Pinocchio - Puppe des Todes

Okay, so this is yet another horror film that isn't the least bit scary. But who says that they have to be scary in order to be good? This movie is cleverly written and well acted, and is a whole lot better than I ever thought it would be when I first sat down to watch it. Forget all those well-known recent horror flicks that claim to be clever and funny and are far too often neither. Give Pinocchio a chance and you'll be pleasantly surprised!

A run-of-the-mill cable TV-level horror film. It had a few interesting features. It also had gigantic plot holes, and some really bad acting from the child actors. Yes, I know, it's hard to find children who can act, but this film really needed some. The main redeeming feature was a semi-gratuitous nude scene from Candace McKenzie, who was total eye candy.

An accused child murderer has been arrested five years ago, his lawyer ( Rosalind Allen) believes he's innocence as he may think that the Pinocchio puppet he made for his son told him to kill other children. She couldn't stop his execution in time, however she accidentally brings home with her the Pinocchio doll from the office, her daughter Zoe ( Brittany Alyse Smith) is having a birthday party as she mistakes it as a gift. The new few days she seems to act strange as she begins to develop a relationship with the puppet as bizarre accidents occur, her mother begins to become concerned about her including to find out what is behind these accidents.

Entertaining low budget psychological horror thriller that is a puzzle movie on who is the killer! is Pinocchio really alive and doing all the killing or was it the daughter who has became a schizophrenic? the acting is good and the puppet is quite a creepy one.

Also recommended: "Magic" ( 1978), "Trilogy of Terror", " Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer", "Halloween", "Dolls", " Child's Play series", " Se7en", "Devil Doll ( 1964)", "Dead of Night", " Pin", " Great Gabbo", " Puppet Master", " Tourist Trap", "Scream", " Terror Train", " Psycho ( 1960)", " American Psycho", "Dolly Dearest", "Poltergeist", "Evil Dead II", "Perfect Blue", "Silence of the Lambs", and "The Shining".

Okay, the premise and story ARE cliched. But the film is executed with a far greater degree of skill than you'd expect from the director of such undistinguished (if not downright bad) films as "Night of the Demons". His direction here is more mature and measured (though not without its effective "Boo!" moments). However, the film suffers from one of those annoyingly ambiguous endings, where the filmmakers can't think of a way to cover up their plot holes, so they "leave you to decide". (**1/2)

This was an ok movie. It was very odd. A convicted child murderer who was given the chair, left his only possession, a wooden Pinocchio doll, to his lawyer. She takes it home and before she can get rid of it, her daughter becomes lovingly attached to it. But things start to get weird. People are getting hurt, and her daughter is blaming it on Pinocchio. The ending of this movie makes no sense at all. Other than that, the movie was ok. It wasn't what I expected. I expected it to be a horror version of the Pinocchio story, not some dull story which just uses a Pinocchio doll. Wouldn't we all like to see Pinocchio slice up that Jepardo guy with a knife? With all the horror versions of old tales being released (Snow White, Romeo and Juliet) it would have been a good idea to make this one. Who wouldn't want to see Pinocchio kill Jepardo, eat the cricket and dance to Marilyn Manson music.