PLOT: The living puppet Doktor Death hacks and slashes its way through the residents and staff of a retirement home in this spin-off from Full Moon’s Puppet Master franchise.
REVIEW: Back in 1999, Full Moon released an entry in their Puppet Master franchise that was called Retro Puppet Master. That one revealed the living puppets Andre Toulon used to fight the Nazis during World War II weren’t the first group of living puppets he had. He created the first living puppets in 1902, when he found his friends murdered and decided to transfer their souls into the bodies of the puppets they used for their shows at the Theatre Magique in Paris, France so they could battle the undead servants of the god Sutekh. Toulon and those first puppets obviously went through a lot in the early decades of the 20th century and the puppets weren’t around by the end of the 1930s… but even though Retro Puppet Master ended with the promise we’d find out more about those puppets those days, the movie never got a follow-up. We never heard the full story of those puppets. Now, more than twenty years later, one of the Retro puppets has returned in its own solo film, Puppet Master: Doktor Death.
Full Moon made eleven Puppet Master movies (and other companies made the “non-canon” Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys and Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich) before deciding to branch out into making solo puppet spin-offs with Blade: The Iron Cross a couple years ago. Making Blade the focus of the first solo movie was an obvious choice. The decision to have Doktor Death star in the second solo movie was a surprising one – but also a very welcome one for those of us fans who have been waiting for a continuation of the Retro Puppet Master story. And fans can rest assured, Puppet Master: Doktor Death does (finally!) acknowledge the events of Retro Puppet Master. While this was originally announced as a standalone entry that sounded like the puppet would be Doktor Death in name only, it did indeed evolve into a sequel. Don’t expect it to dig deep into what Doktor Death has been up to since 1902 (or to answer that question at all), but there’s enough of a connection here to open the door to more sequels that could reveal what happened to all of the Retro puppets.
There’s just enough of a nod to the franchise mythology in here to get fans hooked, but not so much that it’s going to baffle casual viewers. For the most part, Puppet Master: Doktor Death is a very simple, straightforward slasher movie. When a resident of the Shady Oaks Senior Living retirement home passes away, the caregivers discover the puppet Doktor Death locked inside a padlocked chest in the man’s closet. Once the chest has been opened and the puppet has been freed, it proceeds to go on a slashing spree, killing Shady Oaks residents and staff. It’s not clear why Doktor Death is so bloodthirsty. In many Puppet Master movies, the puppets have been the heroes, but in the installments where they were villains it’s because they were doing the bidding of an evil puppet master. That’s not the case in this movie. Doktor Death is on his own, and he’s a homicidal maniac.
Appreciators of the slasher sub-genre will find plenty of scenes to enjoy in this movie. In between the bloodshed, we spend time with an interesting group of characters, including caregivers – new hire April (Jenny Boswell), nice guy Ryan (Chad Patterson), the douchey Flynn (Zach Zebrowski), and Jennifer (Emily Sue Bengtson), who has a questionable approach to caregiving at times – and residents, including golfer Syd (John Capocci), who always has a Full Moon movie playing on his TV; the handsy Rufus (Rick Montgomery Jr.); and stroke victim Dorothy (Tari Lyn Bergoine). Melissa Moore of Sorority House Massacre II and Hard to Die is also among the residents, playing psychic painter Gladys, a character who feels rather underutilized.
Some fans may be aware that wrestlers Laura “The Bunny” Dennis and Jesse “The Blade” Guilmette show up in the movie. They do indeed appear, but keep expectations in check when it comes to their screen time and what they do in the movie. They’re only here for a quick visit.
Puppet Master: Doktor Death does feel like it’s lacking substance overall. It moves quick and delivers the death scenes, but it would have benefited from spending more time with the characters. With a running time of just 59 minutes, the movie flies by. It could have made more of an impression if there were another 20 minutes or so in there. More could have been done with these people and this scenario. But as it is, it’s a decent little slasher that provides a quick dose of entertainment and leaves plenty of story left over to be told in a sequel. Despite the fact that there’s not much to it, I did enjoy it more than some of the previous Puppet Master movies. If you like the Puppet Master franchise and/or slasher movies, it’s worth a look. And it won’t disrupt your day much at all.
Puppet Master: Doktor Death is now available to watch on the Full Moon Features streaming service.