On August 17th, the PUPPET MASTER franchise will be splitting off in two different directions – while the original series will continue at Full Moon, Cinestate is starting their own reboot series with PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH, which was directed by Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund from a screenplay by BONE TOMAHAWK's S. Craig Zahler.
THE LITTLEST REICH stars Thomas Lennon, Udo Kier, Michael Paré, Barbara Crampton, Jenny Pellicer, Nelson Franklin, Alex Beh, Tina Parker, Skeeta Jenkins, and Charlyne Yi. Lennon plays
a recently divorced young man who discovers a mint condition Blade doll in his deceased brother’s closet and plans to sell the toy at a convention in Oregon celebrating the 30th anniversary of the infamous Toulon Murders. All hell breaks loose at the Postville Lodge during the auction when a strange force animates all of the various puppets throughout the convention as they go on a bloody killing spree.
RLJE Films will be giving PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH a VOD and limited theatrical release on August 17th, and when I shared the list of theatres where the film will be screening this past Friday, I lamented that there still wasn't a trailer available for viewing three weeks out from the release.
As it turns out, I didn't have to wait very long after posting that article to see a trailer, since RLJE Films released one online over the weekend. That trailer can now be seen below – and if you're a fan of the existing PUPPET MASTER films, I think you'll like what you see here. While this version of the concept changes the back story of the puppets and their creator Andre Toulon (played by Kier), this looks reminiscent of the killer puppet mayhem of the early movies in the Full Moon franchise.
I love the PUPPET MASTER movies, so my hype level is through the roof for this one.