I recall seeing this in the mid-80s, on TV, in what I believe was some kind of made-for-TV one-off anthology movie (although it’s possible it was an episode in a series, like Tales from the Darkside, or the like).
I believe there were three segments, but the one I most clearly remember was about a young boy who was being psychologically tormented by his babysitter. After his parents would leave, his babysitter (I want to say it was a teenage girl) would spend the entire night trying to scare the crap out of him, pretending she was an intruder, pretending she wanted to kill him, etc. I remember one scene where he locked himself in the bathroom, and she was standing outside with a knife, or something, telling him that she was going to murder him, and then making like everything was fine when his parents came back. I can’t recall why he didn’t talk to his parents about this – if he did, they didn’t believe him – so instead he asks this doll he has (I think it was a magician) for help. Anyway, at the end, the magician comes to life and kills the babysitter.
I found it very unsettling at the time – I think I was about the same age as the boy in the story.
I don’t know what it was called, but I remember this- it was hosted by Orson Welles, yes? This is also the only installment I remember, but it was awesome. I remember the end, with the camera focused on the magician back in its doll state as Orson Welles provided voice-over narration about how everyone figured that it must have been an intruder that killed the babysitter. “After all,” he asked, “what else could it have been?” as the camera focused in on the doll’s white glove… stained with a drop of blood.
I saw this in the very early 80’s. I was sure it was a new Alfred Hitchcock Presents or New Twilight Zone. I have looked through very horror anthology series episode list from that time and around and haven’t discovered anything…until I saw this. I was starting to think I had imagined it. It seemed like the girl who played the babysitter was on an afterschool special or that type of thing. I also thought the magician at the end looked like Abraham Lincoln. I had thought that the magician or clown at the beginning of the episode at the boy’s birthday party had given him a gift of a bank or something like that. This has been one of the great mysteries of life for me and would be so happy if I could find this episode!!