Anthony Hopkins stars are Corky, a young magician/ventriloquist who has no charm. He bombs in his first ever live performance. Enter Fats, a puppet that Corky incorporates into his act that makes him an overnight sensation. But perhaps there's more to Fats that meets the eye. Upon receiving an offer for a TV pilot deal, Corky refuses to comply with a mandatory medical check and goes into hiding. He tracks down his high school crush, Peggy, and stays in one of her cabins. Romance begins to kindle between the two. However, it is threatened when Corky’s manager tracks him down and Peggy’s husband returns home.
Hopkins’ performance has drawn comparisons to his future work as Hannibal Lechter. I don’t see it. While both characters are clearly psychotic, Corky is a more unhinged and paranoid type of madman. Lechter is a more composed and intelligent killer. Still, Hopkins delivers a terrific performance both as the quiet, unassuming Corky and the obnoxious, perverse, and demented Fats. Burgess Meredith also shows up and turns in another fantastic outing as Corky’s manager. The weakest performer is Ann-Margret as Peggy. She isn’t unwatchably bad or anything though and she looks stunning as Hopkins love interest.
It takes a while for the ball to get rolling and the horror gets lost in all the melodrama at times. Which really isn’t too bad, but could have benefitted from a better build to Peggy’s introduction. But there are some really intense scenes here. Meredith challenging Hopkins not to allow Fats to speak for 5 minutes stands out as a highlight. Once it gets past the halfway point, people start dying and Corky is faced with tense situation after situation. There’s some great Hitchcockian suspense if you can get through all of the setup.
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