original production:

MUNECOS INFERNALES

Cast: Ramón Gay (as "Raymond Gay") (Dr. Valdés/Dr. Baldwin), Elvira Quintana (Karina/Dr. Karen), Roberto G. Rivera (as "Robert G. Rivera") (Molinar/Robert), Quintin Bulnes (Zandor/Bokos, Voodoo Priest), Jorge Mondragón (Luis, expedition leader), Xavier Loyá (Juan/John, expedition member), Luis Aragón (Daniel, expedition member), Nora Veryán (Marta/Martha, the nurse), Alfonso Arnold (Tomás/Thomas), Salvador Lozano (Gilberto), Margarita Villegas (María), Chel López (detective), Norma Navarro (Ana)

PLOT OUTLINE: (from AFI): Four adventurers in Haiti witness a voodoo ceremony that is taboo to strangers, and the high priest puts a curse on them which later is fulfilled.

GUEST SYNOPSIS:
by David Wilt
Scientists Karina and Valdés are invited to the home of one of their colleagues. Karina learned about primitive religions and the occult from her father, a famous scientist himself. At the gathering, they hear about an expedition carried out by four men to Haiti: the men spied on a voodoo ceremony where human sacrifice occurred, then stole a small stone idol from the voodoo temple. Now, they are under a curse. However, one of the men--Luis--says the curse will expire at midnight, just a few moments away. Luis goes upstairs to bid his daughter goodnight: on his way back down, he suddenly grimaces in pain and falls down the steps, and is killed.

At the autopsy, a small wound on his leg is noted, but the cause of death was the fall. Karina notices a knotted string, which she recognizes as a voodoo death charm. Later, Juan is brought into the hospital in a catatonic state, and then dies. Daniel, the third man, is murdered in his home by a animate doll with the features of the deceased Luis. The final scientist of the cuartet to die is Gilberto, who is slain by a doll resembling Juan. Afterwards, a mysterious figure plays a flute, guiding the doll back outside.

Although the four men are dead, their families are also marked for death. Four dolls--with the facial features of the four dead men--enter Luis's house and steal back the idol. Luis's daughter comes downstairs, but is spared by the dolls. However, Daniel's girlfriend Marta is the next to die, slain by a doll in her room.

Karina convinces police inspector Molinar that the dolls are behind the murders. They intercept a doll intended for another victim; while driving to the police station, Molinar is stabbed by the doll, which then leaps out of the car and is run over by another car! Molinar is wounded but not killed.

In an eerie scene, Karina and Valdés "autopsy" the doll, which nearly captures Karina under its spell (she crushes its head then burns it). Karina visits the hideout of Zandor, the voodoo priest. Using a spinning mirrored ball (such as might be found in a disco), Zandor hypnotizes her but allows her to leave. Later, he sends several dolls to murder her at her home, but they are interrupted by a police guard.

Karina, Valdés, Molinar and several policemen confront Zandor in his lair. He manages to subdue them with his hypnotic powers until Karina produces a crucifix; while distracted, Zandor is stabbed by one of his dolls. The hideout catches on fire--Zandor, the dolls, and the zombie are all destroyed, but Karina and her friends escape.

GUEST REVIEW:
by David Wilt
This is a well-crafted film that could have been better, but still manages to be entertaining despite some missed opportunities. Ramón Gay, in his last screen appearance (he was killed several weeks after principal photography wrapped), takes a back seat to the statuesque Elvira Quintana. Quintin Bulnes, who usually plays low-life degenerates, is a bit more dignified here as the voodoo priest; the rest of the cast is adequate. The production values are good, and for once the "monsters" (the little killer dolls and the large zombie) are adequately made up and as a result are scary rather than laughable.

After the boring opening sequences (Karina and Valdés preparing to go to Luis's house; the re-telling of the robbery of the idol, which is not depicted at all, probably for budgetary reasons), Muñecos infernales is atmospheric and generally well-directed. The photography and art direction are professional and slick. The dolls--who are the repositories of the souls of the murdered men--are interesting and weird (except: who stabbed Luis at the beginning? No doll is seen in this sequence, and later, the only dolls that appear are those based on Luis, Daniel, Juan, and Gilberto). The big zombie isn't used to full advantage, and the "Pied Piper" concept is used once, then discarded.

In the US version, some of the cast and crew names were altered, and the character names were changed somewhat in the dubbing. The dubbed voices are not especially appropriate, particularly the imitation-Lugosi accent given to Luis Aragón!

Over all, a worthwhile effort.

SYNOPSIS:
A young doctor, Dr. Baldwin, visits his fiancé, Karen, at her home. They are on their way to attend a meeting with some friends.

Baldwin fixes a drink while Karen gets dressed. Baldwin glances at a portrait of Karen's father, who was a great research scientist.

Karen enters the room, and the two lovers discuss marriage. Baldwin is anxious to tie the knot, but Karen wants to wait for awhile.

We learn that Karen is an expert on archeology, ancient medicine and native cultures, as she tagged along with her famous scientist father on his many expeditions, and decided to follow in his footsteps.

The men they are meeting want to ask Karen's advice concerning a recent expedition. Baldwin and Karen rush off to the meeting.

Baldwin and Karen arrive at the meeting. Luis, one of the men, tells the pair about a recent journey to Antilles, in which he, along with colleagues John, Albert and Daniel witnessed a number of Haitian voodoo rites.

Luis knows that it is taboo for white men to witness this sacred native rituals. Luis asks whether Karen believes the old superstition which states that any man who witnesses a voodoo ritual uninvited will be cursed to death.

Karen does believe that native witch doctors have powers which can be dangerous for the uninitiated.

The other doctors, however, think it is all nonsense.

Luis continues; one night, an old man escorted the researchers to a secret voodoo temple, where they witnessed sacrifices and a bizarre dance ritual.

The scientists returned the next night, and stole a sacred idol from the witch doctor's lair! As soon as they did, a strange light flooded the room, and the Voodoo high priest appeared. The scientists grabbed the icon and ran, as the angry priest shouted curses after them.

Karen is horrified at the scientists' indiscretion, and relates to them her knowledge of the Voodoo religion: the Haitian Voodooists worship terrible gods such as Matanga and Zogamiya. Some also practice Bonga, which is black magic. There are men called Bokos, who are doctors of this black magic, and whom can summon up evil demons such as Keta, Makaulu and Somba.

The researchers laugh at Karen, but she warns that the curse may be very real, although one of the scientists reminds the others that their guide was killed the next day.

Luis then shows Karen the sacred idol of the Komba, a praying stone lion, which he stole from the Voodoo priest. Karen looks at the ungodly icon, and is sure the curse set upon the researchers will manifest itself.

Daniel, however, reminds the others that the priest said that the first death from the curse would occur "13 moons after midnight" and, as it is exactly that time right now and no-one has suffered, the curse is surely nonsense.

Suddenly, the lights go out, and a terrible lightning storm rages outside. A servant brings candles.

Luis runs to see his daughter Patty, who has called for help from her room. Patty tells Luis she wants her new dolly, which she claims just hopped off the bed and walked to the corner of the room!

Luis thinks Patty just had a dream, but Patty insists the doll is alive! Luis puts Patty to bed, but seems concerned.

On his way back downstairs, Luis finds a strange rope bracelet in the hallway.

As he walks down the hall, Luis has a heart attack, and falls down the stairs. The others run to him. Someone looks at their watch: it is exactly midnight!

Elsewhere, Bokos, a Voodoo witch doctor, speaks to a doll, telling it that it has done its job well, and that all who stole the sacred Komba idol will die!

Later, the scientists wait at the hospital. Baldwin comes out and tells them the bad news. Luis is dead. His wife, Jean, is heartbroken.

Baldwin and Karen talk about the tragic death. Karen saw a wound on Luis' ankle, and thinks it has occult significance. Baldwin disagrees.

Later, some men drag another of the researchers, John, to the hospital emergency room.

John appears to be alive, but paralyzed, his eyes frozen in fear. Karen says its terror, but Baldwin thinks it may merely be a drug reaction. They prepare to take a blood sample.

Later, Baldwin tells the others he is baffled as to John's paralysis.

Albert says they were eating supper, heard a strange sound, and found his assistant unconscious. The men wonder if it might be the work of rival researchers.

A nurse, Martha, rushes out of the emergency room to fetch Baldwin. Baldwin runs in, and finds Karen checking John's heart. She informs him that his heart stopped beating three minutes ago, but yet he lives!

In addition, John's hands attempt to grab the air. As suddenly as he came back to life, John dies.

Later, the group has a meeting. Karen thinks John was murdered, killed by fright. And she also believes Luis was murdered, both enactments of the Voodoo curse!

The others think Karen is crazy, but she does talk a good argument. She reminds the group that there are only two men left from the original team.

Baldwin feels that even if this far-fetched explanation were true, they could never go to the police with this wild story. It is suggested that John's steps of the past few days be retraced.

Karen tells the others that she fears that after the remaining two men are killed, the witch doctor will then go after all of the men's families as well.

That night, Daniel works in his office, studying the strange bracelet which was found on Luis' body.

Unbeknownst to him, a horrible little midget with dead eyes watches him from behind a curtain!

The horrid miniature man takes a poisoned needle, sneaks up behind Daniel, and stabs him with it, killing him instantly.

Meanwhile, at Albert's house, he and his wife Helen prepare to go to bed.

Their maid, Fanny, tells their little girl, Linda, to go to sleep.

Albert and Helen talk about Linda. Fanny enters, and tells the couple that a present had arrived earlier, sent by Helen's sister: a medium-sized doll, which Linda just loves!

Upstairs, Linda sleeps soundly, hugging the spooky doll, which wears thick glasses. Suddenly, the doll comes to life, and extracts another poison needle!

The doll slowly makes its way towards Albert and Helen's bedroom.

The Doll sneaks up on the sleeping couple. It crawls up onto their bed, and stabs Albert in his sleep, taking the rope bracelet with him as he departs.

The doll leaves the house as Bokos' zombie flunky, Sabood, who is dressed like a beggar, plays a flute outside. The zombie and the devil doll walk off together, hand in hand.

Meanwhile, four more doll people descend on Luis' house where the idol is being held. They get a chair and place it next to the cabinet where the idol is resting.

Patty goes downstairs to get a glass of water. This startles the doll people, who wait for Linda to return.

Patty walks into the living room, and slowly sips her water. The dolls wrestle over whether they should stab the child.

Patty eventually makes her way back upstairs, not seeing the doll people, who return to their task, removing the idol, and taking it with them.

Back at Bokos' dungeon, the doll people rest, while Bokos prepares his next murder.

Back at the hospital, nurse Martha retires to her room. There is a large box resting on her bed, a present from an unknown admirer. She opens it. It is a hideous male doll, one of the doll people! She picks up the repulsive creature, and thinks it is somewhat in the likeness of poor dead Daniel.

Baldwin, Karen and a police detective named Robert talk. Martha calls them for help, but the doll gets up and stabs her before help can arrive.

Baldwin, Karen and Robert examine Martha in her room. She appears dead, but to their shock, comes to life for a moment!

Meanwhile, back at Voodoo headquarters, Bokos removes a pulsating heart from a glass jar, and stabs it. He covers his voodoo doll of Martha with the blood.

The heart convulses wildly in a tray. Bokos performs an occult incantation to give life to the undead Martha doll. The doll comes to life.

Back at the hospital, Baldwin and Karen argue over the reality of the voodoo curse. Baldwin calls Karen superstitious. Karen asks Baldwin if there is nothing occult about Martha's death, where is Martha's devil doll now:?

Karen believes that there is a witch doctor who is giving these deadly dolls life. She tells policeman Robert to watch out for the dolls, and to follow the man who delivers them.

That night, Robert and his men wait outside, and soon see a dark figure delivering a box to Karen's home.

The figure delivers the box to a scared Karen, and walks away. Robert runs up, grabbing the box from Karen, and taking it back to his Plymouth Fury.

The cops follow the man back to his headquarters, in an abandoned hacienda. They decide not to investigate immediately, and return to the doctors' home.

As the cops drive on, they soon notice that their boss, Robert is laying in the back seat, apparently comatose. They stop the car. The killer doll jumps out of the car, running right in front of another, oncoming car, which runs the doll over.

Later, at the hospital, Baldwin examines Robert, and finds the puncture mark from the poison needle. He informs his men that he was stabbed to death, and calls the police.

But Robert comes back to life. Baldwin examines him. Baldwin makes the other cops agree not to mention this awful incident to their boss.

Later, Baldwin examines the corpse of the ugly doll which was run over. He finds the rope bracelet which accompanied all the other victims.

Karen enters. Robert shows her the bracelet. Karen recoils in horror. She says it is a "Sorcerer's Ladder," a dangerous occult prop. If a witch doctor can plant this evil icon onto a person's body, he can manifest great power over him. Karen informs a horrified Baldwin that the bracelet is made of human hair!

The two examine the doll more closely, and find a poison needle with blood on it.

The two doctors disrobe the doll, and prepare to perform an autopsy. Karen severs the head. To the doctors' horror, the rope bracelet crawls into t the doll's severed head! The head's eyes then light up, and then go dead.

Karen, horrified, picks up the head, throws it to the ground, and crushes it with her pump! She then lights a match and tosses it on the crushed head, which bursts into flames!

The phone rings. A nurse tells Baldwin that Robert has come out of his coma. Baldwin and Karen are relieved. As they watch, the remainder of the doll's body bursts into flames, leaving only a charred skeleton!

Baldwin and Karen receive another phone call. It is Robert, now well, asking permission to keep some men there to protect them. The doctors agree to the protection, kiss and bid each other good night.

Later that night, two dolls enter the hospital through a window.

Baldwin tries to get some sleep in the doctors' lounge, but is awakened by the alarm bell.

The next thing we see is Baldwin looking over the another corpse. Baldwin yells for the guards.

One guard says he thought he saw two cats, fighting, then jumping out of the window, but they were really the killer dolls!

As the guard describes them, Baldwin s beginning to believe. He finds a pair of doll-sized glasses as well.

Karen is driven by Alfonso, one of Robert's men, to the address of the strange dollmaker. She walks through the gate, but finding all the doors locked, she climbs a ladder and pries open a second-story window!

Karen enters the creepy place, and observes many strange things, including demon statues and gruesome ritual masks.

Karen backs up right into an ancient mummy!

Karen continues through the house, and unwittingly stumbles into Bokos' secret ceremonial chambers.

She sees the doll people, the heart in the jar, and other horrors.

As Karen looks around, a sarcophagus opens, and the gruesome zombie Sabood stares at her! The sarcophagus closes up again, as Karen scrutinizes it.

As Karen enters another room, Sabood creeps up behind her and grabs her. Karen screams. Bokos tells Sabood let her go.

Bokos welcomes Karen, and asks her to sit and talk. Bokos tells Karen about himself, and then hypnotizes her. Karen sees that Bokos' flunky Sabood is a zombie, an evil, undead thing!

Bokos shows Karen his doll collection, and tells her about good and bad dolls, and what happens to each. Karen sees one doll pinned to a wall with needles! Bokos explains that bad dolls much be punished.

Bokos tells Karen that he is the master of black magic, with powers that are beyond her puny science.

Karen shakes the spell temporarily, and tells Bokos what a despicable monster he is, a monster who will surely be brought to justice. Bokos tells Karen that she, Robert and Baldwin are all under his spell, and there is nothing she can do.

Bokos tells Karen and her male friends the awful destiny which awaits them. Bokos then tells Karen and Baldwin to cease their futile attack on him. He tells Karen to go home; Karen, still partially hypnotized, obeys.

As Karen leaves Bokos' dungeon, one of the doll people stretches out its arms, and cries pitifully for her kind intervention. Karen looks at the pathetic, undead creature, but cannot help him, as she is still under Bokos' spell. Karen walks out of the room as the doll person cries after her.

Karen walks outside, and meets the police man, who takes her home. Inside Bokos' dungeon, a disco ball turns, and Bokos vows to the doll people and Sabood that they will succeed.

Karen returns to her room at the hospital, and tries to unwind. Unbeknownst to her, the occult bracelet is in her coat!

Later, Sabood leaves the dungeon with two boxes full of doll people. The cops are waiting for him, however, and engage him in battle. They shoot at the zombie, but the undead Sabood easily overpowers the smaller cops.

The cops lay on the ground, knocked out. Sabood continues down the street with his deadly packages.

Karen lies on her bed. Suddenly, the window blows open, and two doll people appear, both brandishing poison needles!

Karen is so shocked, she becomes paralyzed with fear, and can only watch in horror as the creepy assassins walk slowly towards her.

As the doll people climb onto Karen's bed, one of them knocks over a plant. The sound brings the men rushing into the room. The doll people escape out the window, but one doll stabs a cop in the shin on his way out, and he falls to the floor, dead.

Robert, Alfonso and Baldwin enter, and see the dead cop. Karen tells the men it was the doll people who did it! Robert, who now believes, vows to kill the zombie and witch doctor immediately.

The group drives to Bokos' lair. They enter the lab. Bokos is waiting for them. Robert tries to shoot him, but his hand is paralyzed. Karen tells the men not to look directly at Bokos, for he can then hypnotize them!

Bokos attacks the men psychically until they drop their guns.

Bokos tells Robert that he knows he would like to kill him. He asks the men to try to shoot him again, but they cannot.

Bokos mocks the group, and then orders Sabood and the doll people to kill them!

The monsters approach our heroes, but are all driven back by the torches the group carry.

Bokos orders the group to drop their torches, and they are forced to do so by Bokos' considerable telepathic power.

Karen tries to remove something from her coat pocket, but Bokos sees her. He dares her to reveal the icon that she feels will give her control over him.

Karen manages to wrestle the icon out of her pocket, even against Bokos' powerful will; it is the cross of Jesus!

Bokos shrinks at the sight of the holy symbol, and tells Karen it is useless. A doll person picks up a needle, and stabs his master in the neck.

Bokos sets fire to the curtains, insisting that if he is doomed, so is everyone else.

As the dungeon becomes an inferno, our heroes manage to escape.

Bokos and his doll people burn to death in the all-consuming fire, as our heroes drive off into the night.

THE END

REVIEW:
THE CURSE OF THE DOLL PEOPLE is a powerful, highly effective horror-fantasy. From the opening titles, superimposed over a scene of a pile of ugly dolls, we sense that this is not going to be a mere horror film, but also a sexually perverse fairy tale of sorts, and we are right.

The film is a strange mixture of horror, fable and occult drama, brimming with spooky images and crackling with voluptuous dialogue. Much of this film is terribly creepy, proving that Mexican cinema knew how to churn out a good horror film when they set their minds to it.

The film, with its premise of puppets brought to life to murder, reminds one of such evil-midget classics as DEAD OF NIGHT, DEVIL DOLL, DR. CYCLOPS, DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, and TRILGOY OF TERROR.

The title "dolls" are creepy, hideous things, with their great, mask-like faces, stiff movements and little suits, looking like an army of arthritic Jerry Mahoneys from Hell.

One bespectacled doll, which looks like a shrunken-head version of Elvis Costello, crawls into bed with an attractive 12 year-old girl, in a scene which borders on the truly perverse.

The witch doctor looks like Kent McCord from TV's "Adam-12" as a hippie guru. And his zombie henchman Sabood is a gruesome walking wreck with a wonderful face-mask. The ritual scenes with doctor and zombie in their cool pentagram studio are excellent, and include one amazing, ethereal shot of a disembodied spirit rising to the heavens.

There are strong subtexts here involving discipline, torture, sadomasochism and fetishism. And there is a lot of sexual tension in the film.

In one scene, a sexy wife walks around in a negligee, with her hair down, as the doll people peep at her. Later, a little girl walks downstairs in her nightie, while the demon dwarfs glare at her from behind curtains. As the child sips a drink of water, presciently aware she is being watched, the horrid little perverts stare at her longingly, in a scene which starts off as suspense and becomes purely sexual in a seedy, voyeuristic way.

And a most incredible scene occurs when the doll people finally attack Karen in her room; she lays, seductively paralyzed on her bed, as the evil midgets crawl towards the woman, silently, ever so slowly. We are frustrated that Karen doesn't move; she seems to be waiting for them to pounce on her. When we realize her immobility is due to fear, the sight of the dolls creeping closer, ever closer, becomes almost unbearable. This is a hell of a scene, dripping with perverse implications.

The film also has some great horror f/x. The doll autopsy scene is quite grotesque, with "Dr. Karen" chopping off the doll's head and then crushing it beneath her high heel! One might also view this scene as strongly anti-child, especially as the "child"-killer is a woman.

A truly unnerving scene occurs late in the film, when "Dr. Karen" is in Bokos' lair. As she exits the joint, one of the doll people reaches out its arms and cries for her, obviously in unbearable spiritual pain to be a helpless, undead tool of evil. Karen gives him a look of pity and horror, but can do nothing, as she is still under the witch doctor's evil hypnotic spell. As she leaves him, the pathetic little critter cries after her in a most disturbing way, subverting the very notion of the sacred mother-child bond, and underscoring its extreme fragility.

And the final scene, featuring generous shots of burning corpses, is remarkably grisly for a 60's Mexican horror.

The atmospheric, largely angular photography lends a bonafide veneer of terror to this strange and wonderful film.

And the film seems pure K. Gordon Murray, dealing as it does with freaks and magicians and midgets. It's almost like the former carny man's own personal "Horror Circus". At any rate, this weird and haunting exercise in psycho-sexual terror may be Murray's best horror film.

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COMMENTS:
* (updated 02-14-06) Thanks to a terrific new book we just received, "Ghouls, Gimmicks and Gold" by Kevin Heffernan, (2004, Duke University Press), we have been able to update the U.S. television release date for this Murray horror title to 1965. The appendices to this study of the horror film in America, circa 1955-1968, include complete listings of syndication feature film packages from many distributors, including American International Television, who subleased the K. Gordon Murray film catalog under the title THRILLERS FROM ANOTHER WORLD. It seems that 1965 was the watershed year for genre film sold to television, with a veritable flood of titles released by both domestic and foreign distribs.

* (effective 05-01-03) After a very brief window of availability, this long-sought K. Gordon Murray title is once again out of print, due to international copyright issues. Used video tapes of this title may be found on online video dealers and auction sites. Stay tuned for further developments!

* Murray released THE CURSE OF THE DOLL PEOPLE on a terrific theatrical double bill with THE VAMPIRE, with the wonderful tagline: "A psychedelic trip into the 5th dimension!"

* According to AFI, THE CURSE OF THE DOLL PEOPLE was first shown theatrically on March 2, 1968 in Jacksonville, Florida.

* For an excellent online review of this film, along with some great video grabs, visit "CultCuts E-Zine".

NOTABLE DIALOGUE: