Puppet Master (film)

Puppet Master
Film poster
Directed by	David Schmoeller
Written by	Charles Band Kenneth J. Hall
Produced by	Hope Perello Charles Band
Starring	Paul Le Mat William Hickey Irene Miracle Jimmie F. Skaggs Robin Frates Matt Roe Kathryn O'Reilly Mews Small
Cinematography	Sergio Salvati
Edited by	Thomas Meshelski
Music by	Richard Band
Distributed by	Full Moon Features
Release date	(1989-10-12)October 12, 1989
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Puppet Master (also known as Puppetmaster and Puppet Master I) is a 1989 horror film written by Charles Band and Kenneth J. Hall, and directed by David Schmoeller. It stars Paul Le Mat, Irene Miracle, Matt Roe and Kathryn O'Reilly as psychics who are plotted against by a former colleague, using puppets animated by an Egyptian spell. The film's cult status has led to the production of nine sequels. Originally intended for theatrical release in summer 1989, before being released on home video the following September, Puppet Master was ultimately pushed to a direct-to-video release on October 12, 1989, as Charles Band felt he was likely to make more money this way than he would in the theatrical market.

In 2007, Razor Digital released an uncut DualDisc version of Puppet Master, featuring both the standard and stereoscopic versions of the film. The uncut version restores a number of deleted scenes, including additional footage of Frank and Carissa having sex, extra frames added to Dana's death which make the slash across her throat more visible, and Neil's death scene being extended to contain more gore. In December 2008, Band authorized Puppet Master for digital download through the iTunes Store; his first foray into the digital market.

Plot

The film starts in 1939 Bodega Bay, California with an old puppeteer named Andre Toulon putting the finishing touches on a living puppet called Jester. A living oriental puppet stares out of the window at Blade, another living puppet, as Blade scouts the grounds of the Bodega Bay Inn that Andre is staying at. Two Nazis get out of a car and head for Toulon's room but Blade beats them there and Andre puts Blade, Jester and the oriental puppet into a chest, before hiding the chest in a wall panel. As the Nazis break down the door, Toulon shoots himself in the mouth with a pistol. The oriental puppet is not seen for the rest of the movie.

The film now cuts to 1989, with a psychic named Alex. Alex has a dream that there are leeches on his stomach. Seconds later, he dreams of a man that he recognizes putting a gun to a woman's head. The film cuts to Dana, another psychic, who has visions of being slashed across the throat with a knife. Carissa and Frank, two other psychics who are apparently lovers, are reading the mind of another woman when they get a call from Alex. Frank tells Alex that they also got a call from Dana, and the four psychics assess that the visions they've been having were sent from a former colleague, Neil Gallagher.

The psychics meet at the Bodega Bay Inn that Neil is staying at and meet Neil's wife, Megan, as well as the housekeeper, Theresa. The psychics are skeptical that Neil took a wife but it is forgotten when Megan tells them that Neil shot himself. Theresa, Megan, Dana, Carissa, Frank, and Alex leave the body and Pinhead, another living puppet, jumps from the casket.

Later, Carissa has visions of Neil violently attacking a woman in an elevator. Dana warns Theresa to stay away from the fireplace and later, at dinner, Dana makes several remarks about Neil that causes Megan to leave the table. Alex goes after her and explains about the powers of he, Dana, Carissa, and Frank.

When night falls, Theresa goes near the fireplace and is murdered when Pinhead hits her with a poker. The psychics hear a scream and find Megan passed out nearby Neil's body that has been moved into a chair by someone. Carissa and Frank spend some intimate time together in one of the hotel rooms but two more living puppets, Tunneler and Leech Woman, enter. Tunneler kills Carissa by drilling into her face and Leech Woman vomits leeches onto Frank's body, which drain his blood. Meanwhile, Dana sits around with her strange, dead and preserved dog until she has her leg broken by Pinhead. Pinhead chases her and repeatedly strangles and punches her until she manages to knock him away, only to have her throat slashed by Blade, using his knife-hand.

Alex has recurring nightmares of Megan having a gun put to her head by Neil and the other psychics being found dead, but is eventually awoken by Megan who takes him into the room that Andre Toulon was in, and tells him that Neil found Andre's secret to bringing inanimate objects, such as puppets, to life. Alex has a vision and they go downstairs to find the dead bodies of the psychics sitting around a table. They are stopped by the newly resurrected Neil. He explains that "metaphysically speaking", he did commit suicide, but he used Toulon's formula to give himself eternal life. He fights with Alex and beats him up, until Neil hurts Jester and the puppets revolt against him. They lock him in an elevator and murder him by having Tunneler drill into his neck, Pinhead push into his temples, Blade cut off his fingers, and finally Leech Woman vomits a leech into his mouth.

The film cuts to days later when Alex leaves the hotel. Now alone, Megan picks up Dana's taxidermic dog, and by the following scene, the dog becomes completely animate, indicating that she too has learned Toulon's method (although the film's sequel dispels that she has become the next Puppet Master).

Cast

• Paul Le Mat – Alex Whitaker
• William Hickey – Andre Toulon
• Irene Miracle – Dana Hadley
• Jimmie F. Skaggs – Neil Gallagher
• Robin Frates – Megan Gallagher
• Matt Roe – Frank Forrester
• Kathryn O'Reilly – Carissa Stamford
• Mews Small – Theresa
• Barbara Crampton – Woman at Carnival
• David Boyd – Man at Carnival
• Peter Frankland – Assassin #1
• Andrew Kimbrough – Assassin #2

Featured puppets

• Oriental puppet
• Blade – voiced by Bert Rosario
• Jester – voiced by Michael Laide
• Pinhead – voiced by Ed Cook
• Tunneler – voiced by Tim Dornberg
• Leech Woman – voiced by Linda Cook

External links

• Puppet Master at IMDb
• Puppet Master at AllMovie
• Puppet Master fansite