Puppetmaster is a Hard to Find Classic of the Horror Genre
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Written by The Horror Czar, Don Sumner
February 3, 2009
Release: October 12, 1989 (U.S. Video Premier)
Directed by: David Schmoeller
Written by: Charles Band, Kenneth J. Hall and Joseph G. Collodi
Starring:
Paul Le Mat as Alex Whitaker
William Hickey as Andre Toulon
Irene Miracle as Dana Hadley
Jimmie F. Skaggs as Neil Gallagher
Robin Frates as Megan Gallagher
Matt Roe as Frank Forrester
Kathryn O'Reilly as Carlissa Stamford
Andre Toulon (William Hickey) is a maker of puppets. With loving care he shapes, sews and paints his creations, plus he has a secret technique that is not common among his puppeteer brethren. He casts an ancient Egyptian spell on the little tikes to bring the previously inanimate objects to frisky life. Toulon’s life continues on happily in the company of his wooden friends until the Nazis find out about the unique puppet-beings and attempt to gain the puppets and the creator as a strategic prize. Toulon anticipates this move, however and hides the puppets in the wall of his hotel workshop and puts a bullet in his head. The Nazis will not have this power.
Fast forward to years later, the hotel has been inherited by Carlissa Stamford (Kathryn O’Reilly) and the death of her husband Frank (Matt Roe) prompted the reunion of a group of psychics that had once helped Frank search for the secret of transitioning the unliving to the living in this very hotel. Nobody is safe as the puppets lurk around every corner seeking blood. And who is moving Frank’s body around the house and propping it up in various poses?
Puppetmaster is a classic of the genre for a variety of reasons. First, the film has most of the enduring qualities of horror from another age including mystery, suspense, colorful characters and dramatic deaths. The gore is effective for its day, but the story and scares are not dependent on them. Isn’t it funny how creativity and suspense were so much more necessary in the age before CGI? Finally there is the concept of originality, one that has reared it’s head so seldom in all movie genres, including horror, that plays beautifully here.
The concept of living dolls, made that way by an ancient Egyptian curse, is a natural for a horror film, but the possibility for disaster is great. How will the puppets be animated, and will anyone really be scared by a bunch of tiny little roughnecks attacking like Lilliputians? The effects in this film could have gone so terribly wrong, but somehow they did not. The puppet effects are truly phenomenal in a completely unqualified way. The puppet effects are not great for a movie of that time period, but just great overall. Somehow the choppy nature of typical stop-motion photography is completely avoided and the puppets move about in a completely believeable way. True, tiny puppets are not scary necessarily, but these puppets will strike fear in your little heart. If you have any kind of phobia surrounding living dolls then you’re really in trouble.
Puppetmaster is great horror no matter how you slice it. Between the story, the effects, the suspense and the creative deaths this one belongs on your shelf with the classics. Since this one was finally released on DVD in 2008, you'll have your chance.Questions or comments about Puppetmaster? Discuss it on The Ossuary Forums!
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