Wait?! You mean part 5 wasn’t actually THE Final Chapter after all??
Curse of the Puppet Master (1998)
Directed By: David DeCoteau
The Prologue
Sooo, after part 5 was supposed to be “The Final Chapter”, we get yet another Puppet Master film in, Curse of the Puppet Master, in 1998. While during this period my love for renting Full Moon movies on the weekend had subsided to my love of playing Mortal Kombat and calling the school’s head cheerleader before wussing out and hanging up without saying a word, I knew Full Moon was still making Puppet Master films. I just didn’t bother to check it out..That was until now! And lucky for you, I’m going into reviewing this one on a good day!
The Movie
Andre Toulon’s puppets have a new master in backwoods scientist, Dr. Magrew. While desperately attempting to duplicate the great Puppet Master’s work, Dr. Magrew convinces a young wood carver to join his team. But when the doctor starts to experiment with humans all hell breaks loose. As captives in Dr. Magrew’s “House of Marvels,” the puppets have watched silently as lives have been destroyed with every failed experiment. Now, the deadly puppets’ hunger for revenge is the only way to stop the legacy of evil.
So wait a minute..what? Where is Myers?? And the Puppets are kinda tweeners here. Mostly good, but they aren’t always doing good things for the whole duration of this movie. I’ve mentioned before that Full Moon had at times made a mess of Puppet Master’s continuation. And this one here not only doesn’t make sense considering how part 5 ended, but it doesn’t say one thing to try to bridge the gap of what has taken place in between. While Full Moon has a habit of just ignoring things like this, as someone who tends to watch franchise films back to back in order to add to the overall enjoyment, just mentioned something about what has become of Myers and why he isn’t here anymore would have been considerate of the film makers.
The story not only goes a 180 from 4 and 5, but it inserts a odd plot of a twisted new Puppet Master that is trying to make human puppets. It’s awkward a bit and I know that may seem weird coming from a franchise that just had the puppets go from evil to good to fight demons, but this just seemed like a last ditched effort at making money off the name. The story and film doesn’t flow. The characters aren’t that interesting and the biggest sin of all, the Puppets themselves (Leech Woman is back but Torch is gone again btw) take a backseat to everything and aren’t on screen as much. And top that off with Pinhead (the Puppet Master Pin Head not to confused with Hellraiser’s Pinhead) getting a bit of a love triangle with the Puppet Master’s daughter and the strong “slow” hired help…I kid you not.
There’s a little blood, but not much. There’s a little less logic. Overall what you get doesn’t seem like a Puppet Master movie, but instead comes across as a movie that just so happens to have a few of the Puppets in it. It ends better than it starts but it ends in a very odd way that according to the other Puppet Master films never really gets settled or sorted out. Of course it’s a prime example of a lot of what you go out of Full Moon during this time frame. Probably not worth seeking out unless you just love Puppet Master or want to complete the series in your collection.
The Conclusion
Echo Bridge has THIS title by it’s self, but I’d recommend picking it up HERE along with 4 and 5. That way you at least get the good 4 and passable 5 with it. And if you want to backtrack, then check out 1-3 right here also from Echo Bridge. By it’s self, this film just doesn’t really cut it I’m afraid.
The Rating (4.5/10)
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