Ah, Puppet Master, how I’ve missed you…I mean, I miss what you used to be.
Admittedly, I’ve been out of the Puppet Master game since part 5, so this is a sequel to a film I haven’t seen, however, Band does a good job filling you in throughout the film what happened in part 9.
The story follows the arrival Nazis who have infiltrated Los Angeles, along with the Japanese, during World War II. Danny (Kip Canyon) and Beth (Jean Louise O’sullivan) have survived the battle from Axis of Evil and retreated to their home, where Blade, in very limited movement, informs them that the Nazis took Tunneler, and attempt to formulate a plan to get him back, aided by Sgt. “Sarge” Stone (Brad Potts), a really fun over the top, hard-nosed character that looks like he belonged in World War II.
The Nazis are trying to create a super soldier by reanimating the dead through the use of ancient symbols. Dr, Freuhoffer (Oto Brezina), a feeble old man with an affinity for dolls, is in charge of doing this for Moebius (Scott Anthony King), who plays a pretty good evil Nazi that dreams of the Nazi Regime marching over the Allies and taking over the world with his undead soldiers. Moebius’ partner, Uschi (Stephanie Sanditz), is a little nod to Ilsa: She-wolf of the SS, although Uschi’s ruthlessness is nowhere near that of Ilsa, who uses her body to try and get whatever she wants.
We are also introduced to new puppets: Bombshell, modeled after Uschi, that shoots bullets from her breasts, Weremacht, a werewolf, Blitzkrieg, a tank puppet, Kamikaze, designed after a WWII stereotyped version of a Japanese soldier, with dynamite strapped to his back, and finally Six-shooter is introduced for the second time since part 3.
The film was lensed very well; of course with Charles Band at the helm, I didn’t expect anything less. (I’m a little Band biased because, he was involved with so many faves of my childhood, especially Ghoulies, Troll, and Ghost Town.)
This film is definitely fun to watch, but lacking the budget of the first Puppet Master films. The best part of the old films was the stop-motion animation of the puppets, but that is virtually gone now, as there are only limited movements and head turning through close-ups, which is sad because, the battle scenes would’ve been much better with proper animation, but that costs money, and neither Full Moon, nor Puppet Master garners high budgets anymore.
If you’re really into Puppet Master, or have been out of the series for a while, this is a pretty fun flick, although I admit that I didn’t see the film this follows, so maybe check that out first. 6/10
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