When I first heard that Full Moon Features was put more emphasis on bringing some of their classic horror films to Blu-Ray, I was very excited. I was more excited, when “Puppet Master II” were one of the first full moon classics that would be getting the blu-ray treatment .
The puppets are back and more deadly than ever. This time, they’ve resurrected Andre Toulon from the grave.
A paranormal investigation team is sent in to the Bodega Bay Inn to investigate the mysterious deaths in this hotel’s past. What they discover is pure terror. The puppets are out to get their brains, so they can survive with Toulon’s new formula. They also have a new member named Torch, who is a flame throwing menace that might be the deadly puppet of them all. Can the paranormal team find a way out, before the puppets inflict terror and pain?
Film Review:
“Puppet Master II” is a good entry in the franchise. David Allen, who also did the puppet effects for this film, does a very good job with the direction here. One of the things that he does well, he makes the action scenes and death scenes intense. I liked how, Allen takes his time and makes the scenes have scares and intensity to them. It makes the film better than it should have been given the budget of the film. The other thing that makes his direction good was the acting. The acting here wasn’t as good as the first film, but still Allen did enough to make the performances work. He’s able to get the performances, by getting the actors to make their characters interesting and not annoying. All I want in these types of film is to enjoy the characters. The cast does a good job making the characters work onscreen.
It’s really sad that we did see much more of David Allen as a director, as he was a very good special effects coordinator and did a very good job with the film. Sadly, he passed away eight years after the film was made.
The screenplay written by David Pabian is a good script and is different from the first film. One of the things that I liked about this was the fact that this didn’t feel like the first “Puppet Master” film. I liked how, he was able to make Andre Toulon very dark and dressed like the invisible man. It gave the villain an identity than just as the guy pulling the puppets strings. It was needed to help make the film a success. The other thing that I liked about this screenplay, Pabian does a very good job building up the series main character. If there was one thing that this film does better than the original, it develops the Andre Toulon character. We get to know more about the character, than just being relegated to the first few minutes of the film. It made the character interesting.
Blu-Ray Extras:
First on the disc is the commentary track from executive producer Charles Band. The track doesn’t go much into the production of the film, but when it does it worth the listen. Band does a good job talking about the film’s director David Alien and the style that he used for the effects and the way that he shot some of the scenes. It’s worth listening to those parts. The problem that I had was that Band talks about a lot of things not related to the franchise. It’s nice to hear about those things, but felt very out of place. You’ll like this if you’re a fan Charles Band like I am, but you’ll be disappointed if you were listening for information about the filming of “Puppet Master II”.
After Charles Band’s commentary, there is the film’s original uncut “Full Moon Videozone”. For those not into Full Moon Features, the videozone is a video magazine that was featured at the end of each VHS tape in the nineties. This video magazine would include an introduction from Charles Band, the making of the film that you just saw, interviews with directors for upcoming Full Moon releases, and trailers and merchandise information. It felt very special at the time of its original release, as none of this was happen anywhere. Thankfully, they’ll be bring that back for the upcoming “Puppet Master X: Axis Rising” release, as they were also a fun part of each release.
Once that’s done, the disc wraps with introduction from Charles Band from the set of “Puppet Master X”, a killer “Puppet Master” montage and HD Trailers of Full Moon’s recent releases.
Final Summary:
It was nice to see “Puppet Master II” on blu-ray for the first time. It’s still a good film with killer death scenes and good solid direction from David Allen.
Review Rating: 3.5 Stars
Blu-Ray Extras: 2 Stars
