Puppetmaster

Evil dolls and the such have gone hand-in-hand for as long a time as can be remembered. There is just something so incredibly spooky about a lifeless doll with empty eyes coming back to life and attempting to either murder someone, or possess them, or cause some sort of evil entity to haunt and scare the shit out of everyone around them. I mean, there are some people who are just afraid of dolls period, and haven't ever even seen a toy/doll horror in their life. And, I would like to think that the genre really holds a key place back in the glory days of horror which stemmed mainly from the early seventies and stretched out into the eighties. 

And, cutting out the bullshit as we all know what I'm here to really talk about, "Puppet Master" was one of the films that was released at the end of the eighties era in 1989, but it wasn't really expected to spawn so many sequels and prequels and the like (which so happen to be in a very confusing order). However, the lasting effect that the film had on audiences left a pretty polarizing, and almost bad taste in many critics mouths. But, that just seems to be the case with most B-rated horror films that develop a cult following. 

And, like all horror films, comics, life sized replicas, merchandise and movie memorabilia all came striking down like a heavy downpour once the film was seen as a success. The question remains as to why the film has been able to keep such a loyal and dedicated fanbase, and I think the only answer lies within the mythology of the whole entire series. 

Number one, you can't really go into a film like this and expect good acting...Well, you can possibly hope for it, but you aren't going to receive it in one way or another. I mean, the casting calls wasn't that bad,  as you even had two-time Golden Globe winner Paul Le Mat on the team in the role of Alex Whitaker. But, in all reality, none of the actors involved in the film did that great of a job. And, I won't go into huge detail regarding the speed of the film, but, nonetheless, it's pretty dull and can feel as if it's dragging on. 

Alas, there is quite a salvation to be found within this film and that's all thanks to the puppets themselves. This must be a bit of an embarrassment for the actors involved as tiny, one foot, non-vocal puppets steal the show right from them. Whenever they appear on the screen, I almost mutter to myself, "Oh, what are these little rascals doing now?" Only that thought so happens to disappear as soon as I see Tunneler drilling into someone's mouth or Leech Woman vomiting poisonous leeches onto or into someone. 

And, it's those death scenes that really take the whole movie by storm. The kill sequences aren't the best, but they certainly do have a charm to them. I guess it's kind of cute to see a bunch of small little puppets that could be mistaken as children's toys team up to take down a full sized adult. And, it's pretty comical to see those full sized adults murdered by these little things. That is where I believe that the dark comedy within the film really saturates, and turns the film upside down and enjoyable. 

And, as I said, this is a B-rated horror film that has pretty terrible acting and some horrible pacing. But, Blade and his puppet friends are able to keep, and have kept, the film from rotting at the bottom of the pits in horror movie hell. In other words, the half of the movie where there are people on screen making a mockery out of acting, well, that's kind of unbearable. But, the other half where the puppets are out of the box and doing their slashing, that's a shit ton of fun. 

And, being that I'm split on this movie, but positively split, I think it's fair to say that the first installment deserves a score a little bit over average. Now, I just need to start writing about all the other films. Lord help me. 

5.5/10