Puppet Master (1989)

Very disappointing...

That was an excellent one.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The first in an interminable series of low-budget comic shockers from Full Moon Entertainment, PUPPET MASTER is exactly the sort of horror film that you'd expect the late 1980s to produce. It's often cheesy, with an extraordinarily slim plot that consists of characters wandering around a haunted hotel and getting offed in various grisly ways, and the only thing that matches the fashions and haircuts for awfulness is the quality of the acting. Yet this film has something about it to distinguish it from more general run-of-the-mill fare, and that's the puppets. For those who don't know, there are five different killer puppets, all with their own special methods for killing. The little dolls are equipped with knives, huge hands, leeches, and drills, while the ringleader has a cool rotating head effect which is often put to good use.As mentioned, the plot is little more than the 'old dark house' style of horror that was clichéd back in the 1930s! Characters have boring flashbacks, engaging in unnecessarily gratuitous sex sessions (anything to keep the viewer's attention) and generally act in less than impressive ways. With a bunch of B-movie stars and TV actors, the only one who really stands out is MIDNIGHT EXPRESS's Irene Miracle, but her screen time is limited. Perpetual old-timer William Hickey is the titular puppet master, but his screen time is limited to a few minutes at the beginning of the flick.So what of the puppets? The most interesting thing is the quality of the special effects – they're fantastic. Forget all the other 'killer doll' movies, PUPPET MASTER is tops when it comes to creepy animated creations, and that's primarily because they're animated through stop motion, with lots of all little cool tricks thrown in to keep the viewer guessing as to how they did it. Dave Allen is the guy behind the animation, and he does a brilliant job as always. For a guy who began his career on a prehistoric Hammer flick and ended it on straight-to-video horror cheese, he doesn't disappoint. There's a pretty outrageous level of gruesomeness on display, with the sickest moment being the death-by-leeches scene which manages to out-gross SLUGS. Most of the disgust is saved up for the final scene, in which the puppets take their revenge on a living zombie filled with embalming fluid. The result is a viscous, vicious moment. Surprisingly, some of the scare scenes – like Miracle being stalked through corridors and lifts by the puppets – are effective and the film as a whole is easy to watch and pretty entertaining whenever the puppets are on screen, and that's a lot.

Here's a short and not-so-sweet review.A few things about me: a horror fan that was a teen in the 80s, I'm a real buff of scary, solid films. For instance, John Carpenter's The Thing, Jacob's Ladder, and Alien/Aliens. And - I can like camp for its own merits... as long as it's well done.There's always been a number of supposed "classics" that I planned to see... someday. (Haven't seen Leprachaun yet, believe it or not.)Today was the day I finally saw Puppetmaster. At least the half of it I could get through before I gave up. Terrible pacing, terrible script, boring and bland. And that's coming from someone who's terrified of evil dolls, and had nightmares because of Magic, Trilogy of Terror and Poltergeist.Sorry, but this one was a major waste of time and a yawn-fest.

The Puppetmaster, the flagship picture for Full Moon Entertainment, was the start for a huge line of B-budget productions by Charles Band, some of them being cheap, Z-grade garbage, others being halfway-decent yet unmemorable quickie-films. Then there are the Full Moon films that stick with you despite their faults. The Puppetmaster belongs to the third group. To this day, this film has held a place for me where so many have fallen to the wayside. It's one of those few in its genre that has a lasting effect. The script is banal and FARRRRR from spectacular, and yet I can remember most every line of it even though I haven't seen it in six months. The special effects are indeed B-budget, but even so they capture my imagination in ways that some CGI movies today couldn't hope to; the puppets involve me rather than detach me. The theme, performed by Band's brother Richard, cannot be repelled from my mind, while many Big-budget show-tunes escape me only days after I hear them. There's something about this low-budget film that really grabs you. So is not to say that this film is without any flaws. In fact, it's rife with them. On the surface, there are many technical goofs in the film (the scene in the elevator, with Tunneler's arm rods being vaguely visible, is an example.)More internally, the script is weak in one major respect: its characters. None of the film's characters feel very real; each feels more like a caricature, made to cater to a certain stereotype or mold. For example,we don't learn much about the character of Dana Hadley, played by Irene Miracle,other than that she's an alcoholic witch. The same can be said about the characters of Frank Forrester and Carissa Stamford; we are led to believe that they are both brilliant minds and lovers, yet all we see are a couple of sex-crazed numb-skulls. The protagonist, Alex Whitaker, played by Paul Le Mat, is one of only two characters that doesn't quite ply into a stereotype. Instead, he's sort of an uninvolved character, who doesn't say much to reveal anything about his personality.And thus, he's sort of a weak protagonist. This is Puppetmaster's biggest problem: while the film has the air of mystery and spookiness, the scares aren't as strong because we don't care too much about the characters. The motives of these characters are fairly well-clarified, they're just missing something: emotion. I don't recall a single human emotion, other than fear or distaste, being shown to me. And the characters lack that third dimension because of it. If the movie had characters that you could like and feel for on top of its other elements, it would be better twofold because the scares would be more potent. The flaws in character don't mean that Puppetmaster is a bad film. In fact, I very much enjoy this film as well as the series as a whole, and I would recommend at least giving it a try, especially if you're a horror fan. After all, it's only 83 minutes long, and moves quickly. As for me, I'm actually in the process of finalizing my own script for a remake of The Puppetmaster, if only for my own satisfaction in doing so. A remake where you enjoy the puppet master atmosphere, that mystery it has about it, but also feel for the characters, scaring you even more when they are offed. I think that's what any knowledgeable fan would want.

When I turned on "Puppetmaster" and saw that it takes place in Bodega Bay, best known as the setting of "The Birds" (and also a movie called "The Pack"), I suspected that I was in for something neat. It's not a bad movie. Paul Le Mat (John Milner in "American Graffiti" and Melvin Dummar in "Melvin & Howard") plays a psychic who goes to a hotel to meet one of his colleagues with some other colleagues, only to slowly find out that the hotel is overrun by murderous puppets brought to life by an Egyptian formula.This movie does have some of the sorts of things that you might expect in such a movie. Without a doubt, the puppets are the real stars, especially Blade (the one with the hook). I guess that if I could suggest a way that they might have improved the movie, then it would be to go a bit more into the back story of the ancient formula that animated the puppets. Otherwise, it's a really cool movie! Also starring William Hickey (the godfather in "Prizzi's Honor" and the patriarch in "Mouse Hunt").