Customer Reviews

Attack of the Puppet People [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I love this movie! I have loved this movie ever since I was a kid, and watched it whenever it would play on tv in the early 70s...so I was very pleased to see that a major video company (in this case MGM video) was finally releasing it for all to see once again! The story is about a lonely doll store owner, Mr. Franz (played by John Hoyt), who creates very realistic mini-versions of people he likes...the same people who have all also disappeared under mysterious circumstances! A very ambitious little film from AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL PICTURES with some absolutely flawless oversized props and some fairly good performances too! John Hoyt as the desperate doll maker is at his best in this one, and June Kenney (my all time favorite actress...really!) also does a fine job as his slightly suspicious and frightened secretary who eventually finds herself becoming one of the little people! Several other AIP regulars fill out the cast and make this one heck of a fun film! I highly recommend it! The picture quality is crystal clear and the video box artwork is fantastic too! Let's hope MGM Video decides to release some additonal titles from AIPs horror and sci-fi film vault!

You could generally count on two things when going into a film from producer/director/writer Bert I. Gordon, the first being shoddy visual effects (usually done by Bert himself), and the second being based on the title of the film, you had a good idea what you were going to get, some examples being...The Amazing Colossal Man (1957) had a fifty-foot man going nutzo...Village of the Giants (1965) had a handful of super-sized wacky teenage types giving the establishment what for...and then this film, titled Attack of the Puppet People (1958) featured a group of, you guessed it, pint-sized people struggling to get by in an oversized world. Produced, co-written, and directed by Gordon the film stars John Agar (The Mole People, The Brain from Planet Arous), June Kenney (Teenage Doll, Earth vs the Spider), and John Hoyt (Blackboard Jungle, X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes). Also appearing is Michael Mark (The Wasp Woman), Laurie Mitchell (Queen of Outer Space), Jack Kosslyn (The Magic Sword), Ken Miller (I Was a Teenage Werewolf), Scott Peters (The Madmen of Mandoras), and Marlene Willis (Rockabilly Baby).

As the film opens we see a Brownie troop visiting a modest doll manufacturing company called Dolls, Inc. (snazzy name there) owned and operated by seemingly kindly older man named Franz (Hoyt). As the girls pour over the dolls on display, we see some rather life-like ones in glass canisters in a locked display case on the wall, apparently part of Mr. Franz's special, personal collection...hmmm...enter Sally Reynolds (Kenny), an attractive young woman answering an ad Franz recently submitted to the newspapers who's in need of a new secretary (his last one up and left under mysterious circumstances...yeah right). Despite being a little weirded out by the old man's behavior (seems he's a little too into his dollies), Sally takes the job, much to the delight of a traveling salesman who works with Franz named Bob Westley (Agar) as he begins putting some serious moves on her (what an operator). As the pair make plans for the future, Bob up and disappears, and Franz informs Sally he went back home to take care of business and she should try to forget him. Sally, thinking something hinky at the doll factory, goes to the police with a crackpot theory, but when it doesn't pan out, she decides it's time to split...well, it seems Franz suffers from a severe case of separation anxiety, so much so that when anyone he feels close to tries to leave, he has an interesting method in getting them to stay, specifically a sophisticated shrinky dinky machine, one he uses to put the whammy on Sally. Turns out Franz has quite the collection of pocket-sized pals, the same ones he keeps on display in glass canisters in the front office. After mini Sally is reunited with puny Bob, Franz spills the beans about his process, along with his motives for doing what he does, to which afterwards he introduces Sally and Bob to some of his other diminutive `friends'. As the wee people plot their escape, Franz gets sloppy, and the police start sniffing around. Franz begins to freak, deciding to throw one last shindig with his itty-bitty buddies before closing up shop permanently...

Despite some obvious flaws, I enjoyed this strictly `B' 1950s sci-fi feature. The story may seem weak in a number of areas, but I'd argue it was more of a matter of simplicity. I have little doubt the film was probably made in a very short amount of time, and it seems to have no pretenses about its intent, that being mainly to entertain (and make as much dough as possible). I liked the fact Hoyt's character wasn't evil, but just lonely, desperately in need of companionship. That didn't excuse his actions, but in his mind his relationships with those he chose to de-embiggen worked both ways...he got to spend time with them whenever he wanted while they enjoyed the life of Riley, never having to worry about those mundane concerns most all of us deal with on a daily basis like work, paying bills, and so on...his character's science with regards to his miniaturization process seems somewhat ambiguous (it involved molecular breakdown and resonant frequencies), but I'm sure it probably came across a whole lot more plausible to audiences back in the day when originally released. I'll admit, I'm somewhat of a closet John Agar fan. The man may have not been one of the great actors of the time, but you could generally count on him being entertaining. He's got a few good scenes here, but I've always thought one of his best features to be The Brain from Planet Arous, where he served up the eggs with a big, fat, juicy slab of honey-baked ham. As far as the rest of the performers they did well enough for the film, and I had no complaints. As far as the special effects (Gordon's mainstay was the use of rear-projection enlargement technology), they were fairly clever (and cheap) at the time, but don't necessarily hold up well so many years later, so it's probably best not to get too hung up on that aspect, otherwise you might miss the fun. I did learn a number of things from this film, including the following;

1. When you're six inches tall you're pretty much at the bottom of the food chain.
2. John Agar really seems to hate marionettes.
3. If you're six inches tall you can keep a fifty pound angry canine at bay with a nail.
4. If you're six inches tall clothes taken from dolls whose dimension are nowhere near your own will fit perfectly without alterations.
5. Apparently you can make a living putting on marionette shows.
6. Never leave people you've miniaturized alone for any amount of time otherwise they're sure to plot against you.
7. If you've perfected a process to miniaturize people just so you can keep them around as friends, it's probably not the best idea to keep them on display where anyone can see them even if they are in a state of suspended animation.
8. Scientists don't often realize the vast, commercial, financial, and humanitarian possibilities of their inventions, no matter how obvious they may seem (I'd guess a machine that could shrink and enlarge both inanimate and animate objects could not only do a lot of good but make someone a whole lot of dough).
9. Seems to me the ability to put people into states of suspended animation by use of a pill you've invented might be worth something, but then what the hell do I know?
10. A rear-projection enlarged street rat chasing a pair of six inch people is more funny that frightening, at least by today's standards.

All in all not my favorite Bert I. Gordon feature (I'd have to go with either The Cyclops or The Amazing Colossal Man), but it's still a good deal of fun of the economy B movie kind.

The picture, presented in fullscreen (1.33:1), looks very clean on this DVD, and exhibits only a couple of minor flaws. As far as the Dolby Digital mono audio, available in English, Spanish, and French, it came through very well, with no complaints. The only extras included are an original theatrical trailer along with Spanish and French subtitles.

Cookieman108

By the way, I'd appreciate a DVD release of Gordon's The Food of the Gods (1976)...as I write this it's still not available on the DVD format, and that just doesn't seem right.

Attack of the Puppet People is no more than a mediocre B-movie made primarily for the drive-in market of the late 1950s. The investors didn't even deem it worthy to be filmed in color. Director Bert I. Gordon and the American International studio instead focussed their lukewarm efforts and severely limited budget on some modest special effects. John Hoyt portrays the self centered doll maker Mr. Franz who turns the people he likes into miniature size. In other words, it's best to be on his bad side. Everybody else is essentially ignored and left alone. Mr. Franz is something of a benign dictator who claims to care for his victims, but refuses to allow them to choose their own destiny. John Agar, better known as the former real life husband of Shirley Temple is Bob, and June Kenny stars as Sally. The plot revolves around the attempt of these doll size folks to escape their current irritating predicament. Please note that I describe their reaction as merely irritating and not existentially horrifying. Alas, do I really need to add that none of the actors in Puppet People were nominated for any acting awards? The dialogue is wooden and embarrassing to watch. It is doubtful if the actors spent even five minutes rehearsing their lines. Far better acting is normally found in one's local high school theater group. The movie's theme song utters the ridiculous lyrics "You're my living doll." Admittedly, though, the song is so banal that you might find it hysterically funny. I still burst out laughing when thinking about it. This 79 minute long flick probably took no more than two weeks to complete. Attack of the Puppet People is definitely a strong competitor for the worst movie ever released.

The reader up to this point might assume that I am discouraging them from viewing Attack of the Puppet People. Nothing could be further from the truth. This movie earns a five star recommendation, but not for its dubious artistic quality. It inadvertently is the reason why Richard M. Nixon eventually resigned from the presidency. The lookout for the Watergate burglars was suppose to use his walkie-talkie to warn those inside if the police were entering the building. However, this less than brilliant individual got distracted watching Attack of the Puppet People on television. Perhaps no other movie has ironically so impacted the history of the United States. That is reason enough to own a copy---and prominently place it in your own personal film collection.

Bert I. Gordon, the producer known for alternately making people and animals really big or small, was the brains behind this film, which is one of the best of the genre. It is a Black and White production from 1958 featuring John Hoyt as the mad doll maker, John Agar in his typical hero role, and a fairly bland performance by June Kenney as the love interest.

The plot is fairly typical, Hoyt kidnaps people and shrinks them to doll size so he will never be lonely; after authorities get onto his trail he loses control of his life and the dolls. The movie is actually very well done, and the split screen shots are pretty decent, particularly of the cats and dogs. I was initially leaning toward a five star appraisal of the film, but the ending is somewhat abrupt and anticlimactic, so I give the film four stars for being an entertaining B-Movie genre period piece, and also for the performances of the two male leads. John Hoyt is genuinely creepy in his role of Mr. Franz the doll maker, and John Agar was born to play the hero in period pieces like this and the later "Zontar, The Thing From Venus", a film that definitely needs to be released on DVD soon.

My favorite scene in the film is when Agar and Kenney go to the drive in to see "War of the Colossal Beast", another Bert I. Gordon 'human of improbable size' film with an astronaut who grows to enormous proportions. Don't miss it; it's a B-Movie classic!

This was a drive-in movie classic from the late 50s. John Hoyt plays the somewhat-benevolent mad scientist with pathos as he shrinks people he likes, stores them in a display case of dolls, and brings them out at night for entertainment.

If you enjoy cheesy B-movies, or if you have fond memories of this or other old b&w 'scary' movies, you will enjoy this nice print of Bert Gordon's (The Amazing Colossal Man) classic, with little people dialing a (rotary!) phone, being chased by a dog, and acting out a scene in a puppet theatre.

DVD extras are sparse: a trailer, and subtitles in French or Spanish -- hey, it's educational!!

This is a really good movie. It has great props, and is technically advanced for it's time. The plot is about a lonely doll maker who cannot stand people leaving him, so he shrinks them to doll size so that they stay with him forever. These shrunken people include Bob (his salesman) and Sally (his secretary), and four others. He apparently has shrunken and kept other people including his previous secretary and a mailman, but for some reason he keeps them in suspended animation in tube like containers, only playing with six of his living dolls. It is never explained why this happened. This is one of the nicer shrunken people movies, because Hoyt's charcter is not a mad scientist, like "Dr. Cyclops" for example. He uses his puppet people for companionship, although his dolls are none too thrilled about being doll size (except one who says it took her ten minutes to get used to being a such a tiny person). You almost feel sorry for the guy that he has to go to such extreme lengths for companionship. Overall, a great 50s sci-fi flick.

I really like this movie It's about a mad man who sells different kind of dolls. But he has a horrible secret. In his backroom of the store he shrinks people and makes "life-like" dolls out of them. He doesn't sell them, he sometimes "wakes" them up watching the little people in a doll house, wanting them to dance for him etc. But soon there is the day for revenge and the puppet people try to get back to real life, no matter how. The effects are really good for 1958 and the cast is excellent. A real classic !

As others have already noted, this is an early Sci Fi B Movie, with wooden acting and laughable dialogue, still for its time the special effects are surprisingly well done. Having said all that its still not so horrible or bad that its rendered un-watchable. I had to add it for my collection because I love this genre and in that category its excellent.

Bert I. Gordon (aka Mr. B.I.G.) decided that enlarging things had been overdone so he decided to shrink his cast in Attack of the Puppet People (aka Fantastic Puppet People). You hafta love when Gordon has the two leads go to a drive-in to see his Amazing Colossal Man. John Hoyt plays a lonely doll maker who has invented a machine that shrinks people to doll size. Hoyt keeps his 'dolls' in suspended animation stored in glass tubes and only brings them out when he wants to play.

Not a bad little B film. John Agar is his usual B Movie self, but June Kenney is really awful as his love interest. John Hoyt gives a sweet, warped performance as the lonely doll maker. Truly one of his best efforts.

MGM has used a decent copy of the film for this DVD. As is typical with MGM Mignite series, the only extra is the trailer. Hey, MGM, how about a feature commentary once in a while?

Obviously, AIP made this an "attack" movie to get people to the drive in. Those expecting a horror movie will be disappointed, but should still enjoy this fanciful tale of a lonely man who can only find companionship by shrinking people down to doll size. Surprisingly good acting and sets considering the low budget.