Pinocchio's Revenge (1996) Horror Movie Review

by The Spider
(Salem, OR, USA)

Reader Submitted Review

Release: 1996
Written and Directed by: Kevin Tenney

Starring:
Candace McKenzie as Sophia
Lewis Van Bergen as Vincent Gotto
Ivan Gueron as Rookie Patrolman
Thomas Wagner as Homicide Detective
Janis Chow as Newscaster
Larry Cedar as District Attorney

Pinocchio's Revenge is a very strange little film. Our heroine is a defense attorney Rosalind who at the beginning of the movie is trying to prevent the execution of a man convicted of the murder his son and who is the suspect in the murder cases of several other children.

Rosalind's argument to stop the execution is that while he did kill his son, he didn't kill the other children... yet still was charged as a serial killer thus giving him a death sentence he may not have received if he was properly charged for just the murder of his son.

Big surprise, Rosalind's defense doesn't keep the guy from being electrocuted and she's the only one who seems to care - after all even he wanted to be executed.

Meanwhile, when not failing in keeping killers off death row Rosalind is not having a great deal of unluckiness in her home life. Her daughter Zoe keeps getting in fights at school, having nightmares, and refuses to have anything to do with let alone forgive her father, Rosalind's ex husband who left them to go live with his girlfriend.

Even having a gorgeous live-in nanny and a boyfriend who always seems able to babysit isn't making Rosalind's life go smoothly... but things can only get better right? Of course not. (this is a horror movie after all)

Some missing evidence from her former client's murder case finally shows up after the "son killer" gets cooked crispy-style and a giant marionette puppet of Pinocchio that her client made for and buried with his son turns up. Through a serious of accidents the Pinocchio puppet finds it's way into Zoe's reach and she forms a frighteningly strong and bizarre attachment to it. When strange accidents then deaths start occurring it's up to Rosalind to discover if it's her own slightly disturbed child or the puppet who's behind it.

This a terrible movie which tries to raise the "deep" question of "can evil speak through seemingly harmless objects like a dog or a puppet"? Plus there's another question - Has the Pinocchio doll dramatically changed sizes as one minute it is the size of a doll on minute and the next minute it is played by a full-sized actor.

Still, with all of the stupidity, I had to buy this movie after renting it. It may be terrible, but it is still fun to watch.