Puppet Master II

Year: 1991
Director: Dave Allen
Writer: Charles Band, David Pabian, David Schmoeller
Genre: Horror: Evil Dolls

The second of 10 films in a series and so far things are working out. This appears to be a direct sequel to Puppet Master although it seems a very odd premise. After the events of the first film, the puppets attempt to resurrect their old Puppet Master, Andre Toulon, the way he brought them to life.

The question is why would they do this? The climax of the first film was of the puppets turning against Andre as he showed his true, vile colors. After the treatment he gave them it seems crazy they would go dig his body up and bring him back to life so he could continue with his plans. But, the puppets went and did it anyway.

The new cast of characters aren't nearly as creative as before, but at least they all have some sort of life infused into them. The lead of the first was a horribly droll man. The effects are about on the same level as the first and the puppets seem a little less deadly. I say this because unimportant characters are able to kill them which is rather unheard of. But, at the very least there is a new puppet in the ranks who is pretty neat.

For the climax of this film, we are once again shown the puppets are a bit more autonomous then they seem. Still, the reasons for what they did this entire film are unclear. I've heard that later movies clear up the confusion so I hope that is the case. I'd like to get into the story more but it seems it is put together in an unorthodox (or simply unskilled) manner.

Puppet Master

Year: 1989
Director: David Schmoeller
Writer: Charles Band, Kenneth J. Hall, David Schmoeller
Genre: Horror: Evil Dolls

Apparently, this movie is meant to play off the popularity of Child's Play as well as take from the ideas presented in Dolls. Now, Dolls is a much better film than I had ever though it would be, and of course Child's Play is a personal favorite of mine so I was expecting this movie to be better than what IMDB was saying. Generally I ignore IMDB anyway since their 2-5 star films can end up being some of my personal favorites ever. Anyways, I like movies about toys and things coming to life so this was right on the money, or so I thought.

The movie is actually pretty dull. There's a few interesting things here and there but overall the story isn't giving us much new to think over. There's a "Puppet Master" from the 1920s or 30s and he commits suicide before the police can find him. I'm not sure what they were after him for, aside from his use of ancient Egyptian magic to bring life into inanimate objects (puppets!). How would they have even discovered him? Either way, after the little history lesson you're brought up to the current day where a man has just passed away...

For some reason the people who are there for his funeral are all physics of some kind. As expected, the dead man isn't quite dead either and is using puppets to kill off those psychics. Why? Well, there is a reason but most of the movie is left without one making it seem like an awkward slasher film. I did appreciate that the puppets are not purely evil though, although they are still quite fond of killing.

The movie isn't that great but it's a cult hit with certain people. This also happens to be the first film I've seen from Full Moon Pictures. I think that's pretty cool in and of itself since I've been a fan of their wacky trailers for years. After I'm done with this series (if I can bear it) I'm thinking of hitting up some other horror movie series' like Hellraiser, Silent Night Deadly Night, and Child's Play since I only ever saw the first. I'm hoping these damn Puppet Master films get better and not worse, or else I might not make it through.