Puppet Master III: La revanche de Toulon

Full Moon's attempt at a World War II flick on a low budget is ambitious. Yeah, the acting is a little wooden (what do you expect from puppets? heh), but Lynch, Wolfe, Abercrombie, and Gottell all do okay. Setting up Lynch's character as a puppet is a cute touch since Blade does look like him. This gives some background to the puppets, and sets them up as the potential good guys for subsequent sequels and to take advantage of their popularity. Overall, entertaining.

Maybe this isn't the "Citizen Kane" of rampaging puppet movies, but it's hard to deny the appeal of "Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge" as an extremely entertaining B-movie.

A prequel to the imaginative series, "Toulon's Revenge" recounts how Andre Toulon brought his puppets to life, how the Nazis tried to steal his experiments to raise their dead, and how Toulon struck back with the help of his puppets — Six-Shooter, Blade, Tunneler, Pin Head and Ms. Leech. The film features above-average acting for a Full Moon production, and Guy Rolfe convincingly portrays Toulon. Especially notable is Ian Abercrombie, who played Mr. Pitt in "Seinfeld," as Dr. Hess.

Of course, the highlight of this series is the puppets, and "Toulon's Revenge" does not disappoint. Both the live-action and stop-motion sequences are well-crafted and downright creepy.

Don't ask too many questions, like why the Germans speak English or why Toulon is presented as a good guy when the first "Puppetmaster" painted a much different picture. Just enjoy "Toulon's Revenge" for what it is: an entertaining prequel, no strings attached.

During the pre-war era of Berlin in 1941, the Nazi regime is working at creating a drug which will reanimate the dead. Their intent is to use the serum on fallen soldiers in order to render their army invincible. After many failed attempts, Dr. Hess soon learns that the local puppet master Andre Toulon holds the ancient secret of giving life to inanimate objects. Toulon and his legion of puppets must now defend themselves and flee from the pursuing Nazis as they try to capture him and use his powers for evil. This is an exciting and adequately-scripted entry in the still-continuing Puppet Master series, even though the story suffers from a gaping, inexcusable plot hole: the original movie has Toulon committing suicide in 1939, two years before the events in this film. All imperfections aside, however, this still is a decent little flick.

The most imaginative and best-acted title in the long-running PUPPETMASTER series, Part 3 is actually a prequel that details how Andrte Toulon came to create his puppets during the dark days of World War II. The Nazis wants to use Toulon's secrets to create an army of the undead, and that's when the fun begins. Toulon sics his killer puppets on the Nazis, to spectacularly bloody effect. The puppets are the good guys in this one. What also makes a huge difference here is the introduction of Guy "Mr. Sardonicus" Rolfe as Toulon, a role he would essay in two more sequels. Rolfe is a great Toulon, a charismatic and even sympathetic character who loves his deadly puppets as only a papa creator could. Rolfe lent an air of integrity and distinction to the series. Part 3 is a great little B-horror addition to the series that was shot on the Universal back lot instead of Europe to surprisingly solid effect. A must-see.

Well when I saw Puppet Master 3 in the video store I thought to myself just another stupid sequel. I was fooled this was a great Puppet Master movie. It gives you alot of background information about Toulan and his puppets. The WW2 plot was good too. Alot of people like this one cause it was the most creative. Come on nazis getting slained by little tiny puppets. You also find out how Leech Woman came about. There is some crazy parts like the beginning where the guy awakes on the morgue table burnt to a crisp. Oh yea you find out how every puppet is based on. This movie is a great Full Moon flick. Buy it if you have the money. Or just rent it. It will not dissapoint you.

Rated R for Nudity, Horror Violence, and some language