Charlie Boy on AllMovie

Another episode of the short-lived but wonderfully creepy "Hammer House of Horror" TV series, this supernatural thriller is spiced with some darkly comic touches. The title refers to a nickname given to a weird-looking little African fetish doll, from which emanates a curse that claims the lives of a small circle of friends -- specifically, all of those pictured in a single group photograph -- who took part in its theft under the misguided belief that it would bring them luck. The deaths are cleverly staged, and mostly involve some particularly nasty stab wounds (though Charlie doesn't actually spring to hideous life like his fetish compatriot in Trilogy of Terror). This and other installments of Hammer's well-made BBC series were introduced to the U.S. through pay-TV, then appeared on the now-defunct Thrillervideo label, hosted (and endlessly heckled) by slinky horror-hostess Elvira.