Puppet Master II

Granted, this is only a B-movie, it still delivers an atmosphere of dark, moody suspense. Nothing like Suspiria did, but none the less, Puppet Master II far exceeds the first by several turns. The puppets are more believeable in this one. They don't appear to be as bland as in the first; they have more movement and actions. Toulon as the Invisible man, however, is one of the main low points of the movie. The acting is marginally better than the first...The actors aren't as...bored looking as in the first. The life-size puppets were a very eerie, and gave the film a new twist.

While still under Paramount, Full Moon was able to present a decent Horror movie, with a much bigger budge than any of their $50,000 "wonders" they are putting out now.

7 out of 10

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.

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.

I must say that I enjoyed this second installment to the series better than I enjoyed the original PUPPET MASTER. I like the killings better, the story better, and especially the new Torch puppet. The film is a horror fest from beginning to end. You will really enjoy this film.

The actors and actresses are all pretty much unknown except for a few which some people may recognize. I also think that the special effects are much better in this film. This one is much more gory and graphic than the original. PUPPET MASTER II brought the PUPPET MASTER legacy back to life and kept it alive until it was destroyed by the godawful PUPPET MASTER III: TOULAN'S REVENGE. Now, that movie was gay! On the other hand, this one is not. This is one of the better horror films that I have ever seen. PUPPET MASTER II: 5/5.

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.