid, being that this is a K. Gordon Murray import, and those dubbed imports played on many US TV stations back then. I only vaguely remember the film but I know the dolls scared the hell out of me. As an adult, I've now seen the original Spanish version (with subtitles) and it's still a very creepy film & the dolls...well, they didn't scare the hell out of me but damn, they are nasty, creepy little creations, that's for sure.

The story is, that four men on a trip to Haiti ended up stealing a religious idol belonging to a voodoo cult, and of course, you know that was a bad idea. They were cursed and now, they're being killed one by one and they are being turned into dolls, to recover the idol and to kill those who get in their way. The dolls are rather nasty to behold because they're caricatures of those who have been killed. One is delivered to a household and given to the child, and the mother describes it as a "beautiful doll", but when you see the little thing rise up out of the child's bed to do its dirty work, you have to wonder if she was either blind or under some spell.

A female doctor, Karina, is well versed in the ways of voodoo, and tries to poke around and investigate until she finds the creepy voodoo priest & his pet zombie, and now she knows what's going on but it's very hard to stop.

For the time in which this was made, it's a rather effective and creepy film, and well worth seeing if you like old Mexican horror, in fact, it's probably one of the best. The BCI DVD includes both Spanish & dubbed versions, but the original Spanish version is the best. 8 out of 10.