5.6 /10 1 Votes
Cinematography Anna Holiday Initial release 1984 Screenplay Chester Novell Turner Budget 10,000 USD | 2.8/5 Black Horror Movies Written by Chester Novell Turner Productioncompany CNT Production Company Director Chester Novell Turner Produced by Chester Novell Turner Music by Chester Novell Turner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Starring Shirley L. JonesGladys AmesBernard Brown Edited by Chester Novell TurnerDavid Ichikawa (recut) Similar Tales from the QuadeaD, Black Devil Doll, Out in the Silence, Devil Doll, Doll from Hell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Black Devil Doll From Hell is a 1984 blaxploitation cult horror film that was written, directed, and produced by Chester Novell Turner, and is his directorial debut. The movie stars Shirley L. Jones, who would go on to perform in Turner's second feature Tales from the QuadeaD Zone, which released in 1987.
Contents
A copy of the film is held in the Yale University Libraries' archives.
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Synopsis
Helen Black is a religious young woman who is determined to abstain from sex until marriage. This all changes once she purchases a supposedly haunted doll from a thrift store, after which point Helen's sex drive becomes insatiable.
Cast
Production
When Turner began working on Black Devil Doll From Hell, he initially intended the story to be one of several featured in the anthology film Tales from the QuadeaD Zone. The short was turned into a feature-length film after Turner noted that the script had grown too long to be part of an anthology. Turner wrote the script over a period of three and a half days, however filming took place over several years on a budget of about $10,000. Most of the film's budget went towards paying the cast and crew involved with the film, as Turner was unaware that it is accepted practice for some performers and crew to work for free when making an independent film. During filming Turner began dating actress Shirley L. Jones, who would return for Turner's second film.
The titular devil doll from the movie was modeled after the performer Rick James and Turner's young nephew portrayed the doll in walking scenes. As Turner had no prior experience in filmmaking, he took a correspondence course to help him with the movie.
Release
The film was first released in 1984 through Hollywood Home Video, a working relationship that Turner has described as exploitative. Copies of Black Devil Doll From Hell were circulated to various video rental stores, where they were rented "over and over and over". Despite the film enjoying some popularity, Turner only received $6 for each VHS copy purchased and was not certain how many copies of the film were actually sold by the distributor. Hollywood Home Video also made extensive edits to Turner's film, resulting in the removal of seventy minutes of footage and of Turner's original soundtrack.
In 2013 Massacre Video released Black Devil Doll From Hell as part of a DVD box set along with Tales from the QuadeaD Zone. The set also featured commentary from Turner and Shirley L. Jones, a documentary on both films, and the original version of Black Devil Doll From Hell. Both Black Devil Doll From Hell and Tales from the QuadeaD Zone received a screening in Austin, Texas that same year, as part of a film event hosted by the Austin Film Society and attended by both Turner and Jones.
Reception
Horrornews.net commented that the film was "hard to recommend" but contained a good ending and "some truly unbelievable lines of dialogue". DVD Talk gave Black Devil Doll From Hell two stars, remarking that they preferred the edited cut over Turner's original version. Shock Cinema Magazine reviewed the movie in 1991, writing that "It revels unashamedly in its own misogynistic mindset and utter incompetency, and I can't imagine an uglier, more unbelievably inept piece of rotgut. Difficult to endure, impossible to forget, and loads of fun to discuss afterward (sorta like bragging about battle wounds)."