Magie noire

On the verge of a record deal, an aspiring rap group about to sign learns some shady things about the owner and becomes hesitant to sign, so when he uses devious tactics to get what he wants one of the group uses a voodoo-raised doll to seek revenge only to learn the terrible truth about his actions.

This was a pretty enjoyable if still flawed genre effort. What works well here is the fine setup that gets everything going with a strong connection between the various storylines present. By quickly giving us a hint of their musical connection as a group as well as their disgust at the attempted association with the sleazy record producer and his operations, this one provides the kind of overlying setup that has plenty of intriguing elements. It even goes far enough to provide a fantastic grounding for the need to set up the dolls' creation and quest for revenge through his dabblings in voodoo and black magic that ties everything together. The other big positive with this one is the fine work done to bring the doll to life in a solid enough series of ambush attacks. Obviously working within the lower-budge realms of the genre, the initial attack on the henchman in his home as well as the following attack on the group member showcases some cheesy thrills alongside some decent practical effects. The big sequences in the hospital and police station are bigger setpieces in scale and effects-work to sell the idea even more, and the finale that goes through the restaurant kitchen before finishing in the officers upstairs offers some enjoyable ideas and better-than-expected gore. Overall, these manage to hold this up enough. There are some issues here that hold this one down. One of the biggest issues with this one comes from the overlong setup that, despite doing as much as it does to generate the storylines it does, comes at the expense of a lot of action in this part of the film. The lack of action here is also partly due to the low body count required here but it's structured so that the relaxed atmosphere of this section comes up against the rushed second half due to this overlong setup. The other issue here is the low-budget look and feel here which is to be expected with the overall production which all combines together to bring this one down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, and Brief Nudity.

In the Videozone featurette following the film, one of the actors remarks that it was interesting working on the film because in a horror film the black character always dies, but in this film, all the characters were black. He also said that it was good to have the job because there isn't much demand for young black actors in film. The full meaning of these quotes still escape me; I just know that black characters do usually die in horror films, and the only other all-black horror films I can think of are the blaxploitation-era "Blacula" and its sequel "Scream, Blacula, Scream".

It is somewhat ironic that Full Moon Pictures, a low budget horror label, is doing something to rectify such a situation with their Big City Pictures (at this time called Alchemy) "urban horror" spin-off label, since most of the intended audience would not watch or enjoy their films because of the low budget. This is better than the average horror film, but is a "text-book" Full Moon film, which is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you think of Full Moon's releases.

The plot is interesting, and was at least researched. Kwame and his friends are in an independent band on the verge of making it big. Big Pear, a local gangster (gangsta?), offers a lucrative deal to be their manager, and, when Kwame refuses, sends his brothers to hospitalize Kwame's grandmother. For revenge, Kwame looks up some of his grandmother's spells (she was a sorceress, can't remember if it was specifically described as voodoo sorcery or not), and calls upon the Shadow Man to put his "killing magic" into Kwame's grandmother's wooden rag doll to kill Big Pear and his brothers. Unfortunately, the killing magic comes at a price, and for every person the rag doll kills for Kwame, it must also take another life, from someone that Kwame cares about.

The acting isn't Oscar-calibre, but far from horrible (except for the grandmother, who acts well but, as a result of no make-up budget, looks like she's in her late 30's and not at all injured from Big Pear's brothers' "attack"), and the special effects aren't all that special. In this case, the Ragdoll isn't the slightest bit frightening or menacing (and actually sounds like a Furby or other child's toy), but the actors do an excellent job of selling it. The music by the band was enjoyable, and introduces a new Full Moon market - the urban soundtrack. If you liked Full Moon's other killer puppet/doll flicks, you'll enjoy this, and if not, haven't you learned to stay away from Full Moon titles by now?

I'm feeling really generous today. Ordinarily I'd rate this movie at 2/10 or less. Ordinarily I may not have even finished watching this movie, but today I'm feeling magnanimous.

The tritely named "Ragdoll" is about... well, it's about a ragdoll, but there's more to it than that. Kwame (Russell Richardson) is the lead vocalist of a New Orleans rap group called KT Bounce and they are hot. So hot in fact that a local Suge Knight-type joker named Pere (pronounced pear) wants to sign them and he won't take no for an answer. When Kwame et al do say no in a rather public and disrespectful fashion, Pere has his two nephews attack Kwame's grandmother whom he affectionately calls Gran (Freda Payne).

After Gran is hospitalized, Kwame goes home to do some "conjuring" and makes a deal with the Shadow Man (Fredrick D. Tucker) to have Pere and co. dealt with. This Faustian bargain has an unstated price, but you know that whatever the price, it's going to be hefty. The price ended up being a life for a life: whatever adversarial life the Shadow Man took via the vicious ragdoll, he took the life of one of Kwame's friends.

The movie's biggest issue was the ragdoll. It was terribly unbelievable. Not that I'd believe in an animated ragdoll anyway, but it would help if the ragdoll actually moved. The ragdoll would suddenly appear places and through the magic of cinematography (cutting from scene to scene) it would have a weapon or it would be "attacking" someone. It was a joke. But, I'm sure if they had a bigger budget they could've solved that problem. In fact, a bigger budget would've solved a lot of problems: the lighting, the sound, the set, and the ragdoll. The plot and the acting were decent. In fact, they kept me tuned in. Everything else, however, was a turn off.

This is yet another effort of full moon. and a better one at that. seventeen year old KWAME performs in a local hip hop band. while living with his aged grandmother, he has grown up listening to her "magical powers". When his Gran is put into the hospital by local thugs, KWAME invokes the killing magic and puts it in his Gran's old rag doll. However there is a terrible price to pay for dealing with the magic of the killing kind. I gave this movie **1/2 stars. The story is good. It would have gotten higher if the doll hadnt looked so damned fake! Still,RENT IT!

7/10

I have a soft spot in my heart for Full Moon productions. What I appreciate about their movies, at least their 80s and 90s output, is their ability to tell small stories really well (HIDEOUS and HEAD OF THE FAMILY being fine examples). RAGDOLL is a great example. It's a morality tale, reminiscent of PUMPKINHEAD (also quite good).

The story is familiar but told well. It's elevated by excellent performances, particularly from Tarnell Poindexter, William Stanford Davis, Freda Payne, and a brief but memorable performance by Frederic Tucker as Shadowman. Russell Richardson, as Kwame, performs capably. The breath-taking Jennia Fredrique Aponte turns in a strong performance as his girlfriend, Teesha.

I'm glad I stumbled across this movie. I really enjoyed it.

1-3 Don't waste your time 4-6 Decent/good 7-9 Great 10 Outstanding.