RETRO PUPPET MASTER (1999) (Blu-ray Review)

RETRO PUPPET MASTER (1999) 

Label: Full Moon Features
Rating: PG-13
Region Code: Region-FREE
Duration: 90 Minutes 
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen 
Director: David DeCoteau
Cast: Greg Sestero, Brigitta Dau, Stephen Blackehart, Jack Donner, Guy Rolfe

For the seventh film in the Puppet Master series Charles Band and company took it all back to the beginning with an origin story, as we learn how it came to be that puppeteer Andre Toulon (Guy Rolfe, Mr. Sardonicus) came to be in possession of the secret of re-animation at the turn of the century. The film opens in Switzerland in 1944, the older Toulon is on the run from the Nazi's follwoing the events of Puppet Master III, he's having a chat with his puppets when they discover the carved wooden head of an old puppet named Cyclops in his trunk, this spurs Toulon to regale us with the tale of how he came to be in possession of the secret of re-animation. 

Flashing back to the turn of the century actor Greg Sestero (The Room) plays the young Toulon living in Paris, France. One night he comes to the aid of an old man outside his theater, in thanks he is gifted the secret of re-animation by the old man, who turns out to be a dying Egyptian sorcerer named Afzel (Jack Donner, Stigmata), who himself stole the secret from an Egyptian god called Sutekh, who you might remember from Puppet Master 4, though you don't actually see him here, you just hear him, yeah, that's sort of a let down. In an effort to reclaim the secret Sutekh resurrects three Egyptian mummies who pursue Afzel to Paris. 

Afzel animates Toulon's cadre of marionette puppets, amazing the puppeteer, who at the same time is falling in love with one of his patrons, the pretty Ilsa (Brigitta Dau) who in turn becomes entangled in the whole affair, putting herself in danger amidst the ancient Egyptian intrigue. The movie is very capably directed  David DeCoteau, who directed my favorite in the whole franchise, Puppet Master III, and who is one of the most prolific of the Full Moon directors, also having directed Creepozoids, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-A-Rama. The movie is handsomely shot,  filmed in Bucharest, Romania at Charles Band's studio, it has some excellent production value and loads of fog-drenched atmosphere, and cool vintage set pieces, more so than your average 90's Full Moon production. 

As an origin story it allowed for a re-design of the iconic puppets we've come to love in the prior films, we have early "retro" versions of Blade, Pinhead, Tunneler and Six-Shooter, who look more like turn of the century marionettes, but we also get two new puppets, the sinister Dr. Death and Cyclops, the former of which looked cool, if a bit too advanced compared to the other retro puppets. Truth be told, the Puppet Master series suffered quite a setback when we lost the talents of special effects man David Allen back in '99, his stop-motion magic was part and parcel of the charm of the early films, and many other Full Moon/empire Pictures movies, and as such we've lost some of the cool articulation and character of the earlier films, that said, the puppeteering here is decent, but I didn't care much for the redesign of classic characters. Also missing is the music of Richard Band, this time around we get the music of composer John Massari (Killer Klowns from Outer Space), it's good, but it's not the Richard Band accompaniment we're used to with the Puppet Master movies, I think this might be the only film in the franchise not to feature his music. Also taking a few points away would be this low-budget entry doesn't even show us the ancient God Sutekh which we've already seen in the previous films, and that actor Greg Sestero is only slightly less wooden than his marionette dolls. 

Audio/Video: Retro Puppet Master (1999) arrives on Blu-ray from Full Moon Features remastered from the original 35mm camera negative and looking quite good, offering solid black levels and vibrant colors, and while grain can be a bit messy at times overall this looks great on Blu-ray. The lossy Dolby Digital surround audio does the job just fine, there are no subtitle options. 

Onto the extras we have a few more than your standard Full Moon Blu-ray, beginning with an audio commentary from prolific director David DeCoteau and actor Greg Sister, DeCoteau is always a great commentator, he loves his work, is a wealth of knowledge and lays the truth bare when he needs to, this track is no different. There's also the original Videozone feature with an introduction from Band, who of course also pimps the then new action figures to go with the new retro Puppet Master characters! There are also vintage on-camera interviews from special effects artists Chris Bergschneider and Jeff Farley speak about the fun f re-inventing already established characters, plus input from actors Jack Donner, Stephen Blackheart, and Bridgett Dau. There's also over two hours of behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the movie, great stuff from the studio in Romania, there's also an option to watch it with commentary from DeCoteau. 

Special Features:
- New director’s commentary with director David DeCoteau and actor Greg Sister
-2 hours of rare behind-the-scenes footage with optional Director’s commentary (126 min) 
- Original Videozone (20 min) 
- Full Moon Trailers: Ravenwolf Towers (2 min) HD, Killjoy Psycho Circus (2 min) HD, Puppet Master 2 (2 min) HD, Puppet Master 3 (2 min) HD, Puppet Master X (2 min) HD, and Specters (2 min) HD


Retro Puppet Master (1999) will certainly have appeal for fans who love the series, however, for the uninitiated this might be a hard sell, I feel like you have to already be into the series, at least till Puppet Master III, to really dive into this one and walk away with anything, if you have not seen the previous films I say hold off till you have. That said, this looks great on Blu-ray and is a good, not great, entry in the series, and as a fan of the iconic series I enjoyed it quite a bit, but understand it might have a limited draw for the walking in cold. 2.5/5

PUPPET MASTER 4 (1993)

PUPPET MASTER 4 (1993)

Label: Full Moon Features
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 79 Minutes 
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Diolby Digital 5.1 Surround 
Video: 1080p HD Widecsreen 
Director: Jeff Burr
Cast: Chandra West, Jason Adams, Teresa Hill, Gordon Currie, Guy Rolfe

The fourth installment of the Puppet Master series is directed by Jeff Burr whom a few years earlier directed the maligned Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 (1990) which I actually quite enjoy quite a lot, but the man also directed Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings  (1994) which has grown on me in recent years, still not great, but not straight-up awful wither. The film opens in an other dimensional netherworld where we are introduced to a rubbery Egyptian demon Lord named Sutekh and his trio of jawas looking minions adorned in robes with glowing red eyes. The demon Lord has declared war on those whom have stolen his secret of animation, namely Andrew Toulon who died in the first movie, but in the years since others have carried on his work, namely Rick Meyers (Gordon Currie, The Woods), a genius level researcher working for the Phoenix Division of the Omega Project which aims to develop military applications A.I.. Coincidentally he just so happens to work as the off season curator of the very familiar Bodega Bay Inn, Toulon's old stomping grounds, and is on the verge discovering Toulon's puppets and life giving elixir.  

Sutekh sends his trio of Gremlin-like creatures called Totems to the Earthly plane, the pint-sized terrors  are controlled by his jawa-esque minions, each delivered in a wooden case to the three researchers involved with the project, Dr. Piper (Stacie Randall, Ghoulies IV), Dr. Baker (Felton Perry, Robocop) and Rick at the Bodega Bay Inn. Dr. Piper is the first unlucky recipient of the deadly package and is terrorized by the Totem in a manner that specifically pays homage to the Zulu fetish doll segment of Trilogy of Terror (1975) and then of Cat's Eye (1985) when the creature sucks the life from her mouth and eyes with wispy Army of Darkness opening credit style animations, not the most original stuff but pretty entertaining.
Similarly Dr. Baker received a Totem dies soon after.

Back at Bodega Bay young prodigy Rick spends his time playing laser tag with experimental robots in an attempt to gauge and encourage them to react autonomously, to transcend their programming an exhibit true A.I. His war-games are interrupted when his girlfriend Susan (Chandra West, The Salton Sea) shows up with her red-haired psychic friend Lauren (Teresa Hill, Bio-Dome) in tow alongside her moussed-up 80's asshole boyfriend Cameron (Ash Adams, A Nightmare on Elm Street). Turns out that Cameron is a former schoolmate of Rick's as well as a current member of the Phoenix Division, he's previously unaware that Rick is the lead researcher on the very project he works for. 

After dinner that night Lauren notices the puppet Blade which Rick has previously discovered at the Inn, she stares at the puppet intensely, definitely getting a psychic vibe from the still secretly animated puppet. Later that night the group discover Toulon's trunk and open it despite Lauren's protests. Inside they find Toulon's journals, the remaining puppets Six-Shooter, Jester, Tunneler and Pinhead plus the animating serum. Reading through the journals they decide to attempt to reanimate the puppets, and do so successfully. Both researchers quickly realize that the serum could prove to be the key to A.I. and Cameron immediately begins to devise a plan steal the serum and take credit for the discover. He and Lauren use a mystical wiiji board of sorts found in Toulon's drunk to reach out to the spirit of former puppet master but instead open a gate to the netherworld summoning two Totems. Not long after the third Totem is mysteriously delivered at the Inn's doorstep and it's game on as the four battle for their lives against the creatures with the help of the puppets who in the grand Frankenstein tradition bring to life one of Toulon's unfinished creations, the new puppet Decapitator!

I rather enjoyed this installment of the franchise which kind of reads like a reboot of the series with the addition of the demonic Sutekh and his minions, it's all fun stuff and the more occult elements reminded me a bit of Beastmaster. The spirit of Toulon (Guy Rolfe, Dolls) appears to both the Puppets and Rick throughout the film, often morphing with the head of Decapitator, that I didn't enjoy quite so much. The puppet animations this time around weren't on par with a few of the earlier films but there are some very cool action sequences involving the puppets working together to destroy the Totems including a lassoing and electrocution of a creature, the tag team of Six-Shooter and Pinhead holding down one of the creatures while Tunneler burrows into it's chest cavity, and the awakening of the Decapitator who exchanges his silver featureless head for a electron discharging sci-fi ensemble which he uses to destroy the final minion.

The fourth installment of the franchise is good cheesy fun with some decent low-budget effects work and decent acting and while it's not a great film I found it fun and steeped in the now familiar Full Moon atmosphere that I seem to have an affinity for. The new widescreen presentation looks damn good, quite a step up from previous standard def versions I own. Extras on the disc include a vintage Videozone and an audio commentary with director Jeff Burr, if you are a fan of the marionette-horror series this is a no-brainer, get at it. 3/5

WILLIAM CASTLE HORROR COLLECTION (1960-1963)

WILLIAM CASTLE HORROR COLLECTION (1960-1963) 

Label: Mill Creek Entertainment 
Release Date: August 18th 2015 
Duration: 7 Hours 18 Minutes
Rating: Unrated
Region Code: 1
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Video: Anamoprhic Widescreen (1.78:1, 1.85:1) 
Director: William Castle
Cast: Rosemary DeCamp, Glenn Corbett, Tom Poston, Robert Morley, Murray Hamilton, Guy Rolfe

Mill Creek have put together a fun set of 60s b-movie fun from the Alfred Hitchcock of schlock - William Castle, a showman of the highest order who infused his movies with scares, fun and plenty of gimmicks. Licensed from Columbia Pictures the set features the film in the original widescreen presentations and the transfers looks mighty fine. 

13 GHOSTS (1960) 
B/W – 85 Mins – Not Rated – Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)
Starring: Charles Herbert, Jo Morrow, Martin Milner, Rosemary DeCamp. Donald Woods, Margaret Hamilton

First up is the fun scare-film 13 Ghosts, we find a Museum employee Cyrus Zorba (Donald Woods) who is on the verge of being evicted from his home alongside his wife Hilda (Rosemary DeCamp), teen daughter Medea (Jo Morrow) and adolescent son Buck (Charles Herbert). This luck seems to have changes when from out of nowhere he inherits a creepy old house that belonged to hus uncle, Dr. Plato Zorba. Of course they take advantage of the inheritance and move right in, but the house comes with baggage, a housekeeper, Elaine Zacharides, played my none other than actress Margaret Hamilton who played the wicked Witch of the West in the classic Wizard of Oz, her most famous role is referenced throughout to fun effect.

Dr. Zorba, who dabbled in the dark arts of the occult, is said to have hid away a vast fortune somewhere in the home,which is also haunted by twelves horrifying ghosts, which can only be seen when wearing a pair of special-made goggles created by Dr. Zorba, which is where the infamous Illusion-O gimmick comes into play. 

At the cinema when the movie would play the audience where given special viewers of which to watch the film, there was a blue filter and a red filter. If you were brave enough you would watch it through the red lens it would make the ghosts stand out, if you chose the blue lens the ghostly images would remove the ghostly images, which is a fun ploy, though I am unsure how effective it was, but that is a kind of showmanship and interactivity sorely missing from today's cinemas, we need more b-movie schlock these days. 

Not scary but pretty amusing, the young kid Buck (Charles Herbert) steals the show as an adolescent boy fascinated by the supernatural, and ultimately the one who solves the puzzle of the missing fortune. 

13 FRIGHTENED GIRLS (1963) 
Color – 88 Mins – Not Rated – Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)
Starring: Murray Hamilton, Joyce Taylor, Hugh Marlowe, Khigh Dhiegh, Charlie Briggs, Norma Varden

Next up is a fun Cold War era espionage thriller set at a Swiss boarding school attended by the daughters of various international diplomats. Candace "Candy" Hull (Kathy Dunn) is the daughter of American Diplomat  John Hull (Hugh Marlowe), she has a crush on her an older man named Wally Sanders (Murray Hamilton, the mayor from Jaws), a spy working for her father. To impress him she begins to do a bit of spying on her own, using her friendship with Mai-Ling (Lynne Sue Moon), the niece of a Red Chinese diplomat, to uncover secrets.Turns out the teen has quite a knack for espionage, and uncovers the murder of a Russian diplomat and is now caught up in a cat and mouse game of espionage and teen romance, and while it is not horror it it a lot of fun, this one feels very much along the lines of an old live-action Disney film from the 60s.  

The gimmick this time out is not some hokey visual process, but some pre-filming publicity by way of a contest, a casting call for thirteen girls from thirteen different countries to reprsent their own country in a starring role in the film. 

MR. SARDONICUS (1961) 
B/W – 90 Mins – Not Rated – Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Starring: Ronald Lewis, Audrey Dalton, Guy Rolfe, Oskar Homolka, Vladimir Sokoloff, Erika Peters

This creepy horror classic is based on a novella by screenwriter Ray Russell (X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes), and is brought to life by William Castle (13 Ghosts), master of terror! Desperate to retrieve a winning lottery ticket, a greedy baron unearths his father s corpse. An enormous jackpot is his reward, but not without a price his face is frozen permanently into a hideous grin. He enlists his fiendish one-eyed servant to help him lift this horrible curse, but their schemes fail. Finally, he turns to a noted neurosurgeon and his wife s former lover to cure him.

There's never a bad time to watch a William Castle production and tonight was definitely the time to watch Mr. Sardonicus (1961), it was hitting almost all of the right notes for me.  There's a great foggy London-set intro from William Castle himself, ever the showman he comes off as the schlocky Hitchcock, which is very appropriate. We're introduced to a London doctor named Sir Robert Cargrave (Ronald Lewis, Scream of Fear) whom receives a letter from an old flame, Maude (Audrey Dalton, The Monster That Challenged the World) imploring him to visit her, apparently it's a matter of life and death. Once he arrives it's quickly revealed she was coerced into summoning him by her husband Baron Sardonicus, a real bastard played to perfection by Puppet Master 3's Guy Rolfe. The Baron wishes for Cargrave to cure him of a horrible affliction  the Baron  after unearthing his own father's corpse from the grave to obtain a winning lottery ticket he was stricken with a permanently grotesque smile across his face, this aspect reminded me of The Man Who Smiles (1939), if the doctor should refuse or fail to succeed in devising a treatment Maude's life hangs in the balance.

It was a blast to see Guy Rolfe as a younger man, loved him from the few Puppet Master entries from Full Moon. Early on in the film the Baron's face is hidden, shrouded in mystery beneath as mask, which was pretty great. Once the hideous affliction is revealed it's a whole new level of weird, he's a creepy villain and he comes with a one-eyed man servant named Krull (Oskar Homolka, The Seven Year Itch) who threatens to steal most of the scenes he appears in, it's great stuff. As great as Homolka is it's Guy Rolfe who definitely steals the show with his maniacal charisma, not to diminish a strong performance from Ronald Lewis as our hero and Audrey Dalton who turns in a smaller performance but as a sympathetic heroin she's quite fine.  

A fun watch, it drags from time to time, your mileage may vary depending on your temperance for black and white, it's a William Castle production so you just know that there's a gimmick, this time out it's a choose-your-own-ending feature, sorta. Unfortunately we don't get zapped in our asses with an electric shock but this is still an entertaining watch in the tradition of a twisty Twilight Zone episode. 

HOMICIDAL (1961) 
B/W – 88 Mins – Not Rated - Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Starring: Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin, Eugenie Leontovich, Alan Bunce, Richard Rust, James Westerfield

Homicidal is pretty much William Castle's spin on Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, at the top of the movie a pretty blond checks into a hotel and comes on strong to a bellboy, offering him cash to marry her, which he accepts. They arrive at the justice of the peace for a quick wedding and as soon as the nuptials are finished she pulls a kitchen knife from her purse and stabs the justice to death! I was bowled over by this one, the amount of violence is pretty shocking for the time, Castle was definitely trying to one-up Hitchcock here with a knockout blond and some amped up violence and blood. 

The woman runs off and a search begins for the blond murderess, meanwhile the woman, revealed to be Emily (Jean Arliss) returns to her home where she cares for a mute, wheelchair-bound old lady (Eugenie Leontovitch) whom she abuses at every turn for reasons unknown. Also in the picture are the old woman's niece Miriam (Patricia Breslin) and he brother Warren, all of whom become suspicious of Emily as her behavior becomes more and more erratic - with the murder of the justice of the peace having something to do with an inheritance in the family. Arliss is fantastic as the nut-job murderess, and the reveal at the end is truly a shocker that I did not see coming, I knew something was up, but I just couldn't put my finger on what it was until it was revealed - good job Mr Castle, you got me! 

THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1963) 
Color – 87 Mins – Not Rated – Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)
Starring: Tom Poston, Robert Morley, Janette Scott, Joyce Grenfell, Mervyn Jones, Fenella Fielding

The last film on the set is an adaptation of the J. B. Priestley which was previously adapted by James Whale (Frankenstein) in the 30s. we begin with an American car salesman Tom Penderel (Tom Poston, from the Bob Newhart Show) delivering a new car to Casper Femm (Peter Bull) at the the Femm family home located in a very rural area. Pulling up to the gate of the him during a torrential down pour a gargoyle falls onto the hood of the car, destroying the engine and stranding the aloof Penderel at the Fenn Family home. 

Once inside he meets the eccentric Femm family, who announce that Casper Femm has dies following an accidental fall down the stairs, but something more seems to be happening at the home, something murderous. From here we are treated to a macabre comedy of murder as one by one the inhabitants of the home fall prey to a killer, once again, inheritance seems to be the motive. This is a Hammer co-production and it certainly has a British feel about it, the comedic and macabre slapstick tone strongly reminded me of the Price-Lorre-Karloff classic The Comedy of Terrors (1964), this was a hoot and a ton of fun.  

A fun set from Mill Creek of some good old fashioned frights and laughs from the master of the b-movie William Castle. Sony had released these among others on a box set a few years ago, this is a great budget-minded edition from Mill Creek, minus the fun special features from the Sony set. I hope we see a second set in the near future with Castle's Straight-Jacket, The Tingler and Zot! among others. Mill Creek Entertainment released Mr. Sardonicus on a double-feature Blu-ray not too long ago, would love to see a few HD William Castle double-features going forward, these are must own movies for fans of 60s schlock and this set comes highly recommended. 4/5 

Blu-ray Review: MR. SARDONICUS /THE BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN

MR. SARDONICUS / THE BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN 

Blu-ray Double Feature 

Label: Mill Creek Entertainment
Region Code: A
Duration: 69/92 Minutes 
Rating: Unrated / PG
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 with Optional SDH French and English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1) (2.35:1) 
Director: William Castle, Bernard McEveety
Cast: Ronald Lewis, Audrey Dalton, Guy Rolfe, Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, Oscar Homolka, Ahna Capri

Synopsis: This creepy horror classic is based on a novella by screenwriter Ray Russell (X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes), and is brought to life by William Castle (13 Ghosts), master of terror! Desperate to retrieve a winning lottery ticket, a greedy baron unearths his father s corpse. An enormous jackpot is his reward, but not without a price his face is frozen permanently into a hideous grin. He enlists his fiendish one-eyed servant to help him lift this horrible curse, but their schemes fail. Finally, he turns to a noted neurosurgeon and his wife s former lover to cure him.

There's never a bad time to watch a William Castle production and tonight was definitely the time to watch Mr. Sardonicus (1961), it was hitting almost all of the right notes for me.  There's a great foggy London-set intro from William Castle himself, ever the showman he comes off as the schlocky Hitchcock, which is very appropriate. We're introduced to a London doctor named Sir Robert Cargrave (Ronald Lewis, Scream of Fear) whom receives a letter from an old flame, Maude (Audrey Dalton, The Monster That Challenged the World) imploring him to visit her, apparently it's a matter of life and death. Once he arrives it's quickly revealed she was coerced into summoning him by her husband Baron Sardonicus, a real bastard played to perfection by Puppet Master 3's Guy Rolfe. The Baron wishes for Cargrave to cure him of a horrible affliction  the Baron  after unearthing his own father's corpse from the grave to obtain a winning lottery ticket he was stricken with a permanently grotesque smile across his face, this aspect reminded me of The Man Who Smiles (1939), if the doctor should refuse or fail to succeed in devising a treatment Maude's life hangs in the balance.

It was a blast to see Guy Rolfe as a younger man, loved him from the few Puppet Master entries from Full Moon. Early on in the film the Baron's face is hidden, shrouded in mystery beneath as mask, which was pretty great. Once the hideous affliction is revealed it's a whole new level of weird, he's a creepy villain and he comes with a one-eyed man servant named Krull (Oskar Homolka, The Seven Year Itch) who threatens to steal most of the scenes he appears in, it's great stuff. As great as Homolka is it's Guy Rolfe who definitely steals the show with his maniacal charisma, not to diminish a strong performance from Ronald Lewis as our hero and Audrey Dalton who turns in a smaller performance but as a sympathetic heroin she's quite fine.  

A fun watch, it drags from time to time, your mileage may vary depending on your temperance for black and white, it's a William Castle production so you just know that there's a gimmick, this time out it's a choose-your-own-ending feature, sorta. Unfortunately we don't get zapped in our asses with an electric shock but this is still an entertaining watch in the tradition of a twisty Twilight Zone episode. 

Synopsis: Children are mysteriously disappearing, their parents are being violently murdered and strangely enough, no one has been able to leave! When their car stalls, Ben and his family are stranded and are forced to join the sheriff, a priest and the prominent Doc Duncan in trying to unravel this frightening web of events. Suddenly, KT disappears, triggering a frantic search that results in the startling discovery of a deadly coven, led by Doc Duncan himself! Ben and the others must make a desperate attempt to stop these witches from performing a satanic ritual that transports their malevolent spirits into the innocent children thus creating yet another generation of satanic worshipers!

While not a William Castle production Bernard McEveety's The Brotherhood of Satan (1971) certainly owes a debt to the William Castle produced and Roman Polanski directed Rosemary's Baby (1968), a sweet slice of Satanic paranoia from producer L.Q. Jones who acted in many films including Martin Scorsese's Casino (1995) as well as producing and directing a few of his own, most notable the post-apocalyptic A Boy and His Dog (1975) featuring a very young Don Johnson (Django) and his telepathic dog, which I highly recommend!

The film begins with a great scene which sorta blurs the lines of reality and fiction as a bratty kid playing with a toy tank crushes and entire family in a station wagon, it's pretty bloody, too. Next scene were onto a family outing in the desert with, there's the father Ben Holden (TV's Charles Bateman) and his annoying daughter K.T. (Geri Reisch, I Dismember Mama), also along for the ride is Ben's girlfriend Nicky (Ahna Capri, Enter the Dragon). They're on the road when they come across the bloody and twisted wreckage from the start of the film, they do what pretty much anyone would and drive into the nearest village to alert the authorities. However, when they arrive the entire town is in a state of pure panic and paranoia, even the town Sheriff (L.Q. Jones) treats the family pretty hostile, a man attacks Ben with an ax screaming "You took them from me!" and the trio jump back in the car just barely escape the mob with their skulls intact. Driving down the road a ways Ben swerves to avoid striking the apparition of a young girl and the car is kaput, stranded on the side of the road as the noon day sun beats down they have few choices other than to head back to the strange village. 

Once there things are a bit less hostile but just as weird and only get weirder, the Sheriff and his Deputy (Alvy Moore, A Boy and His Dog) along with the priest (Charles Robinson, The Cable Guy) and the town doc Mr. Duncan (Strother Martin, The Wild Bunch) set about sleuthing the heinous murders of adult-population and the mysterious disappearance of the town's children. The townsfolk are stressed, sleep deprived, paranoid and at their wits end. It turns out a Satanic Cult is committing the ritualistic murders and turning the town's tots into Satanic occultists in an attempt to gain unholy immortality, and guess what, it's the grandfatherly doc that's the cult leader! 

This is such a great watch, Martin is amazing as the feisty cult leader, maniacal and just chewing up the scenery while leading a group of satanic seniors bent on immortality in services the the Dark Lord. It's drenched in great 70's atmosphere and there's a ton of blood and dismemberment for a PG film, one victim is clawed to death like skinned rabbit tossed into a chicken pen, it's pretty grotesque for PG rating! This schlocky Satanic nightmare is peppered with murderous children, creepy killer dolls, and spooky woods oozing with fog, this was quite the ocult production with some great set pieces.

The finale is superb and unhinged in all the right ways as the cult gather in an underground tomb to perform their unholy ritual with diabolically over-the top incantations "Greetings Dear One, 'Tis We!", only Burgess Meredith could have outdone Martin's elderly satanic MC, this is a fantastic watch and the only thing that irked me was Geri Reisch, who was quite an annoying child actor!

Blu-ray: Over the years Mill Creek has acquired a decent reputation for some very nice public domain budget collections if not for exactly known for stunning transfers but lately we've seen some rather nice 1080p presentations from 'em and I am impressed with what we get here. Both films licensed from the Sony/Columbia Pictures catalog receive pleasing AVC encodes in their original aspect ratios. Mr. Sardonicus' black and white cinematography is crisp and finely detailed with a nice grayscale and decent contrast levels, the print is not pristine and we do get the occasional white speckle but overall this is a fantastic presentation. The Brotherhood of Satan is presented in wonderful color, it's not exactly stunning but there's some nice film grain intact and along with it a pleasing amount of fine detail, it's a very attractive presentation. 

The double feature disc sports English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 with Optional SDH French and English Subtitles for both films and while it's free of annoying hiss, crackle and pops it's flat and pretty narrow in it's range, it's  acceptable and Von Dexter's eerie score for Mr. Sardonicus comes through quite nicely. The disc is bare-bones affair and there are no special features included but a very nice transfer and acceptable audio are much appreciated. 

Verdict: After the fantastic Happy Birthday to Me/When a Stranger Calls double feature Blu-ray this is my favorite Mill Creek title to date, a great 1080p transfer for two fantastic tales of terror! The Brotherhood of Satan is the highlight here, a colorfully creepy slice of satanic cinema that would make a great double-feature with Race with the Devil (1975). This budget-minded release gets a high recommend, so dig in! 4 Outta 5 

Blu-ray Review: PUPPET MASTER III: TOULON'S REVENGE (1991)

PUPPET MASTER III: TOULON'S REVENGE (1991)

Label: Full Moon Features
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 86 Minutes
Video: 16x9 Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
Director: David DeCoteau
Cast: Guy Rolfe, Ian Abercrombie, Sarah Douglas, Walter Gotel, Kristopher Logan, Matthew Faison, Aaron Eisenberg, Richard Lynch
Tagline: When good puppets go bad.

Synopsis: After learning that Andre Toulon's puppets have no strings and seem to have a life of their own, Dr. Hess, a WWII Gestapo henchman, sends his officers to kidnap them. During the melee, Toulon's wife Elsa is killed, but the puppets fight back and escape with their leader. Toulon creates a new puppet, Six Shooter, models Blade after a pasty-faced Nazi and uses Elsa's essence to create Leech Woman. The army is ready. Body part by body part, revenge will be theirs…

Flm: The third installment of the Puppet Master franchise is a period-piece, a prequel taking place three years after the start of Puppet Master ...huh? Whatever. The year is 1941 in Berlin during WW2. Dr. Hess (Ian Abercrombie, Army of Darkness) is a Nazi scientist in the service of the Third Reich. He's been tasked to create a serum that will create an army of undead zombie soldiers. He's had a modicum of success but the serum is too unstable and in an early scene we see a corpse jump off the operating table Re-Animator style and wreak havoc. Hess is overseen my Major Kraus (Richard Lynch, Bad Dreams) from the Gestapo. Kraus's driver Lt. Stein (Kristopher Logan, The Rocketeer) is an amateur puppeteer and attends a puppet show for children presented by Andre Toulon and his wife Elsa (Sarah Douglass, Superman 2). During the puppet show a marionette of Adolf Hitler is fired upon by a new puppet called Six Shooter, modeled after the American gunslingers. He's got six arms and six guns, it's a great character design and he has a great Jack Nicholson laugh that I just love. The Lt. who sounds a lot like Marvin the Martian sneaks around after the show and witness the puppets being fed their serum by Toulon and that they seem to be alive, unassisted by strings. When he reports this to Krauss and Hess the next day Kraus immediately takes an SS squad to Toulon's residence to arrest the puppeteer for treasonous acts. Hess convinces Kraus that he must speak with Toulon to gain his secrets of reanimation. Kraus agrees but then kills Toulon's wife Elsa after she spits in his face in defiance. As Toulon is being transported away the two soldiers guarding him are killed by Tunneler and Pinhead allowing him to escape and plot his revenge. It's a great shot when Tunneler drills his way through the back of the driver's seat and through his chest, quite bloody. 

This film has a lot going for it. Setting it during WW2 in Berlin is a good choice and it's a great backdrop for the film with some excellent sets and dressings. The acting is superb from the key players. Richard Lynch (Bad Dreams, Laid to Rest) as the despicable Major Kraus is inspired, he's a wicked villain. Ian Abercrombie as the Nazi scientist Hess is also great casting. You get the feeling he's being forced into working for the Reich and he seems genuinely amazed by the work of Toulon, in fact, he redeems himself towards the end of the film. You may recall Abercrombie as Mr. Pitt, Elaine's boss from the TV 's Seinfeld. Then there is Guy Rolfe (Dolls, Mr. Sardonicus) as Andre Toulon, easily the best Toulon I've seen so far in the series, no disrespect to the venerable and beloved William Hickey from the first entry. Also noteworthy is the appearance of Walter Gotell as the Nazi General Mueller who played "General Gogol" in several 007 entries, his character loves frequenting Nazi whores and his scene in a tub being bathed by topless Nazi tramps is just wonderful. 

There's very little I did not enjoy here. The setting, the acting, the special effects - all great stuff. Highlight for me include the origins of Blade and Ms. Leech and the rest of the puppets, great stuff. Let's not forget the awesome introduction of Six Shooter and that we find out why the Nazi's are pursuing Toulon at the start of the first film. A goof of sorts would be the inclusion of Jester in the film whom we saw Toulon create in the first film which the ending of this entry more or less sets up.

Blu-ray: While previous Puppet Master III VHS and DVD editions did not suffer quite as much as earlier Puppet Master II releases they were not great either; cropped images that were dark, murky and standard-definition with artifacting. Much like the new Puppet Master II Blu-ray the film is presented in it's original anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio with an MPEG-4 encoded image transferred from the original negative and remastered in high-definition with all new color timing and color correction. The results are revealing, like seeing the film for the first time. I've seen this film several times in it's many VHS and DVD incarnations and it's always been the same fullframe standard-definition transfer, cropped, soft, murky and lacking any fine detail. What we get with this Blu-ray release is a pleasingly crisp anamorphic presentation with a pleasant amount of natural grain left intact, with that though we also get a fair amount of digital noise but overall this is quite wonderful stomps previous SD transfers with vivid saturated colors, natural skin tones, decent black an acceptable amount of fine detail.

On the audio front we get a newly created 5.1 sound surround mix but it's Dolby Digital and not lossless audio. That said while it's not overly dynamic it is not lamented by the same compression issues and the dialogue, score and effects sound quite good. Still the lack of a lossless audio option is a disappointing oversight.

Some of the bonus content is mirrored from the Puppet Master II Blu-ray beginning with the  Introduction (2:35) from creator Charles Band filmed on the set of the forthcoming Puppet Master 10 in which the  auteur discusses the difficulty getting the early Full Moon films on Blu-ray and what's coming next in 1080p. There's the same Killer Puppet Montage (1:52),  a Rare Puppet Master Toy Promo (1:30) and same eight Full Moon trailers in HD widescreen. New content(sorta) is a vintage episode of Full Moon's video magazine VideoZone.

The center-piece of the bonus features is a newly recorded audio commentary with director David Decoteau and writer C. Courtney Joyner that's informative and entertaining - these guys are movie fiends and happily recollect their time on the Universal back lot and the classic film that were also brought to life there, it makes for some good listening. A lot of the commentary is scene specific and follows what's transpiring onscreen but they also veer off with fun production anecdotes, DeCoteau talks a bit about arguing with Charlie Band over the opening scene being a bit too graphic, remembering that Band is actually a bit squeamish, at least back in the day. The two also offer fond remembrances of Lynch, Abercrombie, Rolf, and Gotel all of whom have since shuffled off this mortal coil. They also discuss Lynch not being the first choice of actor to portray Kraus, originally the part was intended for Ralph Bates (Taste the Blood of Dracula)  but he died before production. They also discuss Lynch disfigurement which occurred during a 'Nam protest in Central Park during a "controlled" burn with rubbing alcohol but it got out of control, they also dismiss that the incident had stemmed from a drug-induced state which is what I had always been told. It's a good commentary and really adds to the enjoyment of the film, good stuff. 

Special Features: 

- Brand new Introduction by Puppet Master creator Charles Band (2:35)
- Brand new 2012 Audio Commentary by writer C. Courtney Joyner director David DeCoteau
- VideoZone (25:30) 14x3 
- Killer Puppet Master Montage (1:52) 4x3
-Rare Puppet Master Toy Promo (1:30) 4x3
-HD Full Moon trailers:
Puppet Master (1:38) 16x9
Castle Freak 2:15) 16x9
Zombies vs Strippers (1:19) 16x9
Demonic Toys 2 (1:15) 16x9
Evil Bong 3 (1:00) 16x9
Gingerdead Man 3 (1:02) 16x9
Killjoy's Revenge (1:39) 16x9
Puppet Master: Axis of Evil (2:06) 16x9 

Verdict: Of the the first three installments of the Puppet Master series Toulon's Revenge inches out Puppet Master as my favorite. The acting is just really superb from a seasoned cast. Guy Rolf's portrayal of Toulon is the best of the bunch, I cannot imagine anyone else capturing the essence of Andre Toulon the way he did here. Despite the films modest budget the WW2 era sets are well rendered and shooting on Universal's back lot didn't hurt either, the film definitely has a sense of time and place. The stop-motion effects are really good though I think they may have been a bit better in Puppet Master II which I would attribute to special effects wizard David Allen directing that film. Full Moon's new remastered high-definition transfer is great stuff, it's amazing to see this film in widescreen for the first and I am definitely looking forward to more Puppet Master entries as well as Stuart Gordon's Castle Freak and The Pit and the Pendulum in 1080p widescreen. 
4 Outta 5

DVD Review: The Midnight Horror Collection: Puppet Master 1,2,3

THE MIDNIGHT HORROR COLLECTION: PUPPET MASTER 1-3

Echo Bridge Home Entertainment

Somehow I've never seen the Puppet Master films. I'm not sure why or how this has come to be. When I recently discovered that Echo Bridge Home Entertainment was releasing the first three volumes as a triple feature DVD as part of their The Midnight Horror Collection series it seemed the time was right to finally check out this killer puppet franchise, the first three anyway.

PUPPET MASTER (1989)
"A box of little toys has just become a gang of little terrors. This is not child's play..."


RATED: R
RUNNING TIME: 88 Min.
DIRECTOR: David Schmoeller
CAST: Paul Le Mat (Alex Whitaker), Jimmie F. Scaggs (Neil Gallagher), Matt Roe (Frank)Irene Miracle (Dana Hadley), Kathryn O'Reilly (Frank)Robin Frates (Megan), Barbara Crampton, William Hickey (Andre Toulon)


SUMMARY: Psychics investigating Andre Toulon battle his five killer puppets—each one uniquely qualified for murder and mayhem: Tunneler, who has a habit of boring holes in flesh; Ms. Leech, who sucks her victims dry by regurgitating killer leeches; Pinhead, a professional strangler; Blade, who's armed with razor-sharp, killer hands, and Jester, the ruthless brains of the bunch. Together, they're an army of skilled assassins, diabolically programmed to guard the deadly secrets of the Puppet Master. Enjoy this original cult classic in all its bloody glory.


FILM: Puppet Master (1989) opens at the Bodega Bay Inn, California 1939. Puppeteer Andre Toulon is putting the final touches on a puppet called Jester. Toulon is played by the great William Hickey whom you may recall as Drogan from the "Cat from Hell" segment of the Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990) or as the voice of Dr. Finklestein in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). I recall him most fondly as the cantankerous Uncle Lewis from what I consider one of the top 3 Christmas films of all time - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989). Toulon performs a short incantation and the puppet springs to life. At the same time there are two puppets keeping a watchful eye on the Bodega Bay Inn; an unnamed oriental puppet (that never reappears during the film) and the menacing Blade who notices two Nazi operatives arrive at the inn. Blade makes a mad dash to Toulon's room to let the puppet master know he may be in danger. We get some great point-of-view cinematography as Blade traverses the lobby and hallways of the inn climbing over baggage and furniture. It seems that the Nazi's are after Toulon's secrets which is later expanded on in the prequel/sequel Puppet Master 3. Toulon takes his puppet and places them into a chest which he then hides in a hidden wall panel. Just as Nazis break down his door Toulon blows his brains out as blood splatters the wall behind him. That's the last we see of Hickey, a far too brief appearance in my opinion but a memorable one at least. Flash forward 50 years later and four psychics are being psychically summoned to the Bodega Bay Inn by their colleague Neil (Jimmie F. Scaggs) who's been searching for Toulon's alchemy secret for years, his investigations have led him to Toulon's last known whereabouts. As the psychics converge at the inn they meet Neil's wife Megan (Robin Frates) who informs them that he has committed suicide in a manner eerily reminiscent of Toulon's own death 50 years earlier. The psychic friends are Alex (Paul Le Mat) a Yale professor, Dana (Irene Miracle) a white witch fortune teller and lovers Carissa (Kathryn O'Reilly) and Frank (Matt Roe). Also in attendance is the nosy inn keeper Theresa (Mews Small). As the group settles in for the night several among them have visions foretelling of their own or other's deaths. The dream/vision sequences are well done, particularly those of Alex. As night falls the psychics and the innkeeper are killed off one by one by Toulon's puppets. But to what end? I won't spoil the rest of the film as it's definitely worth a watch.

The puppets featured in the film are the aforementioned Jester - an emotive clown. Blade - a knife and hook wielding puppet with a face modeled after actor Klaus Kinski.  Pinhead - the muscle of the bunch with a head that's too small for his body. Tunneler - a Nazi-uniformed puppet with a drill-bit head. Ms. Leach - a lady puppet who can regurgitate deadly leeches. Oddly, he oriental puppet from the start of the film is never seen again. The marionettes do not get a lot of screen time in the film until the last 3rd but their sequences are well shot and their interactions with the actors are believable and eerily effective. I love stop-motion animation and rod puppeteering and there's some really great work here in that respect, and even more so in future installments.


Puppet Master is a bit slow in spots but is permeated by that peculiar Full Moon atmosphere that is so evident in most their films. The puppet design and articulation is very good and the psychics make for interesting characters. Alex is the most likable character of the bunch. He seems good natured while the others have selfish agendas. The films eroticism comes from the character of Carissa whose particular psychic talent is to channels past events. Throughout the film she becomes aroused while channelling trysts that have occurred at the inn. Dana as played by Irene Miracle is the bitch of the bunch. Genre fans may recognize her as the character Rose Elliot from Dario Argento's Inferno.

The gore effects of the films are handled well, nothing too bloody mind you. This film was Full Moon Entertainment's first offering and was intended for theatrical release until Charles Band realized there was more money to be made in the home video market. The rest is Full Moon history.



DVD: Puppet Master is presented in an anamorphic wide screen 1.85:1 aspect ratio, which is surprising. To my knowledge the 1st time that Puppet Master was released in it's proper wide screen aspect ratio was the 20th Anniversary Blu-ray released in June 2010, so its great to have it in a budget-minded triple feature. The print looks really good. Very clean, only minor blemishes, the image is a bit soft but otherwise very good image quality. The 2.0 stereo audio is not very exciting but adequate. 
 
VERDICT:  A very enjoyable film. I was reminded of another Charles Band production while watching it, that being Stuart Gordon's Dolls. I think the direction of that film is superior but Puppet Master is not without its charm. Great puppet design, interesting characters, creepy atmosphere and a fairly good premise and finale.  It definitely made me want to watch the other films in quick succession.
***1/2 (3.5 out of 5 stars)

PUPPET MASTER 2 (1991)
"His unholy creations hold the strings to your life"



RATED: R
RUNNING TIME: 85 Min.
DIRECTOR: David Allen

CAST: Elizabeth MacLellan (Carolyn Bramwell/Elsa), Collin Bernsen (Michael Kenney), Gregory Webb (Patrick Bropmwell), Charlie Spradling (Wanda), Steve Welles (Andre Toulon/Enrique Chanee), Jeff Weston, Nita Talbot (Camille)




SUMMARY: The nasty little puppets are back to take care of unfinished business. Joined by Torch, the newest member of the sinister troupe, they exhume their beloved creator Toulon to gather the brain matter that keeps them alive. But the Puppet Master has a deadly plan of his own…





FILM: Puppet Master 2 open up as Pinhead is unearthing  Toulon's grave at the Shady Oak's cemetery which is conveniently located just a stones throw away from the Bodega Bay Inn. Pinhead pries open the casket and pours a potion of some kind onto his skeleton as the other puppets look on. The skeleton is the reanimated. Some time later we see a group of paranormal researchers led by Carolyn (Elizabth Maclellan). They are at the Bodega Bay Inn to investigate the murder of the hotel's previous owner as well as the psychotic ramblings of the lone psychic-survivor from the previous film who is suspected as the murderer. Apparently the victim had their brain extracted through the nose - Egyptian mummification style. Carolyn is joined in her quest for paranormal activity by Kenney (Nita Talbot), Wanda (Charlie Spradling), Patrick (Gregory Webb) and Lance (Jeff Watson).

That night Camille sees the puppets and plans to leave the Inn in fear of her safety but is taken by Pinhead and Jester before she can do so. The next to go is Patrick who gets his head bloodily excavated by the Tunneler, it's a great gory scene. Lance runs into the room after hearing Patrick scream, it's too late to save Patrick but he is able knock-out Tunneler. While looking at Tunneler's body under x-ray the team deduce that the puppets are being sustained by a chemical in their bodies. Soon after a man named Enrique Channe (Steve Welles) appears and announces that he has inherited the inn. Mr. Chanee is really Toulon's reanimated corpse decked out in a Darkman style costume of gauze, goggles and cape. Chanee/Toulon retires to his room were he creates a new puppet, Torch - a  flame-throwing assassin. There is a flashback to Cairo Egypt where we see the origins of the reanimating formula and how it came into Toulon's possession. We also find out that the formula involves human brains, and this is why the puppets are murdering people. In fact, the puppets are not content to murder guest at the inn. They travel to a nearby farmhouse where they attack a farmer played by George "Buck" Flowers (They Live, The Fog) and his wife in an effort to get more brain tissue to complete the formula.  Torch also takes out a small child using his flame-thrower, dark stuff. Toulon's is portrayed as an obsessed madman in this film, not very likable, it seems that rotting in a casket for 50+ years has had a poor effect on his mental health . He also comes to believes that Carolyn is the reincarnation of his long dead wife Elsa and has devised a plan by which the two can be reunited forever.


So, this time around the puppets are more fully realized and articulated than the first film, great stop-motion effects works. We get to see them on screen more which is a treat and their movements are more fluid. I enjoyed the flashback to Cairo and the origins of the formula. Toulon's disguise is creepy and effective. For 90% of the film he remains bandaged and his face is not visible. Welles performance and vocal characterization recalled the great Christopher Lloyd, and the final unmasking of his rotting face is well done.


Something I did not care for was the need for brain-tissue to create the life-giving formula Toulon uses to reanimate himself and the puppets as I feel it it vilifies both Toulon and the puppets. In the first film you liked Toulon. He sacrificed himself so that the Nazi's could not use his formula for evil and without giving too much away about either film the puppets obey their master until they realize they are being used or mistreated for evil purposes. Here they are more villainous and it degrades the film in my opinion. Other shortcomings of the films would be that is lacks the style and atmosphere of the previous installment. The ending of the film is also a bit wacky and felt too out of left field for me. It's telling that future installments dismiss or out right ignore the events of this film.


DVD: Puppet Master 2 is presented in a full frame 1.33:1 aspect ratio with 2.0 stereo audio. It's a fairly terrible looking transfer film. It's an interlaced transfer which look even worse when viewed on a high definition television set. There's rampant compression artifacting of both the audio and visual variety is clearly evident throughout. The image is soft and lacking fine detail and audio is equally lamented by compression issues most notably the metallic-ringing throughout. The film is flawed but decent so it's a shame that it is marred by such a poor transfer.


VERDICT: Puppet Master 2 lacks much of the charm of the first film. It's definitely a bit darker and more menacing, the puppets get more screen time and are rendered with more detail and articulated movement, but the film is a bit hollow in my opinion and is outmatched by parts 1 and 2 of the franchise. Definitely worth a watch at least once even though I feel it misses the mark. **1/2 (2.5 out of 5 stars )

PUPPET MASTER 3: TOULON'S REVENGE (1991)
"When good puppets go bad"



RATED: R
RUNNING TIME: 82 Min.
DIRECTOR: David DeCoteau
CAST: Guy Rolfe (Andre Toulon), Ian Abercrombie (Dr. Hess), Sarah Douglas (Elsa Toulon), Walter Gotel (General Mueller), Kristopher Logan (Lt. Eric Stein), Matthew Faison (Hertz), Aaron Eisenberg (Peter Hertz), Richard Lynch (Major Kraus)




SUMMARY:After learning that Andre Toulon's puppets have no strings and seem to have a life of their own, Dr. Hess, a WWII Gestapo henchman, sends his officers to kidnap them. During the melee, Toulon's wife Elsa is killed, but the puppets fight back and escape with their leader. Toulon creates a new puppet, Six Shooter, models Blade after a pasty-faced Nazi and uses Elsa's essence to create Leech Woman. The army is ready. Body part by body part, revenge will be theirs…



FILM: The third installment of the Puppet Master franchise a prequel taking place three years after the start of Puppet Master ...huh? The year is 1941 in Berlin during WW2. Dr. Hess (Ian Abercrombie) is a scientist in the service of the Third Reich. He's been tasked to create a serum that will create an army of undead zombie soldiers. He's had a modicum of success but the serum is too unstable. Hess is overseen my Major Kraus (Richard Lynch) from the Gestapo. Kraus's driver Lt. Stein is an amateur puppeteer and attends a puppet show for children presented by Andre Toulon and his wife Elsa. During the puppet show a marionette of Adolf Hitler is fired upon by a puppet called Six Shooter, modeled after American gunslingers. He's got six arms and six guns, it's a great character design and he has a great Jack Nicholson laugh that I just love. The Lt. sneaks around after the show and witness the puppets being fed their serum by Toulon and he sees that they walk on their own unassisted by strings. He reports this to Krauss and Hess the next day. Krauss takes an SS squad to Toulon's residence the next day to arrest the puppeteer for treason. Hess convinces Kraus that he must speak with Toulon to gain his secrets of reanimation. Kraus agrees but then kills Toulon's wife Elsa after she spits in his face. As Toulon is being transported the two soldiers guarding him are killed by Tunneler and Pinhead allowing him to escape and plot his revenge. It's a great shot when Tunneler tunnels his way through the back of the driver's seat and through his chest.

This film has a lot going for it. Setting it during WW2 in Berlin is a good choice and it's a great backdrop for the film. The acting is superb from the key players. Richard Lynch (Bad Dreams, Laid to Rest) as the despicable Major Krauss is inspired, he's a great and wicked villain. Ian Abercrombie as the Nazi scientist Hess is also great casting. You get the feeling he's being forced into working for the Reich and he seems genuinely amazed by the work of Toulon. In fact, he redeems himself towards the end of the film. Abercrombie is most recognized at Mr. Pitt, Elaine's boss from the television series  Seinfeld, or as the Wiseman from Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness. And then there is Guy Rolfe (Dolls) as Andre Toulon. Hands down the best Toulon I've seen so far.


There's very little I did not enjoy here. The setting, the acting, the special effects - all great stuff. I wish it had been wide screen but as with most Full Moon productions it was created with the home video market in mind and catered to the fulls screen format that dominated the market.  Highlight for me include the origins of Blade and Ms. Leech, the awesome introduction of Six Shooter and that we find out why the Nazi's are pursuing Toulon at the start of the first film. A goof of sorts would be the including of Jester in the film who we saw Toulon create in the first film. The ending of the film more or less sets up the first film.


DVD: Puppet Master 3 is presented in a full frame 1.33:1 aspect ratio with 2.0 stereo audio. The image is not nearly as poor as the presentation of Puppet Master 2. It should be noted that these three films are presented on a single flipper disc. Side 1 contains Puppet Master 1 and Puppet Master 2 while the flip side contains Puppet Master 3: Toulon's Revenge and a Full Moon Video Zone behind-the-scenes featurette.

VERDICT: Of the the first three installment of the Puppet Master films Toulon's Revenge inches out Puppet Master as my favorite.  The acting is  fantastic and Guy Rolf's portrayal of Toulon is the best of the bunch, I cannot imagine anyone else capturing the essence of Andre Toulon the way he did here. Despite the films modest budget the WW2 era sets are well rendered, the film definitely has a sense of time and place. The stop-motion effects are really good though I think they may have been a bit better in Puppet Master 2. Despite the audio and visual misgivings I have for the presentation of Puppet Master 2 I am very pleased that Echo Bridge Home Entertainment have put together a budget-minded triple feature for fans of the film to enjoy. **** (4 out of 5 stars )

- McBASTARD