Puppet Master spawned at least 6 sequels. None of these are as good as this first outing, although part 2 deserves note for it's flamethrower toting Torch puppet. When I initially saw Puppet Master I was fairly new to the Horror genre and thought it was fantastic. Three years on and with the benefit of hindsight and perspective, Puppet Master is okay, but isn't going to set your world alight.
So long as you don't lose sight of the fact that this is Straight-To-Video trash in it's purest form, you'll never have any trouble fully enjoying what Puppet Master has to offer. The bad acting, cheesy music and noisy splatter effects are all part and parcel of what you should expect from American B-Movie horror, but there's a great charm and knowing sense of fun about the movie lacking from a lot of movies with more money thrown at them.
Most of this is the result of the painstaking work put into bringing the puppets to life. The puppets are a mix of animatronics, pure animation and some improvised techniques, and as a result have a life all of their own, making them far more watchable than the cast. Although Irene Miracle and Paul LeMat put in fairly decent turns, the rest of the cast are shocking (and not in the good way you normally associate with horror) and hopefully people you've never seen in anything else, meaning you will spend the movie rooting for the puppets.
All in all, for a movie so utterly riddled with problems, Puppet Master is still a fun ride. I certainly have no qualms recommending it for a quick rental or a rainy day, but I'll warn you one last time, it is cheesy, gory and trashy so it won't be for everyone.
So long as you don't lose sight of the fact that this is Straight-To-Video trash in it's purest form, you'll never have any trouble fully enjoying what Puppet Master has to offer. The bad acting, cheesy music and noisy splatter effects are all part and parcel of what you should expect from American B-Movie horror, but there's a great charm and knowing sense of fun about the movie lacking from a lot of movies with more money thrown at them.
Most of this is the result of the painstaking work put into bringing the puppets to life. The puppets are a mix of animatronics, pure animation and some improvised techniques, and as a result have a life all of their own, making them far more watchable than the cast. Although Irene Miracle and Paul LeMat put in fairly decent turns, the rest of the cast are shocking (and not in the good way you normally associate with horror) and hopefully people you've never seen in anything else, meaning you will spend the movie rooting for the puppets.
All in all, for a movie so utterly riddled with problems, Puppet Master is still a fun ride. I certainly have no qualms recommending it for a quick rental or a rainy day, but I'll warn you one last time, it is cheesy, gory and trashy so it won't be for everyone.