Puppet Master II

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.

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.

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.

I enjoyed this sequel better than the original. My reasons being was i thought the puppets were more entertaining in this one and you get to see them for longer. I loved the new Torch puppet, i consider him to be the most dangerous and scary out of all the puppets(he was even more scarier than Blade). He has a stump on his right arm that throws flames. In one funny scene he is tormented by a little boy and the little brat says something like 'Is that all you can do?, do something' and you can guess what Torch does to him. The actors did fine, the acting wasnt great but this is low-budget guys. If your'e a fan of this movie i recommend you get the DVD. I got this movie for only 5.99 and you get to see the behind the scene's footage, which was interesting and fun to see. The picture quality was excellent, colors are very strong and vibrant. Overall a fun B-movie, 6/10.

The puppets return, this time they hunt down some locals and paranormal researchers to assist their master in his evil plan.

Charles Band's story and David Pabian's screenplay is almost a remake of the first film. Effects wizard David Allen in the directing chair exceeds the 1st certainly in terms of effects and atmosphere.

While this installment reduces Andre Toulon / Eriquee Chaneé to a walking nod to the Invisible Man and other Universal classic characters, in contrast to how he is presented in the later adventures, it is by far the creepiest of the bunch. Steve Welles performance is wonderfully over the top and steals every scene. Veteran Nita Talbot is on fine form and the remaining cast are a mixed blessing, Charlie Spradling and Elizabeth Maclellan give solid performances while here at least Collin Bernsen and Jeff Celentano are as mechanical as Tunneler's innards.

Despite it's editing and story flaws Allen gives us a darker faster paced and eerier film than it's predecessor. The flashbacks are welcome and the paranormal investigation angle, while not totally original, gives the proceeds some weight and intrigue. Notably Blade running and jumping from a bed to slice his victim is probably one of best low budget horror moments to date. There are many stand out moments in part 2, Leech Woman's demise, Torches encounter with a toy whipping boy and the unworldly human puppets reminiscent of the aliens in Carpenter's (1988)They Live to name a few.

As with all the films in the Puppet Master series they always leave you with one burning question, in two's case: Why didn't Julianne Mazziotti/Nita Talbot's Camille get her own sequel with your favorite little puppets?

Overall, a entertaining sequel with some great stop-motion puppet effects.