For me, it’s hard to separate Anthony Hopkins from Hannibal Lector. They are one in the same not unlike Mark Hamill and Luke Skywalker or Daniel Radcliffe and Harry Potter or Samuel L. Jackson and Arnold from Jurassic Park. Okay, maybe not so much that last one. I’ve seen Anthony Hopkins in numerous roles, sure—and he’s always quite good—but, still, he’s always Hannibal Lector. That character is perhaps more his than the character’s creator, Thomas Harris.
Thus, it’s probably not surprising that I’d never even considered what Hopkins did prior to Silence of the Lambs. In looking at his acting credits, I know I’ve seen several of his previous films, but not many. And, prior to last night, I’d never even heard of Magic, which is surprising considering my love for 70s and 80s horror.
In Magic, Anthony Hopkins plays Corky, a struggling magician who finds his way to success through ventriloquism. His obsession with his puppet, Fats, however, soon has Corky descending into madness and causing all sorts of problems.
It should come as no surprise that Anthony Hopkins is brilliant in this role. In fact, my wife and I were certain he must have been an amateur magician before his acting career took off. The little things he did, like nonchalantly playing with cards or walking a coin across his fingers, made us think he must have been doing it for years. Even his use of Fats, the puppet, appears perfectly done. It is not someone else’s voice being used; it’s Anthony Hopkins, and you can see his neck or lip move slightly with certain words, just like with real professionals of the craft. However, in just a quick read of his Wikipedia page, I find nothing suggesting he was ever a magician or real life ventriloquist. He’s just that damn good at acting.
He’s not the only one. Burgess Meredith of Rocky fame is excellent as Corky’s fateful agent. Ann-Margret is splendid in her role as Corky’s love interest, as well as being gorgeous as ever.
Magic is really fucking good. It keeps you on edge almost from the beginning as you follow Corky on his fall into madness. You can feel his inner torture. He knows something is wrong with him, but he also has not intent of doing anything about it. There isn’t much gore and not enough naked Ann-Margret (we do get one nice nipple shot), but the acting and writing are so damn good that this should be a horror classic. The ending, too, is one of those conclusions that’s perfectly executed.
Have I been living in a cave regarding this one? How have I not come across it before? I will say, the title does not help. Magic could mean anything. It could be kids fantasy movie or something. A more menacing title would have perhaps made it more popular in the horror community.
PC3’s Horror and Exploitation Movie Scale of Awesomeness!
Gore - 3
Special Effects - 6
Nudity/Sexuality - 7
Wow Factor - 8
Acting - 10
Fear Factor - 8
Story/Plot/Originality - 9
Cinematography/Atmosphere - 7
Sound/Music - 5
Fun Factor - 6
Magic gets a sky high score of 69. Hell, if there had been some more gore and a nice raunchy sex scene, it might have gotten the highest PHEMSA score ever. But, honestly, adding those things would have taken away from the overall tension of the script. Give this one a good watch. We found it for free on Tubi.