Puppy

Year: 2005
Director: Kieran Galvin
Writer: Kieran Galvin
Genre: Drama: Black comedy

I'm not sure what it was that spurred me to watch Puppy. It was just sitting in a long line of streamable titles... Maybe it was the simple name that drew me in. Either way, it's an odd little film. The basic premise revolves around a woman who's life is falling apart at home. She's so damn unlucky and things keep piling up until she decides she can't take it anymore. Unfortunately, things become much worse when a man rescues her from a suicide attempt. The trouble with this lies with the fact that her savior believes she is his wife who had run away and may himself be dangerous.

The lead may have gotten herself out of one situation but then threw herself into a whole other can of worms. The setup got me hooked immediately because it was just so strange. I needed to see how they would work out together and how it would all end. That may also be reason enough for others to watch the film, but it won't interest everyone.

Puppy is darkly comedic. For the most part you are viewing unpleasant and maybe even scary scenes. However, the film is punctuated with pitch perfect bits of humor that made me laugh audibly. It may because of the overall tension of the film that made these small accents extra funny, but they work.

It's not a movie I would recommend but it is an interesting experience. I didn't feel my time was wasted while watching.

Pumpkinhead

Year: 1988
Director: Stan Winston
Writer: Mark Patrick Carducci
Genre: Horror: Monster

Despite the supremely cheesy name, this movie has a strange depth and life to it. I almost expected a goofy villain with a pumpkin for a head or something of the sort. When that turned out to not be the case I was surprised. Apparently, the film is based off a poem and so that's where the creature got the awkward name.

So Pumpkinhead has rural townsfolk living with a terrifying tale. For them, if a man is wronged then he can summon Pumpkinhead to take revenge (by killing whoever of course). It's been years since the last time Pumpkinhead came around but the townsfolk still have that knowledge firmly in their minds.

Cue a group of city kids coming to spend some time in a cabin there. They meet up with a man and his child at the gas station and try to put on their friendly faces. Unfortunately, an unforeseen accident occurs and they inadvertently kill his child. Feeling deeply wronged by the cityfolk, he goes on to exact revenge the only way he knows how - by calling upon Pumpkinhead. Oh no!

The characters are all pretty lively even if some of them die off really fast. It's nice to see that an attempt was made to give them character. I like the story and had no idea really how it would turn out until nearer to the end. It's still mostly predictable but worth watching due to the character interactions. It's also shot very nicely which sometimes is lacking in random horror films. It feels a lot like a fairy tale but the old kinds. Grim, violent tales not the happy Disneyesque things we have now. If you're into that sort of thing this is for you.

Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys

Year: 2004
Director: Ted Nicolaou
Writer: C. Courtney Joyner
Genre: Horror: Evil Toys

By this point the series seems to have lost its "horror" tinge. It's all just a joke and this is readily made apparent in this crossover film. Apparently, Demonic Toys is a series all its own which ripped off Puppet Master. Because of that, it makes sense that this battle would have to take place at some point.

The two worlds mesh perfectly and it makes sense why the toys are there. The toy company was spying on this toy maker, who is Andre's great great nephew or something. They've got the blood in them though which means both he and his daughter are able to bring things to life. As a matter of fact, despite an other film taking the toys out of the original house and family, they are once again brought into family hands for this film. Whatever.

While this film really brings nothing great to the story, it does make for an entertaining watch. If nothing else, it's kind of hilarious to see the main character flirt awkwardly with a cop as he tries to convince her he's not crazy. It's also interesting to see the head of a huge toy company introduce virgin girls to her dungeonesque "playroom".

There's no real point to the story but it entertains for a good hour and a half. If you're interested in burning some brain cells I'd almost recommend it. It could be a good double feature alongside Jack Frost (not the family film) for the holidays.

PS: Corey Feldman plays the dad character. I was overjoyed.

Puppet Master: The Legacy

Year: 2003
Director: Charles Band
Writer: C. Courtney Joyner
Genre: Horror: Evil Dolls

This installment of Puppet Master is not even a movie. Well, it is 70 minutes long which I guess counts as a film but it's nothing but a recap of the previous 7 films. The recap isn't even that great as it mostly focuses on the death scenes from each film.

There's also some sort o reason for the recap. Some Lara Croft-ish woman has come to find how to kill the puppets. I'm not sure why but that's the plot device. She ambushes this man who was the little boy apprentice to Andre in the 3rd film. She learns from him of the past and they both somehow know the entire detailed death history of the puppet victims.

It's boring. It's not even a good way to know what happened if you're too lazy to watch the first 7 films. Basically, either watch them or don't watch any at all but avoid The Legacy at all costs.

Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter

Year: 1994
Director: Jeff Burr
Writer: Steven E. Carr, Jo Duffy
Genre: Horror: Evil Dolls

So here we are at the supposed "final chapter". Obviously it isn't though as there are 5 more films to go. I guess Full Moon believed this was the end though, or at least the end of this storyline. I'm not really sure but maybe things will become clearer once I watch the 6th film.

Puppet Master 5 is better than 4 because more things happen. It feels once more like a movie even if the "horror" tag is getting lesser and lesser as time goes on. Once again, some ancient Egyptian evil is sending out a little demonic child to take care of things here on regular Earth. This is a super demonic baby though as there's only one of it and it manages to be a definite threat all on its own.

For the regular team of puppets, they're still all good. Interestingly, it seems like between this and the last film they got rid of the female puppet. I'm not sure why, since they seemed so happy to use her in the previous films. In fact, she was an important character for the 3rd. Either way, I'm glad they got rid of her because she was a disturbing and annoying creature... She'd moan and choke as leeches slowly squirmed out of her gaping mouth. Yuck.

So, this time around the science kid is convicted of murdering people from the last film. Obviously he didn't but how do you prove to the police that small demonic monsters did it? And that puppets helped you? So the bulk of the film focuses around a small squad of people investigating and attempting to steal the puppets - to learn about their technology. Things don't go as planned. It's an okay movie but nothing to write home about.

Popcorn

Year: 1991
Director: Mark Herrier
Writer: Mitchell Smith, Alan Ormsby
Genre: Horror: Slasher

After inputting some 200 movie ratings on Netflix (mostly devoted to horror films) the site began recommending things to me. One film in particular, Popcorn, stood out but for all the wrong reasons. Now, I know they say don't judge a book by its cover but this movie looked atrocious. The name too seemed undeniably odd and cheesy. I would have simply avoided it like the plague if I didn't decide to look at a few reviews which called it a kind of precursor to Scream. That, along with the movie's tagline which is: "Buy a bag... Leave in a box."

It seems my interest was not misplaced because it turned out to be a fun film. The production values are strangely awful though as the film quality makes it look like a movie out of the early 80s and not 1991. That's easily forgiven though since the characters are fresh and believable people. The antagonist borders on extremely cliched territory, but the rest of the film supports his appearance.

Basically the story is about a group of teens (?) in their school's film club who need to raise money to keep afloat. They decide to run a horror movie marathon at an old movie theater. So, they get to work prettying the place up and preparing to show three b-horror films from the 50s. What they don't know however is that a mysterious fourth film is in the building and is the harbinger of death.

It plays out kind of Phantom of the Opera-ish but there's nothing wrong with a solid story like that. The modernization is crisp and doesn't feel like a tired story and still is a different beast. Mostly, I loved the film-centric banter that goes on between the characters from time to time. Movies about people who love movies are always excellent in my book. If you're in the mood for something similar, I'd suggest Demons (1985) or Fade to Black (1980).

Puppet Master 4

Year: 1993
Director: Jeff Burr
Writer: Douglas Aarniokoski, Stephen E. Carr
Genre: Horror: Evil Dolls

After the surprisingly good time I had with the last movie I wasn't sure what to expect here. Unfortunately, Puppet Master 4 falls back into 80s horror tropes for the most part and doesn't cover much new territory. Basically, this is fresh start back to the modern world.

Ancient Egyptian mystical beings are still alive and worry that our modern society is about to discover how to reanimate life. Because of this, they send out their demonic children to take out scientists involved in the project. For no good reason other than setting up the plot, the brains behind the scientific endeavor lives at the Bodega Bay Inn. This Inn is where all the events of the first and second film took place. The puppets are, of course, all still in there and ready to come to life when needed.

So for whatever reason the scientists visit their friend at the Inn. An evil Egyptian demon thing gets delivered to their house and everyone flips out, but not before bringing the puppets to life. Unlike the other films, the puppets do not rely on their initial kill instinct. Instead, they play a rousing game of laser tag. The tagline of this film is "when bad puppets turn good" and that's pretty much exactly what it is. Why they "turn good" is never really disclosed but apparently it's because their dead master crowns the geeky scientist kid the new Puppet Master.

Really though, the entire movie felt like a drawn-out episode of a TV show. Not even a good TV show either. It was dull, goofy, and didn't add anything to the world of Puppet Master. Well, aside from granting us a new, and much less fearsome master.

Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge

Year: 1991
Director: David DeCoteau
Writer: C. Courtney Joyner, Charles Band
Genre: Horror: Evil Dolls

Somehow within the same year of the release of the 2nd film, Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge also came out. Usually this spells doom for any series in question, but this was not the case at all here. In fact, it seems the 3rd film is the most ingenious and professional of them all thus far.

Puppet Master III takes us back to when Andre Toulon was alive and performing puppet shows with his special puppets. There is a bit of plot inconsistency between it and the first, because in the first movie Toulon would have committed suicide before the 40s. For this film however, Toulon is alive during World War II and in Nazi Germany - only to presumably commit suicide after the events of this film.

This film manages to clear up a lot of confusing points that arose in the first two films. It also manages to make you care very much for the character of Toulon which was never the case before. It shows him as a regular person and not the maniacal freak he would apparently become after his initial death. It also shows the how and why of the puppets which still manages to leave a bit up to "ancient Egyptian magic". The idea that the puppets can live because they were infused with human desire to live is interesting, and a slight take off of how the dolls in Dolls operated. However, it seems rather creepy and more in line with "voodoo magic" that once the spirit is infused into the puppet that it basically becomes psychopathic.

Something really surprising about this film is that it was cocky enough to attempt to pull off a good-looking Nazi Germany set and set pieces. It works very well though. It's almost shocking to me that Full Moon had the money for such high production values. Overall, this was a very solid production and I'm not sure if the remaining features will be able to reach these same heights.

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.