Puppet Master X: Axis Rising

Okay Puppet Master were never exactly good films, but compare the first movie for example to these more recent efforts and there really is a clear deterioration.

Campy, not scary, not funny, not interesting.

The second movie in the Axis trilogy it tells the story of..............every single other Puppet Master movie. More people teaming with the puppets to fight the Germans during world war two.

You'll have literally seen it all before, no originality, no advances in lore or sfx. Just a pitiful recycling of the same ideas they've been peddling since the 1980's.

One thing that did stick out however was the female antagonist, her costume, her awful German accent. Was I supposed to take her seriously? When she came on I questioned whether I'd acquired a porn parody of the film, she was ridiculous.

If you like Puppet Master films and have low expectations then you'll likely enjoy more of the same, because that really is it all is.

The Good:

Follows on well from the previous movie

The Bad:

Recasting

Some questionably bad audio quality

Cringe inducing

Stephanie Sanditz

Blade, Pinhead, Jester, Tunneler, Six Shooter, & Leech Woman are all here! This film also features some new puppets that might excite you. If you are familiar with Full Moon Features then you will know what to expect with production. The same if you are a Puppet Master fan. Writer/director/producer Charles Band (Ghoulies, Terror Vision, Re-Animator) is back again to bring you another Puppet Master titled 'Axis Rising'. I was kind of disappointed by this sequel. Our WWII era heroes from the previous films, Danny & Beth, are back, though played by new actors, & find a post-WWII Nazi plot to create an army of their own evil puppets to do their bidding. Using a Re-Animator like green serum (Sound Familiar?) extracted from our puppet protagonists. Most of the films in this franchise aren't exactly brilliant, this one felt too goofy when compared to the others. I did like it when the franchise introduced a Nazi storyline & had our killer puppet heroes fighting the Axis Powers, but this entry was a little too silly & also continued the recent trend of Full Moon Features including a little casual racism, seen in this film with in addition of an evil Japanese puppet named Kamikaze. In my opinion I thought it was hilarious! However, I do still enjoy watching these little things slaughtering away when it's not CGI, so even though this entry wasn't the best in the trilogy , it did still entertain. If your a Puppet Master fan I highly recommend this.

Although it wouldn't really matter where you look with this particular doll (or rather puppet). So this is a direct sequel to the ninth entry to the franchise. And the second part of a trilogy. We get the surviving members of the previous movie and they get new enemies and so forth. Who'd have thunk it? I know everybody - you can't kill this franchise.

You could have done with less movies to tell the whole story of course, but whaever. So good puppetry again, not so good acting as with almost all of them, and a lot of puppet violence and death and all that. One more until the much praised "Littlest Reich" is on the horizon ...

Blade, Jester, Tunneler, Pinhead, Six Shooter, and Leech Woman are back! Okay, maybe that doesn't really warrant an exclamation mark, but this is the tentpole franchise of Full Moon Features, now reaching ten films in all (eleven if you count "Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys"). Writer/director/producer Charles Band is also back, but I was kind of disappointed by this sequel. Our WWII era heroes from the previous films, Danny and Beth, are back as well, though played by new actors, and find a post-WWII Nazi plot to create an army of their own evil puppets to do their bidding, using a Re-Animatior like green serum extracted from our puppet protagonists. Not that any of the films in this franchise are exactly brilliant, but this one felt too jokey. I did like it when the franchise introduced the Nazi storyline and had our homicidal puppet heroes fighting the Axis Powers, but this entry was just silly and also continued the unfortunate recent trend of Full Moon Features including casual racism, seen in this film with in addition of an evil Japanese puppet named Kamikaze. However, I do still enjoy watching little things fighting big things (i.e. "Attack of the Puppet People" "Dollman" "Child's Play" etc.) when it's not CGI, so even though this entry wasn't all that good, it did still entertain.

Puppet Master X Axis Rising is the latest addition to Full Moon's Puppet Master (PM) franchise. If you like the indie horror series about magically animated puppets with a penchant for bloodshed, you won't be disappointed.

Frankly, I don't understand one-star reviews for a movie like this. Axis Rising has a built-in "bad movie" factor, but it's fun-bad in my view. The Nazis play up nefariousness for all its worth, and Brad Potts is hilarious as Sergeant Rock knockoff Sergeant Stone. Paul Arnold cuts a George C. Scott-like figure in his brief appearance as General Porter. And Stephanie Sanditz, who plays Nazi villainess Uschi, gives a deliriously sexual, power-hungry performance with a presence as eye-popping as any hentai girl the demographic for this type of movie could imagine. What else could the straight-to-video horror junkie want?

It might have run longer (a common flaw with Full Moon films), but writer Shane Bitterling does a nice job balancing the storyline with his obligation to showcase a slew of creepy puppets. Kenneth Branagh acting? Peter Jackson effects? Polanski atmosphere? Come on!

Not to beat the dead horse of believability, but anyone who saw the last PM knows this WWII is not set in our universe (in writer August White's version the U.S. jumps into the fray in 1939). Relax, it's okay if some of the accents and period slang miss the mark. Enjoy the movie for what it's supposed to offer: grue, cleavage, and puppets.