9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GET THE BOX SET!!!!!!!!!!!, December 30, 2005
This review is from: Puppet Master 1 (DVD)
Since there are a limited amount of reviews for this movie series, i'll give a quick synopsis for the first film:
Back in the late 1930's puppet-maker Andre Toulon (played by William Hickey) found the secret of life and has instilled it into his creations - various puppets with uncanny abilities to kill. Nazis are out to find out his secret but they are unable to (sorry, don't want to spoil it), and then the movie flash forwards to present day 1989. A group of psychics attempt to figure out Toulon's secret by staying at the hotel he was at in the past, but come to find themselves stalked by the puppets that he created!
A great and wonderful movie if you like this kind of thing. If you like movies like Dolls, Evil Dead 2, Night of the Demons, and Tales From the Darkside episodes, then chances are, you will love this film. It would be wrong of me to bash this movie like other reviewers because I cannot hold it up to the same criteria as I would other movies. It's just not fair. These movies are for b-movie horror fanatics. As a result of which, you likely enjoy a movie with a little extra cheese - and this one delivers! It also has a fair amount of gore and gruesome deaths. Often times, movies of this caliber pick up the pace as the series goes on, and i'd definitely say that the series gets better. Part 1 sets the groundwork, and as a result, you may have to be a little more patient with it. To it's credit, the dolls come out in the beginning. But there is a considerable amount of down time in between then and the time their killing spree begins again. This is the story setting itself up and I, at least, feel that it's worth it to get to the point of the story's cooler parts.
The dvd itself is from the now defunct Full Moon pictures. They did a great job on these dvds considering the fact that these are b-movies and often times all we get is the presentation, a menu, and a trailer (as was the case with Dolly Dearest). With this dvd, you get a behind the scenes featurette (the same one found on the vhs), cast bios, trailer, and some Full Moon ads for other movies and Puppet Master Toy Products. Although the latter is useless since the company isn't around anymore, it was fun for me to look at, if nothing else, to waste a little time.
It's a shame these dvds aren't in production anymore. If you want one movie, you'll pretty much have to buy the whole set. On here, the prices for these are outrageous. As of present day, you can get the whole set on www.fullmoondirect.com Nevermind the huge fees from sellers on here and ebay. You can purchase it directly from the company for a far cheaper price. The whole series is very fun to watch if you are a b-movie horror fan, and it's not fair that major studios haven't gotten their acts together and made this film series readily available. The series itself has their own fans and could welcome newer fans if they were easier to find.
My final verdict: If you like killer doll movies or cheesy horror flicks, then do whatever you can to view this set. If you are unsure about spending an extraneous amount of money for something like this, then go down to your local mom-and-pop rental store and pick up a vhs copy of the first. If you like it, chances are, you'll have fun with the rest of the series and can go from there to obtain the set for a reasonable price at fullmoondirect.com
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Full Moon's Good Ol' Days, July 12, 2008
This review is from: Puppet Master 1 (DVD)
All horror fans are familiar with Puppet Master whether they've actually seen any of the films or not. Full Moon's first and most popular franchise is also probably their best.
While Puppet Master will never be considered high art or pulse poundingly frightening, it's a fun movie. The first film is obviously the best of the bunch. It tells the tale of a group of psychics who are drawn to a hotel where puppet maker Andre Toulon hid his creations before his suicide many years ago. Seems that one of the psychic clan had gone out on his own to discover Toulon's secret of everlasting life and married the heiress to the hotel in order to find the puppets and discover the secret. Once at the hotel, the psychics-which consist of a feisty fortune teller, a horny couple who use their psychic gifts for more saucy studies, and the straight man who has dreams of the future-start falling victim to the evil puppets. Also roaming around is their old colleague who is now resurrected and in cahoots with the puppets.
The movie is definitely better than it probably should be. It's not scary but does manage some creepy atmospheric moments and has a good soundtrack. The puppets themselves are violent little critters. They don't speak, but utter sighs and groans and show emotion through subtle movements and facial expressions. Stop motion animation is used to show movement in the full body shots where the puppets have to run, walk, jump, etc. Some folks say it looks fake, but considering the budget, it really doesn't look bad at all. It's used briefly and sparingly, and in my opinion, looks quite good. Too many people are spoiled by the damn CGI anymore.
But any way you slice it, Puppet Master is a cheap, fun and entertaining little picture. It's just too bad Full Moon doesn't do films of this caliber anymore.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dumb, But I Love It!..., August 7, 2007
This review is from: Puppet Master 1 (DVD)
What I like about PUPPET MASTER is what I enjoy about many FULL MOON productions, that being it's weirdness. Here we have killer puppets, but not just some tired old clowns or whatever. These puppets are different! We get Blade w/ his knife and hook combo! Leach Woman and her mouth full of bloodsuckers! Tunneler's drill-head! And Pinhead w/ his super strength! There's also Alex (Paul LeMatt), whose pre-cognitive abilities lead him and his fellow psychics into the hands of the deadly dolls of doom! Oh sure, it's goofy, but it's also fun to watch...
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No