RATING: A-

A Different Duck Films Production. Produced and directed by Rob Margolies. Written by Jonathan Geffner. Cinematography by Juri Beythien. Edited by Justin Arbabi.

Stars Sean Young, Jonathan Geffner, Deborah Twiss, Ed Altman, Kristen Samuelson, Hari Bhaskar, David Lambert, and Nikolas Bushi.

A detective must solve a series of murders within a secluded inn with one little twist…this detective is a ventriloquist and has a partner with him.

Van Trillo is not your ordinary detective. He moonlights as a stand-up ventriloquist with his partner Suede. One night after a show, he meets the mysterious Chloe Lake. She has told Trillo that she is being stalked and needs his help to find out who and why. When Chloe heads to an inn on the outskirts of the city run by Harriet Hubbard, she thinks everything will be okay. That is, until a body pops up.

After the thought that the stalker may be hunting her down, Chloe decides to leave but since the inn is located in the middle of nowhere, a cab wouldn’t be able to arrive for hours. However, her saving grace has come in the form of Van and Suede. However, as more bodies pop up, one thing is for sure. One of the guests is the killer, but who is it?

This is quite interesting: a murder mystery with a ventriloquist detective and his “partner” solving a series of murders within an inn? It feels like a wild and woolly murder mystery weekend event of sorts. The film’s use of dummies help drive the film and there are more than one with some smaller characters showing their skills. It brings something fresh and exciting to the genre.

To be honest, I had always wondered what came of Sean Young and it was great to see her in a totally different type of role. Known in the 80s and 90s for her sensual roles, it is great to see her go 180 to play the motherly owner of the inn. Even pulling off a somewhat British accent of sorts helps as well. Deborah Twiss plays the classic femme fatale to life in her role of Chloe Lake, who needs Van’s help in finding a stalker who may be in fact doubling as a serial killer. She exudes the right amount of sensuality that would make the likes of Rita Hayworth and Lauren Bacall proud.

However, the major kudos goes to ventriloquist galore Jonathan Geffner, who also wrote and executive produced the film. After a short film and television series, this marks his first feature film, and he is the driving force alongside his partner-in-crime Suede. The duo comes in at the right time and use their resources to the best of their advantage to try to solve the murders.

The Dummy Detective is a fun mystery film that brings something new to the mix. Aside from Jonathan Geffner, Deborah Twiss is a fantastic femme fatale and Sean Young is great in an against-typecast role. If you like old school murder mysteries, add this to your list.