Puppet Master X: Axis Rising

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.

With the puppet in Nazi hands, the couple who survived from before are thrust back into the fight against the Nazi's when the superior officer in charge comes in to clean up the mess in order to carry on his quest for Nazi super-soldiers and forces them to fight new, deadly puppets to stop him.

This was a fun if somewhat flawed entry. One of the better aspects to this one is the fact that there's a lot of fun work to be had here with the continuation of the storyline. Not only by knocking off the previous film's villains in order to keep that storyline going but introducing the new one involving the rogue Nazi commander who wants to create a new race of beings based on the work of the puppets that moves this one along nicely. There's a fun air here in the Nazi hideout where we see the failed experiments play out as the reanimated soldiers turn to goo or melt away which launches into the many speeches or enjoyable rounds of temptation taking place in the lab where it really plays on the sympathies of those around him to really work nicely within this one. The second half here, where it focuses on the plan to stop them and get their stolen friend back leads to some more fun here in the full-on puppet action that gets unleashed here. From the first encounter with the new puppets that are not only cool-looking creations but given some impressive powers, the later confrontation in the community hall as well as the series of action scenes in the German hideout that has a lot of fine action between the puppets and between the people involved which is what makes this so enjoyable overall. There are a few major problems with this one, mostly the fact that the puppets are reduced in screentime to such an extent that they rarely are shown here. This one offers up far more scenes of the Nazi's standing around making threats or experimenting on their discoveries which goes hand-in-hand with the few scenes of the kids coming to terms with what happened the day before which really keeps the puppets to such a small part of the film that they don't make much of an impression until the finale. There's a lot more this could've done to work them into the story earlier and more often, so it's a major missed opportunity to leave this one with such a lack of action. The other big issue here is the rather obvious cheap-looking aesthetic throughout here, from the few locations that are rarely changed up or look like they're all that well-stocked which give away the film's key nature. As that extends to the CGI blood-splatter that looks awful as well, overall this one really showcases such a low-budget nature. Beyond these elements, though, the film isn't that bad.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.

Puppet Master: Axis Rising (2012), available on Amazon Prime, continues the Axis trilogy in the Puppet Master series. This tenth installment follows the Germans as they create their own puppets to aid their plans for world domination, while a young couple tries to unlock another puppet that might help even the odds. The Germans believe their new kamikaze puppet has the power to defeat the original puppets.

Directed by Charles Band (Trancers), the film stars Jean Louise O'Sullivan (Trophy Heads), Scott King (Yellow Bird), Stephanie Sanditz (Kate & Leopold), and Paul Thomas Arnold (Once Upon a Time at Christmas).

I enjoyed this movie, especially the addition of new puppets, like the werewolf. The storyline is fun and a nice continuation from Axis of Evil. I strongly recommend this for fans of the Puppet Master series and would give it a 5.5/10.

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.

The movie kinda works. Sure, the recasting is annoying, but the new actors aren't THAT worse. I can even work with the lore, although if you planned a trilogy, please plan it proper, and don't forget where your characters are, or even what characters you have (pointing at Kaaaahn! to start with).

The problem is 20 minutes wasted on pure softporn between the Mad Scientist and Big Boob Bertha, followed with that another 20 minutes ungrounded medal ceremony. If that 40 minutes would be rewritten, I could even go with the nazis staying in chinatown, with an SS-car, guarding their secret door with obvious henchmen. Lesson to be learnt: if you don't have a script, you don't start shooting. Especialy if you're part of a long running franchise.