Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich

Pros: The puppets are evil again. The acting. The script. The special effects. The puppets are evil again.

Cons: Lack of suspense, dread, tension. Overuse of comedy (some of the comedy was great!) The puppeteering was better than in most of the sequels but still not up to the standards of the first two films.

Overall: A well-needed rebirth. The best direction the franchise has headed since the second movie. The new creative team has a lot of enthusiasm and talent. And it shows!

Simple review: Those who are fans of old school slashers and the Puppet Master franchise will enjoy this movie, because you already know what you're going to get. It's gory, it's stupid, it's fun... If you do not like old school gory slasher movies, then why would you even consider watching this?

It's not entirely clear to me whether "The Littlest Reich" is a remake of the cult semi-classic "Puppet Masters", or just another 318th-or-so sequel. Let's just agree it's an addition to the long-running franchise, and the greatest addition since 1991 for that matter! It clearly looks like this film was written (S. Craig Zahler) and directed (Sonny Laguna & Tommy Wirklund) by avid fans of the 1989-original and its first couple of sequels, and they were probably very upset with how the series deteriorate afterwards. Let's bring the essence back, is what they must have thought, so "The Littlest Reich" is a straightforward and unhinged gorefest with nasty killer puppets, very imaginative slaughters, odd characters and a whole lot of bad and politically incorrect humor. The movie doesn't have much of a plot (the original didn't either) or any suspense whatsoever, but it's never boring and once the bloody carnage kicks in; - it never stops. We are talking here about a movie in which a cut off head end up in toilets and gets peed on, and an unborn fetus is being transformed into a crawling mini-Hitler; - what else can I say? Maybe one more thing: Udo Kier briefly appears as André Toulon, and the film stars Barbara Crampton who's sixty years old but still sexy!

The Puppet Master series started back in the 80's and initially was watchable campy stuff but quickly spiraled out of control. They went from horror to comedy horror to barely even comedy and the Axis Trilogy that rounded it off was just cringe worthy.

Hearing that the franchise was getting rebooted I was skeptical, I hate reboots and after how embarrassing Puppet Master had gotten I figured it should just be another franchise that should be left to die. When I heard that Full Moon weren't making it however, my curiosity peaked. What could a new studio do with a Full Moon franchise?

Well, apparently quite a bit as I'm very impressed. The Littlest Reich is a different creature altogether and though clearly a Puppet Master film has been overhauled and entirely in a good way.

Starring the excellent Thomas "Reno 911" Lennon, horror legend Udo Kier and Michael Pare I'm not sure why it's been labelled a comedy horror as this is played straight and the comedy/campiness seems to have been sent out to pasture.

It tells the story of an Andre Toulon event where people worldwide have traveled to a convention to sell their Toulon puppets for big bucks. But you know the drill, the puppets burst to life and carnage ensues.

Make no mistake the puppets aren't the cutesy good guys here like they've been in a lot of the Puppet Master movies and they're are a lot more of them as well. Despite adding a lot of new puppets and lore it does still stay true, you'll see plenty of familiar faces and though overhauled drastically it does have the Puppet Master charm.

Because this isn't made by Full Moon it's a different SFX team, therefore the naff puppet effects are gone and that's oddly refreshing.

Regarding the content, it's merciless. This is a gory horror film and a really fun one at that. Again there is no comedy/campiness that fans of the series will expect, but that works in its favor.

Sure it's got its flaws and it badly needs a sequel, but The Littlest Reich has breathed new life into a stale franchise and I do hope they continue it.

The Good:

Decent deaths

First fresh feeling Puppet Master in decades

The Bad:

One death was a tad, edgy

Poor sound editing

Couple of really poor cinematography moments

And I would argue more "fun". That is if you are not looking for morally responsible jokes or are not someone who is easily offended. The jokes are premature I reckon and there is a lot of blood and a lot of nudity. There is also a lot of quite disturbing humor. Now you may not find certain things funny, calling the movie "serious" though would be missing the point entirely (you sure you watched the right Puppet Master movie?).

You don't even have to have seen all the previous entries (something I did) to have fun with this. You may enjoy certain parts more than others, but overall this works as a stand alone. And while the "love story/part" of the movie may be considered serious, it is not as big a part that should make this movie less of a party film. Some attendees at the festival may have gone way off limit with their cheering, but the movie does support that kind of behaviour overall. Not for the squeamish, rather for those who just want to shut off, sit back and enjoy mayhem on screen