Simply Perfect

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The film certainly is laden with a lot of plot flaws and unanswered questions, and also simply not credible at times. In the beginning, one of the dolls are running all over the place without anyone seeing him. This is just not believable, being the size that he is. It is never really revealed why Toulon took his own life and we can only speculate the reasons. Also, why did the dolls wait 50 years to make their appearance again? Was Neil the first one to find them and 'set them free'? Once again, we can only assume this to be the reason.The doll creations are pretty good, although not really scary. The film itself is actually not scary nor suspenseful. It was pure 80s slasher entertainment, as the wave of slasher films hit the cinemas during that period. The film wasn't all that bad but certainly not great either. It did go down as a classic, though. Probably for me, too.

RELEASED TO VIDEO IN 1989 and directed by David Schmoeller, "Puppet Master" (or "Puppetmaster") takes place at a striking old hotel on the California coast where four psychics gather to meet a former colleague and his wife, the heir of the grand inn. However, their colleague has committed suicide and puppets animated by Egyptian sorcery are intent on killing them off one-by-one.This was the first of a franchise that includes a dozen sequels (as of this writing), which is one more than the Friday the 13th franchise. While decidedly Grade B in quality, I liked the grand ol' hotel setting, the cast, and the Ten Little Indians-like plot. Unfortunately, the first half hour feels lethargic and dull. From there, the film's decent enough with quality puppet effects. Irene Miracle is stunning as a psychic biyatch and Kathryn O'Reilly & Robin Frates ain't no slouches on the feminine front, but the filmmakers fumble the ball as far as taking advantage of these resources. Paul Le Mat is genial as the main male protagonist with frightful hair while Jimmie F. Skaggs is formidable as the colleague gone mad. THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 30 minutes and was shot in California (Riverside, Pasadena, etc.). WRITERS: Charles Band, Kenneth J. Hall, Schmoeller and J.S. Cardone. GRADE: C+

PUPPET MASTERI am not convinced this can be classed as a horror. HahaI had seen this film a very long time ago and didn't remember much about it... other than the obvious... a load of puppets go killing people.It has not dated very well, but I did enjoy it in a weird kind of way.The acting was awful and the effects were terrible... but I can imagine for the time they were good.I loved the puppets though... they were horrible.There were some really funny moments in the movie too... and I am not just talking about the sexy hairstyles they had back then. HahaThere is one puppet that has huge arms and a tiny head, his name was Pinhead, he was great. You could clearly see in some scenes that they were someone's hands poking through the body of a dummy and picking things up etc... it looked so bad that it made it great!The puppet with a drill on his head, named Tunneler is good and Blade is easily recognisable. Probably the most famous puppet of them all...One of my favourites though is the lady puppet named Leech Woman... she regurgitates leeches onto her victims... really gross, but cool.This film has got a cult following and about a million sequels which I have not seen... but after seeing this again and enjoying it I will be looking out for them. JNot the best horror from its time, but still very enjoyable and funny.I will give this film 7 out of 10...I get a feeling though the sequels will probably get worst and worst.For more reviews, please like my Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ordinary-Person-Movie- Reviews/456572047728204?ref=hl

The Puppetmaster, the flagship picture for Full Moon Entertainment, was the start for a huge line of B-budget productions by Charles Band, some of them being cheap, Z-grade garbage, others being halfway-decent yet unmemorable quickie-films. Then there are the Full Moon films that stick with you despite their faults. The Puppetmaster belongs to the third group. To this day, this film has held a place for me where so many have fallen to the wayside. It's one of those few in its genre that has a lasting effect. The script is banal and FARRRRR from spectacular, and yet I can remember most every line of it even though I haven't seen it in six months. The special effects are indeed B-budget, but even so they capture my imagination in ways that some CGI movies today couldn't hope to; the puppets involve me rather than detach me. The theme, performed by Band's brother Richard, cannot be repelled from my mind, while many Big-budget show-tunes escape me only days after I hear them. There's something about this low-budget film that really grabs you. So is not to say that this film is without any flaws. In fact, it's rife with them. On the surface, there are many technical goofs in the film (the scene in the elevator, with Tunneler's arm rods being vaguely visible, is an example.)More internally, the script is weak in one major respect: its characters. None of the film's characters feel very real; each feels more like a caricature, made to cater to a certain stereotype or mold. For example,we don't learn much about the character of Dana Hadley, played by Irene Miracle,other than that she's an alcoholic witch. The same can be said about the characters of Frank Forrester and Carissa Stamford; we are led to believe that they are both brilliant minds and lovers, yet all we see are a couple of sex-crazed numb-skulls. The protagonist, Alex Whitaker, played by Paul Le Mat, is one of only two characters that doesn't quite ply into a stereotype. Instead, he's sort of an uninvolved character, who doesn't say much to reveal anything about his personality.And thus, he's sort of a weak protagonist. This is Puppetmaster's biggest problem: while the film has the air of mystery and spookiness, the scares aren't as strong because we don't care too much about the characters. The motives of these characters are fairly well-clarified, they're just missing something: emotion. I don't recall a single human emotion, other than fear or distaste, being shown to me. And the characters lack that third dimension because of it. If the movie had characters that you could like and feel for on top of its other elements, it would be better twofold because the scares would be more potent. The flaws in character don't mean that Puppetmaster is a bad film. In fact, I very much enjoy this film as well as the series as a whole, and I would recommend at least giving it a try, especially if you're a horror fan. After all, it's only 83 minutes long, and moves quickly. As for me, I'm actually in the process of finalizing my own script for a remake of The Puppetmaster, if only for my own satisfaction in doing so. A remake where you enjoy the puppet master atmosphere, that mystery it has about it, but also feel for the characters, scaring you even more when they are offed. I think that's what any knowledgeable fan would want.