After one of their group commits suicide, a team of psychics gather to investigate the old hotel where he died. One by one, the visitors are killed by a collection of creepy supernatural puppets, that were created 50 years earlier by André Toulon, the puppet master, who held the power to give life to inanimate objects.
Nasty killer dolls are hardly a new idea in horror, but with the diminutive characters in Puppet Master sporting such attributes as a drill-bit head, over-sized hands, and the ability to spit leeches, this film definitely had the potential to be a little different. Unfortunately, thanks to a rather dreary slow-moving plot, some terrible acting, and minimal gore, the film doesn't realise its full potential.
Although the puppets themselves are beautifully designed, with each definitely being imbued with its own distinctive character, the manner in which they move, however, is less well executed: much of the film is seen from the dolls' point of view, with the camera swerving around furniture and between peoples legs, which is a little cheesy (and it's hard to believe that they are never spotted); some of the puppetry is rather awkward (too often, it is easy to picture a hand out of shot, manipulating the doll); and the stop motion that makes some of the more difficult moves possible is hardly brilliant.
Paul Le Mat, as the film's hero Alex, is uncharismatic (and he sports a seriously dodgy hairstyle), whilst the other psychics are pretty unlikeable, making it hard to feel sorry for them when they are bumped off by the tiny killer marionettes.
The first in a series of Puppet Master films from producer Charles Band, this film isn't really deserving of the cult status it appears to have and only leaves room for improvement.
Nasty killer dolls are hardly a new idea in horror, but with the diminutive characters in Puppet Master sporting such attributes as a drill-bit head, over-sized hands, and the ability to spit leeches, this film definitely had the potential to be a little different. Unfortunately, thanks to a rather dreary slow-moving plot, some terrible acting, and minimal gore, the film doesn't realise its full potential.
Although the puppets themselves are beautifully designed, with each definitely being imbued with its own distinctive character, the manner in which they move, however, is less well executed: much of the film is seen from the dolls' point of view, with the camera swerving around furniture and between peoples legs, which is a little cheesy (and it's hard to believe that they are never spotted); some of the puppetry is rather awkward (too often, it is easy to picture a hand out of shot, manipulating the doll); and the stop motion that makes some of the more difficult moves possible is hardly brilliant.
Paul Le Mat, as the film's hero Alex, is uncharismatic (and he sports a seriously dodgy hairstyle), whilst the other psychics are pretty unlikeable, making it hard to feel sorry for them when they are bumped off by the tiny killer marionettes.
The first in a series of Puppet Master films from producer Charles Band, this film isn't really deserving of the cult status it appears to have and only leaves room for improvement.