Hi there,
When I was growing up nothing terrified quite so much as WAYLAND FLOWERS and MADAME. In the late 1970's, she was on T.V. all the time and I just could not bear to watch her. Ventriloquist dummies are creepy at their best, but with her huge pointy chin and gaping mouth, she looked like she was going to devour WAYLAND FLOWERS' head. My wife hated her just as much as I did … you can see why we were destined to marry.
Here's a clip of her in the REDD FOXX movie NORMAN, IS THAT YOU?:
Yes, ventriloquist dummies can be creepy.
Here's one that freaked out us GenX-ers in the late 70's:
https://www.kindertrauma.com/?p=3493
Oh, you may want to avoid the puppets from Spitting Image!
Yep. I wouldn't say that I was creeped out as much as I just absolutely hated that puppet. The puppet was this hideous crone and since I did not get any of the jokes I focused on Flowers. I could easily see his lips moving and I was totally unimpressed as I thought that the illusion was the whole point of the thing. I saw a memorial show after his death around 1990 I think and he seemed like such a good guy, I felt really bad for hating his act so much. I wish that I could time travel back to '78 and watch some tube – I'm sure that I'd find it fascinating.
Personally, I prefer Peter Griffin and Madame…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQocGv6e4vY
(In Italian, sorry, it was the only clip I could find…)
"Hey, come back! We're gonna sing 'Rainbow Connection'!"
Yes, Madame was pure terror.
As a kid I always liked Madame as well as Bob from Soap. However I never did like the Rod Hull Emu puppet that would attack everyone- I thought he was just mean! But now, having watched the character as an adult (me, not Emu!) I think he's pretty funny. I still have a fondness for the puppetry arts but I agree that there as something creepy about a lot of ventriloquism. I think FOT is right- for a lot of people that is due to the movie Magic.
Nothing is more frightening and disturbing than the dead-eyed stare and penile proboscis of Lady Elaine Fairchilde. Nothing.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=86142830220
I hated Madame on Solid Gold! That junk took time away from the music and dancing.