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Mannikens of Horror

posted 16 years ago by jeffyoung1
2 replies | jump to latest

Warning: This discussion post contains SPOILERS!

Yes, I discovered through the help of IMDB posters that my childhood memory of the tiny, evil, killer robots was from the 1972 horror anthology, ASYLUM. Most IRONIC of all, I had that dvd in my possession for seven months and didn't know my answer was in it. To make a long story short, I purchased the AMICUS COLLECTION earlier this year. It contained three dvds. I watched two of the horror dvds but didn't open the ASYLUM dvd because the contents appeared boring to me. Had I watched ASYLUM, my question about the killer miniature robot would have been answered!!! LMAO!!!

Okay back to MANNIKENS OF HORROR, which was the fourth featurette in the ASYLUM horror anthology. It was actually a good short horror story. An institutionalized scientist, Dr. Byron (Herbert Lom of Hammer Films fame) theorizes he can temporarily 'project' his soul into a miniature autonomaton and animate it, essentially 'turning it on', like a real, battery-operated, made-in-Japan, tin toy robot. The diffence is he believes he can control the tiny robot remote control by telepathy. The tiny robot has a typical, tiny toy, battery-operated-like robot torso and legs like the toy robots from Japan back in the 1960s. But the robot's head is a duplication of Dr. Byron's own head and facial features. It's sort of a kind of, reverse voodoo. He can see out of the tiny robot's eyes as if he were 'inside' the robot, and it was his body. Of course everyone thinks Dr. Byron is deranged, including the visiting psychiatrist. But it turns out that Dr. Byron succeeds in his experiment. Unfortunately, on the night of his first and only success, Dr. Byron directs the tiny robot to assassinate Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee), the head of the asylum, by directing the robot to stab him in the back of the neck with a scalpel. The visiting psychiatrist spots the tiny robot plodding away in a futile escape attempt. The psychiatrist stomps on the toy robot, smashing its abdomen to reveal, organic, human-like viscera. But when he smashes the robot, the damage is automatically transmitted to its originator, Dr. Byron, who screams out in pain and terror, dying instantly as a result. Dr. Byron's toy manniken was a reflection of self and like the occult world, a type of 'familiar', only mechanical. Whatever damage the mechanical familiar sustained, so did its master, Dr. Byron.

I don't know why the creepy toy robot manniken never became a cult classic toy. I've seen toys manufactured over the past ten years that capitalized on cult sci-fi, fantasy, and horror movies. This would have been an excellent idea. I don't think I've ever come across real, toy robots that have human heads. The combination is creepy, I know, but that's the whole concept.

[–] Henahey41 15 years ago

The dolls were very eery looking.It would be neat if they pute them out for awhile for collectors.There was another film in the 70s that was American made I do believe.Its about dolls that are alive and there were a few films made with these dolls but the name escapes me at present
Oh Herbert Lom that played Byron did a wonderful job as always

[–] MystMoonstruck 11 years ago

For another creepy filmed version, check out this one:
Monsters (TV anthology series), "Mannequins of Horror" (sic)
Season 1, Episode 23, aired May 20, 1989

IMDb review:
Monsters: Mannikins of Horror (the IMDb is definitely wrong, the on-screen title says Mannikins rather than Mannequins) is set in a mental institution where one time brilliant surgeon & inmate Dr. Collins (William Prince) resides, Dr. Jarris (Glynis Barber) feels she can help him but Collins obsession with the little clay men he sculptures with great anatomical detail including giving them hearts & brains convinces the institute warden Dr. Starr (Brian Brophy) that Collins is a hopeless case & beyond help. Starr removes the clay men from Collins room but soon discovers to his cost that that Collins & his creations have a unique bond...

... The story based on one by Robert Bloch had already been adapted & filmed as part of an anthology in the Amicus horror flick Asylum (1972) & the two share some similarities like character names, the setting & various incidents but feel quite different & I would say this is probably the better version. There's a subplot where it's hinted that it's set in a Government controlled state which doesn't really go anywhere but apart from that it's a terrific piece of horror writing & there's a really good solid intriguing story, some creepy scenes & a great ending which if you know the original story won't be a surprise but I suspect most won't have.

One aspect where this version of Mannikins of Horror is far superior to the one in Asylum are the killer puppets themselves which in Asylum were chunky toy like robots that never convinced you they were alive & move about freely while here they are sleek carved men from clay even including genitals for the males! The special effects used here is stop-motion animation & it works really well & a lot of time was obviously spent on it. In fact this whole episode looks quite high budget & polished with good production values, the sets are good & they are more convincing than usual & there's a certain expansive feeling to this episode as well. There's a couple of good gore scenes as well, someone has a knife stuck in their eyeball in close-up while someone else has their face squashed & mangled.

Here's Part 1 on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za-PChAbHrQ[/

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