Ragdoll (film)

Last updated
Ragdoll
Directed by Ted Nicolaou
Written by Benjamin Carr
Story by Charles Band
Produced byKirk Edward Hansen
Starring
Cinematography Mac Ahlberg
Music byBooker T. Jones III
Production
company
Distributed by Full Moon Features
Release date
  • December 21, 1999 (1999-12-21)(United States)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Ragdoll is a 1999 American horror film directed by Ted Nicolaou. [1] The film was later edited into a thirty-minute short entitled Voodoo Doll for the horror anthology Devil Dolls . [2]

Contents

Plot

A talented teenage rapper named Kwame uses his Grandmother's ancient voodoo (magic of the killing kind) to help him in his revenge against the sadistic crime boss trying to extort his group, after he and his two brothers put her in the hospital. He summons the dark spirit known as the Shadow Man, to kill the criminal and his brothers. When the Shadow Man asks Kwame what he will pay, Kwame says that he will promise him any thing, except his Grandmother, or the deal is off.

The Shadow Man uses magic to give life to an old ragdoll, and sends it to kill. Kwame soon learns that with each death of his enemies, the ragdoll then kills someone he cares about. When his girlfriend, Tisha, is targeted, his Grandmother uses her magic to secretly trade places with Tisha. When the ragdoll comes and kills her, it breaks the deal with the Shadow Man, as Kwame said his Grandmother could not be harmed. Though Tisha is safe , Kwame can only mourn for his dead friends and Grandmother.

Cast

Production

The film was originally announced in 1992, [3] but it did not begin pre-production until 1999. [4] Charles Band stated that rumors that Paramount had shut down production of the film were untrue; he chose not to shoot the film, as he felt that it needed more time to develop. [5]

Release

Big City Records, a music label owned by Full Moon, released an associated soundtrack, Ragdoll: Music Inspired By The Motion Picture. This was the label's first release. [6]

Reception

Dread Central thought highly of the edited version of the film for Devil Dolls, writing "here’s a halfway decent story here and some enjoyably hammy acting bolstering it". [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Stanley (director)</span> South African filmmaker

Richard Stanley is a South African filmmaker, known for his work in the horror genre. He began his career making short films and music videos, and subsequently directed the feature films Hardware (1990) and Dust Devil (1992), both of which are considered cult classics. He was the original director of The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), but was fired early into principal photography due to creative differences, an episode recounted in the 2014 documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau. In 2019, he returned to feature films after more than 20 years, directing the H. P. Lovecraft adaptation Color Out of Space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. Merritt</span> American novelist

Abraham Grace Merritt – known by his byline, A. Merritt – was an American Sunday magazine editor and a writer of fantastic fiction.

<i>Childs Play</i> (1988 film) 1988 American slasher film by Tom Holland

Child's Play is a 1988 American slasher film directed by Tom Holland, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Don Mancini and John Lafia, and based on a story by Mancini. It is the first film in the Child's Play series and the first installment to feature the character Chucky. It stars Catherine Hicks and Chris Sarandon with Brad Dourif as Chucky. Its plot follows a widowed mother who gives a doll to her son, unaware that the doll is possessed by the soul of a serial killer.

<i>Puppet Master</i> (film) 1989 American horror film by David Schmoeller

Puppet Master is a 1989 American horror film written by Charles Band and Kenneth J. Hall, and directed by David Schmoeller. The film stars Paul Le Mat, Irene Miracle, Matt Roe and Kathryn O'Reilly as psychics who are plotted against by a former colleague, using puppets animated by an Egyptian spell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Band</span> American film director

Charles Robert Band is an American film producer and director, known for his work on horror comedy movies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voodoo doll</span> Effigy into which pins are inserted

The term Voodoo doll commonly refers to an effigy that is typically used for the insertion of pins. Such practices are found in various forms in the magical traditions of many cultures around the world.

<i>Venom</i> (2005 film) 2005 American film

Venom is a 2005 American horror film directed by Jim Gillespie and starring Agnes Bruckner, Jonathan Jackson, Laura Ramsey, Meagan Good, D. J. Cotrona and Method Man. It is the final film by Dimension Films to be released during their Miramax tenure before The Walt Disney Company, Miramax's parent company at the time, sold Dimension to The Weinstein Company (TWC) on October 1, 2005.

Mel Johnson Jr. is an American character actor and film producer from Long Island City, Queens, in New York City.

Chris Alexander is a Canadian magazine editor, film critic, director, musician, composer, teacher and writer. Alexander was a member of the Toronto Film Critics Association and was the editor-in-chief of Fangoria, an editor of American film website ComingSoon.net and a writer for the daily newspaper Metro News.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Full Moon Features</span> American motion picture company

Full Moon Features is an American motion picture production and distribution company headed by B-movie veteran Charles Band. It is known for the direct-to-video series Puppet Master, Trancers, and Subspecies, as well as the film Castle Freak and the VideoZone featurette through 1989 to 2013.

Lindsay Craig Shonteff was a Canadian born film director, film producer and screenwriter who achieved fame for low-budget films produced in the United Kingdom.

<i>Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust</i> 2008 American film

Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust is a 2008 American slasher film written and directed by Silvia St. Croix. The film is a sequel to the 2005 film The Gingerdead Man. The distributor of the film is Full Moon Entertainment. The film was originally titled Gingerdead Man 2: Bakery of Blood.

<i>Art of the Devil 3</i> 2008 Thai film

Art of the Devil 3 is a 2008 Thai horror film directed by Kongkiat Khomsiri, Art Thamthrakul, Yosapong Polsap, Putipong Saisikaew, Isara Nadee, Pasith Buranajan and Seree Pongniti. It was released by Five Star Production.

<i>The Devils Carnival</i> 2012 American film

The Devil's Carnival is a 2012 American musical horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and starring Sean Patrick Flanery, Briana Evigan, Jessica Lowndes, Paul Sorvino, Emilie Autumn and Terrance Zdunich. The film marks the second collaboration of Bousman and writer/actor Terrance Zdunich, their previous work being the musical film Repo! The Genetic Opera. The film also brings back several of the cast members of Repo!, such as Sorvino, Alexa Vega, Bill Moseley and Nivek Ogre. The Devil's Carnival has Aesop's Fables and other folklore at the core of its story, with the main characters each representing a fable. Flanery's character John represents "Grief and His Due", Evigan's character Merrywood represents "The Dog and Its Reflection", and Lowndes' character Tamara represents "The Scorpion and the Frog", an animal fable that seems to have first emerged in Russia.

<i>Puppet Master X: Axis Rising</i> 2012 American horror film

Puppet Master X: Axis Rising is a 2012 American action horror film and is the tenth entry in the Puppet Master film series. Produced and directed by Charles Band, it is a direct sequel to 2010's Puppet Master: Axis of Evil and introduces new puppets named Blitzkrieg, Bombshell, Kamikaze, and Weremacht, who fight alongside the Nazis. Puppet Master X: Axis Rising was released on October 9, 2012 by Full Moon Features.

The Hookers are an American hardcore punk band based in Louisville, Kentucky. Originally formed in Lexington in 1994 as the Fayette County Hookers, the name was shortened before their first independent release Kiss My Fuckin Ass 7-inch EP in 1996. Their first full length album, Satan's Highway, was released on Scooch Pooch records in 1998 and followed closely by the Listen Up, Baby! split LP with Electric Frankenstein in the same year. On various independent labels, The Hookers released two more full length albums: Black Visions of Crimson Wisdom in 1999 and Equinox Beyond Tomorrow Volume 1 in 2001. The band recorded the Blood Over Germany live album in 2001 on Century Media Records. After 2001, The Hookers were considered to be inactive as their heretofore intensive touring and release schedule was curtailed. Their song "The Legend of Black Thunder" was included on Tony Hawk's Underground videogame soundtrack in 2003. In 2008, the band put out an ersatz greatest hits record of live and unreleased tracks titled Ripped From The Crypt and once again became active with multiple EP and split EP releases. The Hookers toured in support of their fourth independent full length release, 2011's Horror Rises from the Tombs.

C. Courtney Joyner is an American author, screenwriter, director and occasional actor. He is also the cousin of actress Allison Mackie.

Shadow Man (Michael LeRoi) is a fictional antihero who appears in comic books co-published by Valiant Comics and Acclaim Entertainment. The character debuted in Shadowman Volume 2 #1 (May 1997), and was created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Ashley Wood. He is the second character to hold the title of Shadowman after Jack Boniface and also stars in the Shadow Man video game franchise by Acclaim Entertainment.

<i>The Devils Dolls</i> 2016 American film

The Devil's Dolls, originally titled Worry Dolls, is a 2016 American horror film that was directed by Padraig Reynolds. It stars Christopher Wiehl as a detective that must find a way to free his daughter from the influence of cursed worry dolls that cause their owners to commit horrific crimes. The film was first released on June 27, 2016 in the United Kingdom and was retitled for its American release.

References

  1. Rap Pages, Volume 9, Issues 7-8. L.F.P. Incorporated. 2000. p. 59. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 Foy, Scott (March 7, 2012). "review, Devil Dolls (DVD)". Dread Central . Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  3. Berman, Marc (October 29, 1992). "Two theatricals top Full Moon's slate". Variety . Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  4. "Full Moon unit sets pix". Variety . April 20, 1999. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  5. Fischer, Dennis (2011). Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998. McFarland Publishing. p. 90. ISBN   9780786485055.
  6. "A Knight To Remember for Gladys; Epic, Sony Soundtrax Set Gets Hot 'Streak' Of Promos". Billboard . August 7, 1999.