By Robert Scucci
| Published 14 seconds ago
If you’re a fan of the Child’s Play franchise, you owe it to yourself to look back a decade before it launched and check out 1978’s Magic. Often cited as a direct inspiration for the franchise’s infamous Chucky, Magic leans more into psychological thriller territory, though its story still centers on a ventriloquist dummy that may or may not be possessed by a murderous entity. Half the fun of Magic is figuring out whether the puppet itself is responsible for a string of killings that seem to happen nearby, or if his unstable puppet master is the real culprit.
Even better, the deeply unstable man at the center of Magic is portrayed by none other than Anthony Hopkins, who clearly knows a thing or two about playing total psychopaths (Hello, Clarice!). The dynamic between Hopkins and the puppet he’s constantly lugging around turns the film into a disturbing trip into the Catskills, where isolation becomes its own kind of antagonist and late night screams are guaranteed to go unheard.
A Magician, Turned Ventriloquist, Turned Psycho
When Corky Withers (Anthony Hopkins) endures yet another heckler-infused open mic night as an aspiring magician, he realizes it’s time to change his act. That realization leads him to introduce a talking dummy named Fats (voiced by Hopkins) to his routine. Almost overnight, Corky and Fats dominate the comedy circuit, eventually catching the attention of Ben Greene (Burgess Meredith), a seasoned talent agent with deep industry connections.
The cracks in Corky’s personality start to show once he’s offered a television pilot, under the condition that he undergo a full medical evaluation before any contract is finalized. To Ben, this is standard practice, as networks want to avoid pouring money into talent whose health may be deteriorating. Corky, however, sees the evaluation as a threat and refuses the offer outright, since he and Ben both know his mental health is far from stable.
The core issue Corky faces is that he cannot turn Fats off, even when he’s not on stage. The two are constantly bickering, and Corky can barely go five minutes without slipping back into his act, even when doing so actively makes things worse. Fully aware that he needs to get himself together if he wants to take his career any further, Corky retreats to the Catskills, where his former high school crush, Peggy Ann Snow (Ann-Margret), runs a quiet bed and breakfast.
A Budding Romance, And A Brutal Weekend
Magic takes a darker turn once Corky and Fats settle in and reacquaint themselves with their old stomping grounds. Peggy confides that she always had a crush on Corky and admits that her marriage to Duke (Ed Lauter) is falling apart. With some help from Fats, Corky quickly charms Peggy, and for a brief moment, things seem to be going his way. He’s getting the rest he needs before planning his next move back in the city, but that calm is shattered when Ben arrives unannounced to smooth things over, an encounter that ends fatally. Corky begins to spiral, confiding in Fats when alone while keeping up the ventriloquist routine whenever he’s around Peggy and Duke.
Teetering on the edge of a psychotic break, Corky grows increasingly fearful of what he and Fats might do next, especially after Duke starts to catch on to Corky and Peggy’s shared past. Tensions rise further when Duke notices Ben’s car on the property but can’t find Ben himself, leading him to suspect Corky is involved in his disappearance.
With no agent, no one he can trust, and a menacing puppet that appears to be calling the shots, Corky is forced to confront what’s really happening. Is he splitting his personality in two, allowing his violent impulses to live through Fats? Or is the puppet genuinely possessed by a malicious spirit, leaving Corky to reckon with the destruction he’s leaving behind?
Magic does an excellent job exploring Corky’s fractured psyche and the personality inhabiting Fats, ultimately leaving viewers with far more questions than answers. More importantly, Magic’s legacy can’t be overstated, as it directly inspired screenwriter Don Mancini to create 1988’s Child’s Play, which quickly became a full-blown media juggernaut. If you want to see the film that helped kick it all off, you can stream Magic for free on Tubi as of this writing.
