PUPPET MASTER: AXIS OF EVIL

In 1989, a litte low-budget horror film was released direct-to-video, spawning the beginning of what has become the most successful direct-to-dvd series of all time. The Puppet Master series chronicles the story of a puppeteer named Andre Toulon and his living marionettes as they try to protect the secret of their magical reanimation from unscrupulous characters out to exploit the puppets' secret for their own good. Despite how the series' reputation has developed incorrectly over the years, the puppets are "the good guys" and generally only turn violent out of self-defense for themselves or their "puppet master" creator. For a horror series over 20 years old and with 10 installments (and yet ANOTHER one scheduled for  a 2012 release - sweet!)moving freely forward and backward through time, the continuity has admittedly become problematic. However, make no mistake - the Puppet Master series is one of the classic horror franchises and deserves its often-overlooked respect. 

While the sequels have varied greatly in quality (parts 4 and 5 remaining my personal favorites), they have each added their own chapter to the Puppet Master legacy (ironically, one of the unfairly maligned installments - Puppet Master: The Legacy, tries to makes sense of the convoluted storyline by assembling the best scenes of the series into a cohesive, chronological order). After nearly a decade without a new PM movie and following in the wake of what many consider to be the worst of the franchise (Curse of the Puppet Master & Retro Puppet Master - of which I enjoyed both), Puppet Master: Axis of Evil was released in 2010. How does it hold up? I'm happy to say probably towards top of the list.

Puppet Master: Axis of Evil starts intriguingly with new scenes added to the now-classic original film's opening to create one of the more clever twists to the franchise - a simultaneous act unfolding, which steers the story in a believable (NOT contrived, for a change) direction and allows for AOE to hit the ground running. Over the years, many puppets have been introduced into the "family", severely limiting each puppet's screen time to accommodate the ever-growing group.  However, this latest installment dusts off the main five puppets that originally made the first film a success: Blade, Pinhead, Jester, Leech Woman and Tunneler. Everyone else is absent for this particular cinematic outing. Fan favorite Six-Shooter is acknowledged, but Torch (my favorite) is nowhere to be found and still remains the best, most underused puppet in the series. What a shame.

To regurgitate the film's plotline at this point is pointless. Fans of the series (of which I am a HUGE one) simply want to know several key things: is the film good, is there a lot of "puppet" screen time, are the effects well done and - most importantly, is CGI used. First off, yes - the film is good. Interesting story, decent pacing and likeable characters (minus the HORRENDOUS acting) keep this PM movie near the top of the pack. Secondly, once again, the puppets' screen time is limited. However, this is one of the best screenplays for a PM movie to date, so it compensates for the lack of "puppet" action - somewhat. The gore effects are minimal, but effective. Blood is believable and there are some great "puppet" scenes, unfortunately there are not many of them. Lastly (and most importantly), as with the other PM installments, I am happy to report that CGI is not used.

While this is great news, the "stop motion" technology that had originally given the puppets "life" in the earlier films (and remains a fan favorite technique) seems to be gone as well. Rods are used to animate the puppets this go around, with CGI being used only to digitally remove the wires and rods from the final product. This works pretty well, except for the fact that the puppets are now very limited in their movement (think of a hand puppet bouncing up and down on camera and you get the idea of the effect). However, their screen time is so scant that it hardly shows their limitations.

The last 15 minutes or so of Puppet Master: Axis of Evil kicks into overdrive with one final confrontation between our "heroes" and the evil characters in the film going head-to-head in old school Puppet Master style, proving that the well-worn franchise still has several tricks up its sleeve - and at least several more installments in its future. Full Moon founder Charles Band and director David Decouteau both know the franchise - and its fans - extremely well by this point and the two of them throw everything they can into making Puppet Master: Axis of Evil a worthy entry and a great jumpstart to an aging franchise that may very well be in its twilight years, but still has enough gas in its tank to run with the big boys.

My Rating - 7 out of 10