Puppetmaster (series)
I guess you can say I’ve always been interested in these characters. I’ve always seen clips from these movies when I was younger, but never really seen any of the movies in full from start to finish. I think my favorite puppet would have to be Pinhead cause he’s so funny looking, and he’s always grabbing and punching people lol. But he’s got some edge to him. My least favorite puppet is definitely the worm chick, cause her scenes are just gross and disgusting. I gotta admit these movies are pretty cheap and funny looking but I always wanted to see all the movies and atleast attempt to put this whole story together, if there was one.
I don’t really have a favorite, but I guess alot of the earlier ones are cool, up until 4. After that, the story gets confusing and the effects just get worse. I gotta give credit to the effects in these movies though. I mean of course, this was before CGI really began to pick up, so alot of the effects are all practical. I like watching movies in order and trying to see how the effects improve over the years in each film. Alot of the doll movements are all stop-motion, and they look funny at times but still pretty impressive. But for the most part their pretty much the same up until 4. They actually get worse after 4, and (especially in the later movies) half the time you don’t even see their legs. You’d think with better technology it’d get easier but I guess not lol.
In one of the movies, Blade jumps off the bed and runs towards one of the characters. But I think it was the most impressive shot in the entire series, compared to the first movie. I always knew they were gonna be sorta lame, like most of the late 80’s and early 90’s horror flicks. One big thing I noticed is that alot of these movies have this old, western vibe. They also talk about Nazi’s alot, so the guy who created these characters was probably inspired by war and stuff like that. Toulon is the owner of the puppets, but I honestly didn’t know who the guy was till about the 5th movie. Some of these movies are hard to follow cause their so confusing and cheap looking, but yea he’s the owner.
Another thing I noticed was (besides a select few) none of the movies are sequels to the one before it, nor do they continue the story of the previous movie. Sometimes this is cool cause you get to start fresh, but sometimes it sucks cause you want the movies to pickup where the last one left off. I also noticed how (up till 5 anyway) all the movies seem to take place in the same mansion / hotel. Each movie has a different set of characters, but in every movie we get same exact shot of the mansion from the same angle on the beach, which makes me think all these movies take place in the same house. And I’ll be honest after seeing all the movies I’m still not sure if its true or not.
The only movie I haven’t seen or reviewed here is the last one they made, Axis Rising (2012) But I saw the trailer and it looked pretty much the way I thought it would, cheap as hell. So I’m not really worried about seeing it and wasting my time. Like I said alot of the later ones are so lame, and only 1 could think how these sequels just keep on getting made when they just keep getting worse and worse. But the thing is, alot of these movies are (as far as I know) direct-to-video so they don’t really need to make much in order to finance a sequel.
I guess you can say I’ve always been interested in these characters. I’ve always seen clips from these movies when I was younger, but never really seen any of the movies in full from start to finish. I think my favorite puppet would have to be Pinhead cause he’s so funny looking, and he’s always grabbing and punching people lol. But he’s got some edge to him. My least favorite puppet is definitely the worm chick, cause her scenes are just gross and disgusting. I gotta admit these movies are pretty cheap and funny looking but I always wanted to see all the movies and atleast attempt to put this whole story together, if there was one.
I don’t really have a favorite, but I guess alot of the earlier ones are cool, up until 4. After that, the story gets confusing and the effects just get worse. I gotta give credit to the effects in these movies though. I mean of course, this was before CGI really began to pick up, so alot of the effects are all practical. I like watching movies in order and trying to see how the effects improve over the years in each film. Alot of the doll movements are all stop-motion, and they look funny at times but still pretty impressive. But for the most part their pretty much the same up until 4. They actually get worse after 4, and (especially in the later movies) half the time you don’t even see their legs. You’d think with better technology it’d get easier but I guess not lol.
In one of the movies, Blade jumps off the bed and runs towards one of the characters. But I think it was the most impressive shot in the entire series, compared to the first movie. I always knew they were gonna be sorta lame, like most of the late 80’s and early 90’s horror flicks. One big thing I noticed is that alot of these movies have this old, western vibe. They also talk about Nazi’s alot, so the guy who created these characters was probably inspired by war and stuff like that. Toulon is the owner of the puppets, but I honestly didn’t know who the guy was till about the 5th movie. Some of these movies are hard to follow cause their so confusing and cheap looking, but yea he’s the owner.
Another thing I noticed was (besides a select few) none of the movies are sequels to the one before it, nor do they continue the story of the previous movie. Sometimes this is cool cause you get to start fresh, but sometimes it sucks cause you want the movies to pickup where the last one left off. I also noticed how (up till 5 anyway) all the movies seem to take place in the same mansion / hotel. Each movie has a different set of characters, but in every movie we get same exact shot of the mansion from the same angle on the beach, which makes me think all these movies take place in the same house. And I’ll be honest after seeing all the movies I’m still not sure if its true or not.
The only movie I haven’t seen or reviewed here is the last one they made, Axis Rising (2012) But I saw the trailer and it looked pretty much the way I thought it would, cheap as hell. So I’m not really worried about seeing it and wasting my time. Like I said alot of the later ones are so lame, and only 1 could think how these sequels just keep on getting made when they just keep getting worse and worse. But the thing is, alot of these movies are (as far as I know) direct-to-video so they don’t really need to make much in order to finance a sequel.
Puppetmaster (1989)
I’ve seen clips from this movie over the years, but never seen it in full until now. It’s basically about this group of psychics and they all come to this one big mansion, which is featured throughout the rest of the movies. But after all the characters meet here, the story gets more and more confusing from here on. We just get a bunch of random scenes that barely make any sense, especially the scene where this dude in a mask dances with this one chick. The puppet scenes are pretty cool though, especially Pinhead. We see him in a few scenes grabbing people’s legs and punching them in the face lol. It’s pretty cheap looking but these scenes are my favorite and kinda makeup for how confusing the story is.
I’ve seen clips from this movie over the years, but never seen it in full until now. It’s basically about this group of psychics and they all come to this one big mansion, which is featured throughout the rest of the movies. But after all the characters meet here, the story gets more and more confusing from here on. We just get a bunch of random scenes that barely make any sense, especially the scene where this dude in a mask dances with this one chick. The puppet scenes are pretty cool though, especially Pinhead. We see him in a few scenes grabbing people’s legs and punching them in the face lol. It’s pretty cheap looking but these scenes are my favorite and kinda makeup for how confusing the story is.
Puppetmaster II (1990)
Unlike most sequels, this movie doesn’t seem to follow the one before it. Besides the puppets themselves, none of the cast from the previous movie return. In this film we have a bunch of paranormal researches, though I’m still unsure what this has to do with the puppets. Eventually this dude with a mummy mask arrives, but nothing he says ever makes any sense lol. But we later find out he owns the puppets. We also get a new puppet in this movie who has a flamethrower attached to his arm. He’s so badass lookin and he uses it to set a couple of the people on fire. The puppets do their fare share of killing in this movie, but their alot more mobile in this one. They jump around alot more and fly through the air. Indiana Jones is brought up in 1 scene so I’m assuming that was the vibe they were going for.
Unlike most sequels, this movie doesn’t seem to follow the one before it. Besides the puppets themselves, none of the cast from the previous movie return. In this film we have a bunch of paranormal researches, though I’m still unsure what this has to do with the puppets. Eventually this dude with a mummy mask arrives, but nothing he says ever makes any sense lol. But we later find out he owns the puppets. We also get a new puppet in this movie who has a flamethrower attached to his arm. He’s so badass lookin and he uses it to set a couple of the people on fire. The puppets do their fare share of killing in this movie, but their alot more mobile in this one. They jump around alot more and fly through the air. Indiana Jones is brought up in 1 scene so I’m assuming that was the vibe they were going for.
Puppetmaster III (1991)
Alot of these movies have a big Nazi / war theme in them, but this one really shows it. It’s about this guy named Toulon who runs this puppet show. Eventually these troops find out he’s suspicious and they try to take the puppets away from him, so he goes on the run. They catch up to him in a few scenes but they get dealt with by the puppets in some pretty gruesome ways. My favorite scene is when Pinhead throws a brick at this one dude and it hits him right in the face lol. At one point there’s a scene where Toulon talks about the puppets and says he knew their human forms before death, and now that their puppets, the only thing keeping them alive is the will to live. Its sorta cool yet silly at the same time. At the end of the movie they actually announce the sequel, something I’ve never seen before. So its safe to say the sequel was filmed at the same time this was.
Alot of these movies have a big Nazi / war theme in them, but this one really shows it. It’s about this guy named Toulon who runs this puppet show. Eventually these troops find out he’s suspicious and they try to take the puppets away from him, so he goes on the run. They catch up to him in a few scenes but they get dealt with by the puppets in some pretty gruesome ways. My favorite scene is when Pinhead throws a brick at this one dude and it hits him right in the face lol. At one point there’s a scene where Toulon talks about the puppets and says he knew their human forms before death, and now that their puppets, the only thing keeping them alive is the will to live. Its sorta cool yet silly at the same time. At the end of the movie they actually announce the sequel, something I’ve never seen before. So its safe to say the sequel was filmed at the same time this was.
Puppetmaster IV (1993)
As I said up above, they announced this movie right after III which made it seem like the movies were filmed around the same time, but it still came out 2 years later. But anyway, the cool thing about this movie is there’s no war theme. Instead there’s some lame demon theme. We see them below the ground talkin about stuff but its pretty confusing. The puppets are alot more playful in this movie, and in one scene we see them playing some shooting game with one of the characters. We also see this new puppet with a round black head, who they later resurrect as he lays on one of these toy beds. It kinda reminds me of Frankenstein, and they bring him back to life the same way by use of lightning. This was probably the last good Puppetmaster film before the story got lame and confusing again.
As I said up above, they announced this movie right after III which made it seem like the movies were filmed around the same time, but it still came out 2 years later. But anyway, the cool thing about this movie is there’s no war theme. Instead there’s some lame demon theme. We see them below the ground talkin about stuff but its pretty confusing. The puppets are alot more playful in this movie, and in one scene we see them playing some shooting game with one of the characters. We also see this new puppet with a round black head, who they later resurrect as he lays on one of these toy beds. It kinda reminds me of Frankenstein, and they bring him back to life the same way by use of lightning. This was probably the last good Puppetmaster film before the story got lame and confusing again.
Puppetmaster V (1994)
This is probably the only movie that sorta looks like a sequel to the previous one. Toulon appears in some of these movies in short little cameos, but the dude from the last movie (Rick) appears in this one again. He gets charged with murder in the opening scene but the cops randomly let him go anyway lol. Like the previous movies we also get scenes of the puppets against these Gremlin looking creatures, and their cheap but funny looking too. We also get more confusing scenes with this underground demon down here talkin nonsense. None of what he says makes any sense though and you get the feeling these scenes were thrown in just to fill up the running time.
This is probably the only movie that sorta looks like a sequel to the previous one. Toulon appears in some of these movies in short little cameos, but the dude from the last movie (Rick) appears in this one again. He gets charged with murder in the opening scene but the cops randomly let him go anyway lol. Like the previous movies we also get scenes of the puppets against these Gremlin looking creatures, and their cheap but funny looking too. We also get more confusing scenes with this underground demon down here talkin nonsense. None of what he says makes any sense though and you get the feeling these scenes were thrown in just to fill up the running time.
Curse of the Puppetmaster (1998)
Like all good franchises, they always find a way to make another movie. The last movie was dubbed “final chapter” but they still ended up making a sequel, and many more after this one. A majority of this movie isn’t even on the puppets, its on these 2 boring teens that we couldn’t care less about. When the puppets do finally show up, it doesn’t even look good and their alot cheaper looking in this one. Unlike the previous movies where you’d see them running around, in this movie you never see their feet, and their always getting pulled across the screen. It’s like they all of a sudden got new puppeteers in this movie. Another weird thing I noticed is that in some frames, you can even see the puppeteers hands and in others, you can even see the boom mic.
Like all good franchises, they always find a way to make another movie. The last movie was dubbed “final chapter” but they still ended up making a sequel, and many more after this one. A majority of this movie isn’t even on the puppets, its on these 2 boring teens that we couldn’t care less about. When the puppets do finally show up, it doesn’t even look good and their alot cheaper looking in this one. Unlike the previous movies where you’d see them running around, in this movie you never see their feet, and their always getting pulled across the screen. It’s like they all of a sudden got new puppeteers in this movie. Another weird thing I noticed is that in some frames, you can even see the puppeteers hands and in others, you can even see the boom mic.
Retro Puppetmaster (1999)
In this movie we see the old dude again, Toulon. He and the puppets are in this one room and he begins to tell this long story about how he was a kid and how they all came about. At first something like this sounds interesting, cause I love back-story but its really not that interesting. The entire movie is just 1 big boring back-story. We see Toulon as a young teenager with his puppets, but instead of looking like they do now, their all wooden, even Pinhead. There’s also these 3 guys in suits and glasses who chase him around the entire movie and they have this lame psychic power where they can make people fall to the ground. I’m surprised after the last movie they could even afford a sequel, but obviously they can, and they managed to make it even worse.
In this movie we see the old dude again, Toulon. He and the puppets are in this one room and he begins to tell this long story about how he was a kid and how they all came about. At first something like this sounds interesting, cause I love back-story but its really not that interesting. The entire movie is just 1 big boring back-story. We see Toulon as a young teenager with his puppets, but instead of looking like they do now, their all wooden, even Pinhead. There’s also these 3 guys in suits and glasses who chase him around the entire movie and they have this lame psychic power where they can make people fall to the ground. I’m surprised after the last movie they could even afford a sequel, but obviously they can, and they managed to make it even worse.
The Legacy (2003)
This movie is probably the laziest of them all. Some chick and some dude have some scenes here in the beginning. She wants the formula for the puppets to make them live, but he won’t give it to her, and goes into this long boring story about the puppets. It’s basically a giant montage of clips from all the previous movies, with scenes here and there of these 2 arguing back and forth. They probably filmed all their scenes in a day lol. Its lame cause they don’t even show footage from the first movie, they just show us footage from all the lame ones, as if we need a reminder of how bad they were. But at the end of the movie they thank all the fans for watching the series, so that was cool.
This movie is probably the laziest of them all. Some chick and some dude have some scenes here in the beginning. She wants the formula for the puppets to make them live, but he won’t give it to her, and goes into this long boring story about the puppets. It’s basically a giant montage of clips from all the previous movies, with scenes here and there of these 2 arguing back and forth. They probably filmed all their scenes in a day lol. Its lame cause they don’t even show footage from the first movie, they just show us footage from all the lame ones, as if we need a reminder of how bad they were. But at the end of the movie they thank all the fans for watching the series, so that was cool.
Axis of Evil (2010)
Finally, this is the last movie in the series (atleast until Axis Rising) I tried my best to pay attention to the story in these movies, but after the 4th movie I just gave up lol. In this one we return to the whole Nazi story but as far as I know that’s about it. Unlike the last movie, in this one we get footage from the first movie. We meet this guy who saw the German’s kill Toulon and I like the back-story aspect of this but it’s such a boring movie, you don’t even care. The puppets themselves even look different, and nothing like the other movies. Especially Pinhead, they definitely messed his look up. He’s still got the same outfit and red sweater but they made his neck super long, so he just looks sillier in this one. And again you never see the puppets legs and they look like their getting pulled along by some imaginary string.
Finally, this is the last movie in the series (atleast until Axis Rising) I tried my best to pay attention to the story in these movies, but after the 4th movie I just gave up lol. In this one we return to the whole Nazi story but as far as I know that’s about it. Unlike the last movie, in this one we get footage from the first movie. We meet this guy who saw the German’s kill Toulon and I like the back-story aspect of this but it’s such a boring movie, you don’t even care. The puppets themselves even look different, and nothing like the other movies. Especially Pinhead, they definitely messed his look up. He’s still got the same outfit and red sweater but they made his neck super long, so he just looks sillier in this one. And again you never see the puppets legs and they look like their getting pulled along by some imaginary string.