Andre Toulon (William Hickey) was a "puppet master" in the 1930s, creating life from inanimate dolls with ancient Egyptian methods. But he hides the dolls when Nazis come looking for him. Flash forward to 1989, and a group of magicians and psychics meet in his old home where they find the dolls and find them just a wee bit violent and bloodthirsty. Also, the recently deceased homeowner might not quite be dead.
Here's another film from my childhood that comes back to haunt me as an adult. Expecting this to be one of Full Moon's better films, I watched it and found myself immensely bored, at one point almost falling asleep. Paul LeMat (Golden Globe winner) was an interesting character with interesting hair, but his acting was horrible. And Barbara Crampton shows up, but not nearly long enough (she has a cameo as a carnival attendant).
The first hour of this film drags, focusing way too much on back story and characters that are not important and are not interesting. The next fifteen minutes is a bit better. The final ten minutes is decent, but does not redeem the extreme boredom of the beginning. And to think there's like eight or nine sequels to this picture! You know, I like Charles Band (the producer) and I think Ken Hall (the writer) is a great guy, but wow... this film was not half as good as I recalled it being. The number one reason: the puppets get the least screen time. Should I blame director David Schmoeller, whose previous work, "Crawlspace", puts this film to shame?
Blade needs more screen time, and some of them -- Jester, for example -- seem to have no purpose being in the movie at all. Leech Woman was pretty good and rather disgusting, although I wonder how often her power is actually useful. Tunneler was cool, Pinhead was cool... but again... I needed a lot more of them on the screen. The humans were just not worth caring about. Sure, there's an interesting sex scene... but that isn't character development.
"No Strings Attached" featurette is seven minutes, with very brief interviews with David Schmoeller, Paul LeMat, Charles Band and puppet genius David Allen and his crew. It is not particularly revealing, though at seven minutes I guess one cannot expect much. Charlie Band's 5-minute introduction is actually more informative, and you can never get enough of him saying "dude". Also, as of 2010, the film is now available restored and remastered -- though it does nothing to make the story better.
This film might best be left unwatched for those who want to keep the mystique of "Puppet Master" alive. Not that the film is awful, but it is not the amazing legend many have made it out to be. Richard Band's cheesy score does not help. A remake would do wonders for this film, as long as they kept within the boundaries of the Full Moon feel. A bit tighter writing, but with comparable special effects, and this would have been a timeless film. Now it is just another memory of mine destroyed and spread throughout the countryside.
Here's another film from my childhood that comes back to haunt me as an adult. Expecting this to be one of Full Moon's better films, I watched it and found myself immensely bored, at one point almost falling asleep. Paul LeMat (Golden Globe winner) was an interesting character with interesting hair, but his acting was horrible. And Barbara Crampton shows up, but not nearly long enough (she has a cameo as a carnival attendant).
The first hour of this film drags, focusing way too much on back story and characters that are not important and are not interesting. The next fifteen minutes is a bit better. The final ten minutes is decent, but does not redeem the extreme boredom of the beginning. And to think there's like eight or nine sequels to this picture! You know, I like Charles Band (the producer) and I think Ken Hall (the writer) is a great guy, but wow... this film was not half as good as I recalled it being. The number one reason: the puppets get the least screen time. Should I blame director David Schmoeller, whose previous work, "Crawlspace", puts this film to shame?
Blade needs more screen time, and some of them -- Jester, for example -- seem to have no purpose being in the movie at all. Leech Woman was pretty good and rather disgusting, although I wonder how often her power is actually useful. Tunneler was cool, Pinhead was cool... but again... I needed a lot more of them on the screen. The humans were just not worth caring about. Sure, there's an interesting sex scene... but that isn't character development.
"No Strings Attached" featurette is seven minutes, with very brief interviews with David Schmoeller, Paul LeMat, Charles Band and puppet genius David Allen and his crew. It is not particularly revealing, though at seven minutes I guess one cannot expect much. Charlie Band's 5-minute introduction is actually more informative, and you can never get enough of him saying "dude". Also, as of 2010, the film is now available restored and remastered -- though it does nothing to make the story better.
This film might best be left unwatched for those who want to keep the mystique of "Puppet Master" alive. Not that the film is awful, but it is not the amazing legend many have made it out to be. Richard Band's cheesy score does not help. A remake would do wonders for this film, as long as they kept within the boundaries of the Full Moon feel. A bit tighter writing, but with comparable special effects, and this would have been a timeless film. Now it is just another memory of mine destroyed and spread throughout the countryside.