Attack of the Puppet People

What should you do if your wife leaves you for another man? John Hoyt, playing a German puppeteer, decides that he will devise some incredibly complex scientific device that miniaturizes the people he likes so they will never again leave him. Director/producer Bert I. Gordon does it again; he creates a film with a pretty ridiculous script, interesting if not always impressive special effects, and an entertaining film notwithstanding. The film starts out with many puppets already "made" and then shows how Hoyt creates some, interacts with some, how some try to escape and so on... Much of the film is used to let Gordon showcase his effects as the little people are surrounded by large objects. One little person even gets to sing a hip rock song. Hmmm...okay. Ultimately I liked Attack of the Puppet People. It doesn't have the greatest story or acting or effects, but it has heart. It is an inferior film in every way to the impressive Dr. Cyclops made with Albert Dekker the previous decade. Hoyt gives a heartfelt and tired performance. John Agar plays the man who has fallen in love with Hoyt's newest blonde bombshell secretary. He literally has a short fuse! The other actors are competent if nothing else. For me the most fun scene is that with the little girl, played by Gordon's real life daughter Susan, comes into to get her doll fixed and finds a matchbox. Another Mr. BIG production that is fun.

Reasonably entertaining entry into the 50s sci fi/horror genre.

Star John Hoyt was always interesting to watch (check out his brief but commanding performance as antique shop proprietor Nils Dryer in "The Big Combo").

The basic theme of this film had, in fact, already been tried out the year before in the vastly superior "Incredible Shrinking Man". However, the 'puppet twist' (good name for a song!) was certainly an original touch.

Co-star John Agar is smoothly competent and does his best against the odds.

Strictly for those whose tastes lean towards the ultra-cheesy variety of midnight movie fare.

After his massive success with giant size folks in "The Cyclops" and "The Amazing Colossal Man" director Bert I. Gordon decided to go small with "Attack of the Puppet People," a nod to Universal's "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (a nice twist found it theatrically paired with his sequel "War of the Colossal Beast"), methodically building an air of mystery for the first half hour as various characters visit the office of Dolls Incorporated only to disappear without a trace. John Hoyt portrays the proprietor Mr. Franz, hiring new secretary Sally Reynolds (June Kenney) and associate Bob Westley (John Agar), who then both vanish after she fails to convince the police to check up on the missing people (in a disquieting moment, a lookalike Bob doll is lit on fire inside its plastic tube). The two newcomers are greeted by four others, all kept in suspended animation without air in their individual tubes. It's not really clear how former puppeteer Franz has developed a machine that works like a projector but in reverse, producing a ray that shrinks the subject to whatever size he desires, just a simple plot contrivance. We only see six of the dozen victims walking around, strangely complacent until the indignant Bob gets them to wake up to their predicament and attempt to escape. Once the cops get too close Mr. Franz decides that suicide is the only way out, unwilling to grant them freedom from captivity, all done just to alleviate his terrible loneliness. Bob and Sally must make it back to the shop before Franz does during a going away party at a nearby theater, encountering danger from a rat, a cat, a dog and a reckless automobile (there's also an adorable kitty seen living in a matchbox). The special effects are fairly basic and none too convincing, and little actually happens to support the lengthy exposition, a distraction since none of the characters are developed to any degree except for the villain. John Hoyt offers more substance to the role than is there in the script, a sketchy European background working with old friend Emil, another latter day performance from Michael Mark, father of Little Maria in the 1931 "Frankenstein." One can see the necessity of preventing his various young secretaries from leaving, but what could be his connection to a teenage boy and active Marine?

Attack of the Puppet People (1958)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Lesser film from Bert I Gordon about a lonely old doll maker (John Hoyt) who comes up with something new to stay busy. Instead of making dolls he's going to take real people and shrink them down to a doll size. Two such people (including June Kenney) decide that they don't want to remain this size so they fight to become big again. ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE is a pretty disappointing film when you consider there's really no puppets and no attacks. This is a pretty screenplay that really doesn't offer up anything overly interesting and it appears that no one was really interested in coming up with a story that you could care about. The doll maker really isn't all that interesting and we really don't learn about him being lonely until the end of the picture. Perhaps if they had worked this in earlier we could have gained some sort of connection with him. The secretary role isn't any better as we never begin to care what happens to her. Gordon does a pretty good job with the special effects, which might be the only time in his career. I thought the rear projection was obviously horrible but there's a lot of stuff dealing with miniatures that actually work. The long sequence where a group of people try to escape the office was well-directed and a lot of credit goes to the special effects for actually looking real. The performances are another good thing as Hoyt manages to be good in his role as does John Agar as the woman's love interest. At 79-minutes the film seems a little long at times but I'm sure fans of the director will still want to check this out. Others should probably stay clear.

This film essentially begins with a young woman by the name of "Sally Reynolds" (June Kenney) inquiring about an ad in the paper advertising a job for a receptionist at a small doll manufacturing company in Los Angeles. From what she is told by the dollmaker, "Mr. Franz" (John Hoyt) the previous secretary had left rather abruptly and even though her instincts warn her against accepting the job, she becomes convinced by his entreaties and does so anyway. Not long after that she meets a traveling salesman by the name of "Bob Westley" (John Agar) and they soon become romantically involved. However, upon accepting his proposal of marriage and agreeing to quit her job and move to St. Louis with him in a few days, they discover that Mr. Franz does not like the idea at all and things begin to happen that neither her nor Bob could ever quite imagine. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a movie which turned out to be quite different than what I was expecting. To that effect, while it might qualify as either a Sci-Fi or Horror film in the technical sense, there really wasn't much horror to be found here at all. Likewise, there wasn't very much suspense either. Even so, this was still an entertaining film in a grade-B sort of way and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.