ironhorse_iv Review of Puppet Master II

Puppet Master II (1990 Video)

This killer puppet movie pulls no strings! It's entertaining enough to sit through, but it's also kinda feel like I'm watching a rethread film.

[5/10 · 9 December 2015]

This direct to video movie is by no means, a puppet masterpiece. It's mindless fun from the mind from Charles Robert Band, the Founder of Full Moon Features, a company known for its direct-to-video B-List horror & sci-fi movies. Coming off, their first success, 1989's Puppetmaster, Full Moon quickly capitalize on a sequel to that film. It's just sad, that Puppet Master II: His Unholy Creations doesn't bring anything really new to the concept, and felt like a remake of the first film. Instead, of a film about a group of psychics coming to a hotel to investigate a recent murder; this movie has a group of parapsychologists, coming back to the abandoned hotel to investigate, the recent mysterious murders, a year prior. Without giving away too much of the movie, I have to say, it was somewhat disappointing to see that none of the previous human surviving characters from the first movie, return for this film. Megan Gallagher (Robin Frates) & Alex Whitaker (Paul Le Mat) are only given, toss away mention lines and never really explore, beyond that, but I kinda also glad, they didn't. I felt that the first movie was trying too hard to be a 1980's Shining, rip-off with its psychics and the film didn't need any more of that mess. This film feels a bit more focus on the anthropomorphic puppets being the killers than super naturals. However, I really don't get why the new batch of characters lead by final girl, Carolyn Bramwell (Elizabeth Maclellan) had to be ghost-hunters. They rarely seem like they were good at their job. They were more focus on, having making jokes and doing stupid stuff, than trying to solve the case. They get more irrational as the movie goes on, when members of their crew, started disappearing. Instead of; I don't know, seeking the police's help with the crime, they would rather partake in having sex with each other. Who does this!? This movie is so clichés. The age-old movie formula of people wandering off alone and getting killed one by one, stupid scenes of nudity, and toilet humor makes them, some of the worst caricatures of people, ever. Ever, when the evidences start to pile up, that the puppets are killing their members, they still think, it's has to be ghosts. I have to say, these are some of the dumbest ghost hunters, I have, ever witness. None of them, were really that, likable. The puppets in the other hand, were. They were the best thing, about this film. It's a bad sign, when the villains are more fascinating than your heroes. Each of them having an interesting way of killing people. Blade looks like a small version of the Fisherman from 1997's I Know What You Did Last Summer with a hook. Pinhead is a Conehead lookalike muscle man mixed with Addams Family Uncle Fester who punch and strangles people. Tunneler has a drill on his head that drills into people. Ms. Leech who is a Leech-puking doll that sadly was quickly killed off, in the film, due to producers finding the character way too disturbing and disgusting. In my opinion, she was one of the best puppets, out-there. Why couldn't they just killed, Jester instead. He's pretty much, useless for most of the series. Anyways, she was replace, by a new puppet, call Torch. By far, one of the coolest puppets to ever come into the series. The action scenes with them are quite enjoyable, but I never bought the struggle between man Vs puppets. I just can't see, how people in these film, can't overpower them. Anyways, their stop motion movement was always fantastic and creepy. It also helps that, the director of this film, is Dave Allen. Considered among the finest stop motion model animators of all time. One thing, I didn't like, about this film is how the puppets are now control, by a new owner called Eriquee Chanee (Steve Welles), whom in no surprised to anybody, turn out to be the reanimation body of Andre Toulon; looking for a new body to take over. First off, it's a bit jarring to see that body of Toulon was able to reanimation, due to the fact, that the character somewhat blew his brains out in the first movie. Isn't brain tissue, the secret ingredient that makes that reanimation formula to work in these films? Also, Toulon's death doesn't match up, with the first movie's timeline, in which he killed himself on 1939, not 1941. Anyways, like the first movie, what was Toulon's plan on betrayal his puppets. It seem very odd to do. Yes, a recent comic book adaption somewhat gives a motive, but it's never truly answer on film. Like the first movie, this film got a cult-following, to the point, that puppets were turn the good guys in most of the subsequent films, fighting various enemies including Nazis, Demonic Spirits and inter-dimensional aliens. Overall: The movie is watchable, however, the somewhat downer ending to this film is a bit hard to watch. In my opinion, the subsequent films, such as 1991's Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge are truly, the ones worth-watching, but if you find yourself, watching this film. At least, you might find it, somewhat entertaining.