El juguetero del diablo

This is one great horror movie. The special effects are great. The acting is good. If you have never seen this movie you should run straight to the nearest video store and pick it up. Or just go ahead and buy it!!! The dvd is great. It is about 4 psychics investigating rumors that the secret of life has been discovered by master puppeteer Andre Toulon. But the psychics quickly discover Toulons secret of death in the form of 5 killer puppets. You have to see this movie to believe it. I give it 3 1/2 stars out of 4.

Being a fan of b-flicks and cultmovies, I was aware of this movie's reputation. So, why not give it a chance? Was I appointed? No, not really ... but was I excited?! Neither! This movie has an original storyline, is shot on a nice location and the special effects are OK (they look sometimes a bit silly, but in movies like this, there's one golden rule: how sillier, how much more fun!) But, in general, this is a rather slow and boring movie. It has some great (and sick) scenes ... but that doesn't cover up for the rest of the movie. This movie constantly repeats itself. I really had the feeling that the director had problems to fill his 90 minutes. So ... is it a waste of time?! No, you'll have fun with it. Just don't expect too much of this 'cultclassic'

PS: Just like Child's Play, this movie is about dolls and puppets ... but that doesn't mean it's suitable for young children. A wise advice to all you babysitters out there!

Puppetmaster Andre Toulon (William Hickey) was hunted by Nazis and shot himself at the Bodega Bay Inn 50 years ago. Present day Neil Gallagher invites his psychic friends Alex Whitaker, Dana Hadley, Frank Forrester and Carissa Stamford to the Bodega Bay Inn but they find Neil had already killed himself.

It's too bad that the great William Hickey is dead in the first 10 minutes. This movie badly needs great actors. The acting in this is stiff and uncompelling. The production value never rises above B-movie level. The best thing about the entire movie is the great campy puppets. They are amazzzing.

This flick has developed quite a reputation as being a minor "cult classic", but actually it's not very good. Not very good at all. The story is shallow (I hear that it's further developed in the sequels, but that doesn't mean much for the viewers of this particular film), the characters are mostly uninteresting or unlikable, and the special effects, though cleverly conceived at times, show their age (already). There is also not much gore and not much suspense. (*1/2)

"Puppet Master" is a wonderful, good-hearted slice of old-fashioned horror nonsense from the imagination of Charles Band. Whilst short on plot, it features a variety of pretty unusual characters, some fiendishly good stop-motion and stunt puppets and a few excellent set-pieces with just enough of the red stuff thrown in for good measure.

There are some fun performances from the cast which includes the rather sexy Irene Miracle ("Inferno") and an appearance from William Hickey ("National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", "Prizzi's Honour", etc.).

It's one of those few feel-good horror movies, ideal for Christmas viewing!