Puppet Master II

The murderous puppets from part one (plus a new, fire-jetting doll named Torch) resurrect the long-dead corpse of their original puppet master, Andre Toulon. For some reason, Toulon is now an evil, spiteful b**tard who entices the little creatures to murder people and extract their brain tissue in order to create a serum which will reanimate his wife. Meanwhile, a group of government parapsychologists (is there really such a profession?) are conducting research at the eerie hotel (using a Commodore Amiga!) where both the puppet master and his creations dwell. As you would expect, they are not happy with the unwelcome visitors and decide to slaughter them all. The Full Moon company has outdone themselves yet again with this eye-opening feature, complete with awesome puppetry and mind-blowing special effects. The story seemed a little flat at times but it was told well enough to peak your interest for the duration of the film. The same eerie soundtrack from part one is reused here.

Well, if you enjoyed the 1989 "Puppet Master" movie from Full Moon Entertainment, then you will definitely also enjoy this 1990 sequel titled "Puppet Master II".

I sat down here in 2023 to watch the 1990 movie "Puppet Master II" from director David Allen, as part of a "Puppet Master" movie marathon. I do remember having seen the movie once before, many years ago, but I have to admit that I had forgotten about the storyline.

Writers Charles Band, David Pabian and David Schmoeller put together a rather enjoyable script for the movie, and it felt like a good sequel to the original movie, though they actually had little in common. But the movie proved to be entertaining, nonetheless.

The acting performances in "Puppet Master II" were fair enough, though I was only familiar with actress Nita Talbot.

Visually then you know what you are getting here, provided you have already seen the 1989 original "Puppet Master" movie. The stop-motion effects for the puppets, while cheesy and campy, does add a certain enjoyable charm to the movie. And I will say that the make-up effects on the zombified Andre Toulon was actually quite good.

I enjoyed "Puppet Master II" as much as I enjoyed the original 1989 "Puppet Master" movie, so I was adequately entertained by this 1990 sequel.

My rating of "Puppet Master II" lands on a five out of ten stars.

An inevitable simple rehash, which is probably a little more expansive and wicked in its visions. Not as fun as the original, but nonetheless a respectable b-grade sequel by Full Moon productions. Which I believe, would be followed up by the best entry of the series "Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge", as after that film I didn't particularly care for the rest. The second film of the franchise keeps pretty much the same structure of the original, as a group of government paranormal researchers head to the ocean facing cliff top hotel to look into Alex Whitaker's stories (the survivor of the original now in a mental hospital) and soon become targets of the puppets and the resurrected Andre Toulon (dressed in bandages) from the dead in the quest to collect enough brain fluid for his reanimation serum to keep them alive. But when Toulon encounters Carolyn, he's quickly reminded of his dead wife Elsa and the plans seem to change.

Director / visual effects wizard David Allen does a resourceful job with his low-budget, instilling a clean-cut Gothic atmosphere with an underlining eeriness and donning sensational puppet creations (a newly added one too -- Torch) and stop motion effects. This gimmick is where the film's personality arrives from, outside a dementedly compulsive performance by Steve Welles (under some bandages and heavy make-up) as the cracking Toulon. Welles is the life of the party (getting plenty of screen time --- where a little more is explained about his character), as the rest of the cast (Elizabeth Maclellan, Collin Bernsen, Gregory Webb, Jeff Celentano and a perky Charlie Spradling) are immensely one-note. Also showing up in minor, but fruitful parts are Nita Talbot, Sage Allen and George 'Buck' Flower. When it came to the puppets doing Toulon's dirty work, while ominously nasty it just lacked the imagination found in the original's death set-pieces, but the meaty, if dark narrative seemed a little more fuller in its angle of dementia, betrayal and revenge. The pacing can have its stuffy moments too (being rather slow to get going), but the location for the developing macabre fits and Richard Band's brooding score is reused with that striking playful carnival arrangement.

Alright, so the original was a fairly smart film, but this is just a fun B-movie. SOme good gore, cool kills, and that feel of an 80's flick are all present. Plus the new puppet, Torch, is awesome, along with all the original puppets doing what they do best...kill. In this film, Andre Toulon is brought back by the puppets to create more carnage. The storyline is not strong, the acting is not excellent, but it all works and the movie turns out to be pretty darn fun. Also some cool kills, and better gore than the first. The special effects are also excellent by David Allen's great effects crew, as David Allen also takes the director's chair on this film. If you like the original, you will also love this one, that is my logic.

My review was written in December 1990 after watching the film on Paramount video cassette.

This video release is an okay followup to the gory William Hickey-starrer. Use of stop-motion puppet effects should please genre fans.

Dave Allen, an expert in the stop-motion animation field, gets to direct live action as well this time with functionally acceptable results.

Format is a redo of the original film: a group of young investigators led by pretty newcomer Elizabeth MacClelln descend on the same haunted hotel for psychic research.

As detailed in a flashback, the little puppets brought to life early in the century conspire to reanimate their puppet master (hammy Steve Welles this time, replacing Hickey in the title role). Each little critter has a violent specialty meted out in gory fashion to the investigators until an open ending suggets this curse will continue.

Welles has fun with the central part, playing most of the film in bandages and goggles makeup suggesting Claude Rains in "The Ivisible Man". MacClellan is an effective heroine and also doubles in flashback as the puppet master's wife.

The statuesque pinup Charlie, wh nearly stole "Meridian (Kiss of the Beast)" from Sherilyn Fenn last year, is unveiled here as Charlie Spardling and provides the film's brief t&a content. Comedienne Nita Tlbot is a welcome addition to the cast as an acid-tongued psychic.

Allen's puppetry remains the main event, with the malevolent little folks, including newcomer Torch, providing some gruesome thrills.