Perfect cast and a good story

Instant Favorite.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

***SPOILERS*** Off the wall horror movie about this Devil Cullt called Gamba that poor out of work and trying to get back on his feet Rick Turner played by Robert Alda, Alphonso Giusseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo, ends up joining against his better judgment. It was the girl of Rick's dreams Bianca Milan, Linda Christian, that got him to join the cult so he could get to know as well as be close to her. That despite his girlfriend Donna Trent, Arindna Welter, trying to get him to see the danger he as well as she's facing in him being connected in this evil Devil Cult.Run by doll maker Francis Lamont, Neil Hamilton, the cult is obligated by it's master The Great and All Knowing Gamba to perform a human sacrifice once a month when the moon is full. With Nick now up to his neck in this Devil Cult business he's soon picked by Lamont to perform the monthly human sacrifice on non other then his girlfriend Donna or, if he chickens out, be sacrificed in her place. It's when Lamont is about to sacrifice Donna, after Rick refused, that all hell breaks loose with Rick setting the place, Gamba Central, on fire and together with Donna running for their lives as the place burns down.****SPOILERS**** In the end we get to see that the Devil Cult or at least Bianca survived the carnage with her again about to haunt Rick's dreams and get him under her control like she did before. As for Lamont and th cult members they seemed to have perished in the flames but no bodies were ever found so we can expect a return visit, like that from Bianca, from them in the very near future for an encore!

A man has strange visions of a mystery woman. One day he notices a doll in a shop window which exactly resembles the enigmatic lady who inhabits his dreams. He ventures in and is soon entwined in an underground voodoo cult.The Devil's Hand in another low budget offering from Crown International Pictures, who were one of the main B-movie producers of their time. This one is on the whole fairly standard stuff with not a huge amount to differentiate it from the crowd. It focuses on occult practices, yet, aside from the dastardly leader, we never really see the cultists do much in the way of evil. We see their ceremonies in action though, which consisted of a revolving sword device that members of the cult spun like they were trying to win money on a game-show. Not only that but there was also a seemingly ever-present bongo player who ensured that a voodoo vibe was maintained at all times. The dolls themselves were quite a cute idea and certainly were the most memorable part of the cult's practices. The film itself has an early 60's charm about it that buys it some credit, while it is short and fast-paced enough to never outstay its welcome. It should please those with a taste for old school horror flicks, at least some extent.

I first saw this film on WXYZ TV's "Scream Theater" in Detroit during the late 1970s. Back then, a movie made in 1961 was one of the more "recent" films showing on TV.I always loved this film. I love the fantastic opening theme by Baker Knight and the Knight-mares. I also like the immaculate B&W cinematography (you have to see a fine grain 35mm print to appreciate it). The mood throughout is excellent--with very few dollars at their disposal, the producers succeed in creating a stylish twilight world where evil magic is quite real. The finely sculpted voodoo dolls are very creepy and the incidental music adds to the film's eeriness.The actors are all good, although I always felt Robert Alda wasn't attractive enough for the role of "Rick." When I was in high school and this was showing up on late night TV, I felt he "just missed" being handsome. Sleazy-sexy Ray Danton would have been my choice—Ray was HOT.I remember when 1981 rolled around and "Devil's Hand" was scheduled to air one Friday night. TV Guide listed its release date as 1961 and I was shocked to think this movie was now 20 years old! Up until then, movies made in the early sixties were fairly recent history—everyone remembered them.Today, nobody remembers them. Marijuana-worshiping 21st century audiences sneer because the actors wore attractive clothes (not jeans & tank tops), had their hair done (no floppy Marcia Brady 'dos) and had their faces on before being photographed...what a concept! "The Devil's Hand" is more than a creepy, late-night thriller. It's a handsome time capsule which proves America was a LOT more attractive before the drug-fueled "cultural revolution." Goodbye 1961, we're going to miss you!

Followers of my reviews do know that I have problems with science-fiction and horror made in the fifties and sixties. Mostly there's nothing going on, I admit, there are a few exceptions but still, most of them use cheap effects and are really outdated. A thing we can't say from for example the Universal Horrors. But sometimes I do come across horrors made in that era. The reason is simple, I collect also grindhouse and drive-in flicks and let this one be available in a grindhouse box. Although it doesn't contain any nudity and not a blink of blood I still enjoyed it. It's about a man Rick Turner (Robert Alda) who's engaged to Donna Trent(Ariadna Welter) but is seeing a beautiful woman Bianca Milan (Linda Christian) in his dreams. By mysterious encounters he's visiting a doll shop. A few strange things happen and without knowing he sees the doll that looks like his woman in his dream. He goes searching for her in real life finds her and is introduced to a cult.From there on you can easily know what will happen towards the end but by clocking in at 71 minutes it's over before you know it. The acting is sometimes a bit exaggerated, a thing so typical for films from that era. Linda Christian really looks gorgeous in her nightgown and they tried to add a bit of romantic pieces. It's also funny to see that smoking was a hot thing in bed and in fact everywhere. For such an old flick the sound was rather okay as did the editing and the way it was filmed. But it shows because the director William J. Hole Jr. did move on to Peyton Place (1968-1969)and The Bionic Women (1976) as director.Above average for a flick from that time and even as it isn't that wellknown it's worth picking up. And the last 10 seconds I had a big laugh, just see it...Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 0,5/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5