IMDb RATING
5.1/10
4.2K
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A young scientist and his friends, upon being attacked by demons, are protected by a gang of animated puppets.A young scientist and his friends, upon being attacked by demons, are protected by a gang of animated puppets.A young scientist and his friends, upon being attacked by demons, are protected by a gang of animated puppets.
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A brilliant super-nerd Rick Myers (Gordon Currie) who likes to play laser tag while rocking out to metal is conducting some experiments and doing research in the Bodega Bay Inn while he is caretaker. He feels he works much better in this environment while no one is looking over his shoulder. THE SHINING anyone? Three friends come over including his girlfriend Susie (Chandra West) and they find puppets that have been locked away since maybe some time around 1941. So, forget about parts 1 and 2 now. The puppets are brought back to life, but a demon named Sutekh (whose appearance is like a puppet as well. The biggest problem I had with this character is he wasn't scary and you just wanted to hug him) has sent three servants to get Toulon's secret.
Now, one thing I will say is the effects are getting better by 1993 and are actually getting quite effective in my eye. There is also a new puppet called Decapitron who can have different heads placed on his body. It is also through this puppet that Toulon (Guy Rolfe makes his return) appears to Rick. Strange to say the least and while the effects are getting better, this effect well wasn't a highlight I would say. Also starring Felton Perry in an almost useless role as Dr. Carl Baker.
Anyways, if you do watch it and in fact enjoy it perhaps PUPPET MASTER 5 will be for you as well as Jeff Burr directed it and is a complete sequel to this movie.
Now, one thing I will say is the effects are getting better by 1993 and are actually getting quite effective in my eye. There is also a new puppet called Decapitron who can have different heads placed on his body. It is also through this puppet that Toulon (Guy Rolfe makes his return) appears to Rick. Strange to say the least and while the effects are getting better, this effect well wasn't a highlight I would say. Also starring Felton Perry in an almost useless role as Dr. Carl Baker.
Anyways, if you do watch it and in fact enjoy it perhaps PUPPET MASTER 5 will be for you as well as Jeff Burr directed it and is a complete sequel to this movie.
I remember not particularly caring much for the rest of Full Moon's direct-to-video Puppet Master films that followed on after third instalment, but I managed to come across Parts 4 and 5. I had inkling to see if I still felt the same way and after getting through the fourth film it was actually better than I remembered. Nevertheless I didn't really liked how the puppets are turned into the good guys (although you could say that was the case in the third film, but I preferred that one's revenge angle) facing off against a Sutek the ancient Eygptian God and its minions that can control totems, but credit is due to somewhat (as some familiar staples do crop up) not completely repeating itself. Directed by Jeff Burr (a regular to the genre and to sequels
who would also direct the back-to-back made filth film), does quite competently polished if mechanical job, knowing that it's the puppets themselves that are the main attraction, as the animation is well-executed and the personalities of each one of them standing out with Blade taking centre stage. I always find something unsettling about the puppet Six Shooter and his laugh and again it's no exception here. The only two that didn't appear were leech woman and torch.
The whole angle has the puppets finding a new master and protecting him from the demon who wants to destroy the late Andre Toulon's work and the tone has kind of changed, while some dark glimmers I didn't find it all that creepy (with nastiness mainly occurring off-screen) and even the cliff side hotel they occupy doesn't have that dominating presence either. Some instances fell on the funny side, but the change of pace and whole drama moves by quick enough. Also it looked like it had a little more money behind it and Richard Band chimes in with an airy, majestic score. Reasonable performances by Gordon Currie and Chandra West in the leads with Guy Rolfe returning as Andre Toulon.
The whole angle has the puppets finding a new master and protecting him from the demon who wants to destroy the late Andre Toulon's work and the tone has kind of changed, while some dark glimmers I didn't find it all that creepy (with nastiness mainly occurring off-screen) and even the cliff side hotel they occupy doesn't have that dominating presence either. Some instances fell on the funny side, but the change of pace and whole drama moves by quick enough. Also it looked like it had a little more money behind it and Richard Band chimes in with an airy, majestic score. Reasonable performances by Gordon Currie and Chandra West in the leads with Guy Rolfe returning as Andre Toulon.
The ancient demon God Sutek is finally angry enough that Andre Toulon (Guy Rolfe) stole his life-giving formula that it sends some demons (tiny, of course) to the "upperworld" to get those responsible. Somehow that means scientists from a Government company, despite them having nothing to do with it. Who is involved is kid genius Rick Myers (Gordon Currie), who has discovered the puppets while doing his experiments at the Bodega Bay Inn while acting as a caretaker. Running only 75 minutes, this mess of a film actually has 5 screenwriters credited with the nonsense plot. The main point seems to be about resurrecting new puppet Decapitron (a hold over idea from Band's Empire days) and Toulon telling Rick he is the new puppet master. About the only good thing in the film is the stop motion work by Dave Allen and his crew, but it seems to be less and less with each entry. This marks a turning point with the tiny terrors being full blown good guys now. This was also the first in the PM series to feature no nudity. PUPPET MASTER 4 came out in November 1993 and the fifth entry, despite being filmed back-to-back, came out almost a year later in September 1994. Felton Perry has two scenes as a murdered scientist.
I though that PM4 and 5 were the best of the series. the puppets are fighting the Totems, minions of Sutek, who want the secret Toulon stole from him back. To help the Puppets, a new one, Decapitron (originally an idea for an unmade Empire Pictures filck) is made. This has always been my favorite Full Moon flick, and I love part V. Keep up the work Mr. Band. As usual, the video contains an excellent videozone, and the video itself was distributed by Paramount. A Puppet Master Box Set was released in 2000 by Full Moon, but was quickly recalled by Paramount because they still claimed the rights to these films. Paramount needs to stop being an ass and let Mr. Band release all of his great films through Full Moon, not the Paramount "Full Screen Collection". Bless Full Moon.
In this third sequel Gordon Currie makes his first really big role of a movie . Rick (G.Currie) is the caretaker to a hotel . Him and three other friends find the puppets Pinhead, Jester , and you know all the others . In this moviee the puppets are good and are fighting evil . Tons of action pretty good . Followed by Part 5 witch is horrible . Believe me . If your a horror fan you should watch this movie . ** stars out of four . Guy Rolfe ( Toulon also makes his return . He was in the third .
Did you know
- TriviaThe Torch puppet (created in Puppet Master II (1990)) is seen on the cover of the VHS/DVD case, but is not seen in any of the movie. This was due to economic reasons, as the makers could only afford the FX and a Fire Marshall for one entry. Torch does, however, appear in Puppet Master 5 (1994).
- Goofs(at around 39 mins) The lights are knocked out due to the storm, and Rick explains that his generator is only powering his computers, and hands out flashlights. Despite this fact, there are random rooms still fully lit.
- Quotes
Andre Toulon: The magic that gives my puppets life was stolen from a tribe of ancient, Egyptian sorcerers, who pledged their legiance to the demon lord, Zutek.
- Crazy creditsOn only the VHS version, in between the end of the film and the end credits appears the trailer for part 5.
- ConnectionsEdited into Puppet Master 5 (1994)
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Puppet Master 4: Decapitron
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime
- 1h 19m(79 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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