The horror movie Puppet Master was released in 1989 and was directed by David Schmoeller. The screenplay for the movie was written by Band and Kenneth J. Hall.In the film, Irene Miracle, Matt Roe, and Kathryn O'Reilly play psychics who are plotted against by a former colleague using puppets controlled by an Egyptian curse. In the end, Charles Band came to the conclusion that a direct-to-video release of Puppet Master on October 12th, 1989, would be more financially successful than a theatrical release of the film. Puppetmaster was originally scheduled for distribution in theaters during the summer of 1989, before it was released on home video in September of that same year. As a direct consequence of how well it has been received, the series has expanded to include a number of spin-offs.
At the Bodega Bay Inn in California in the year 1939, an experienced puppeteer by the name of André Toulon is putting the finishing touches on his most recent creation, Jester, before he brings it to life. Toulon is warned by Kahn, another live puppet, that two Nazi agents have arrived and are making their way to his chamber. Toulon gently conceals the puppets in a chest behind a wall panel. Toulon commits suicide as Nazis break in. Professor Alex Whitaker was "contacted" by Neil Gallagher in a nightmare in which Neil and leeches appeared, Dana Hadley was "contacted" through an impending death premonition, and Frank Forrester and Carissa Stamford were "contacted" by an unknown method.Dana reveals Toulon's "hiding location" to the others and arranges a rendezvous at Neil's Bodega Bay Inn.
When they arrive, they learn Neil has a wife, Megan, and that he has also committed himself, leaving instructions for Megan to follow when the others come.
She leaves them with the body so they can pay their respects, and Dana stabs a long pin into Neil's torso to make sure he's dead.
While the psychics are getting comfortable into their quarters, they get a variety of unusual and often puzzling images of Neil. That evening, over dinner, Dana purposefully riles up Megan, which results in Megan getting up and leaving the table, which then allows Pinhead, another animated doll, to emerge from Neil's coffin. Alex follows Megan and tells her about what happened between them and her husband. Carissa, who is a psychometrist, can see the emotional history of any object just by touching it. Dana can tell fortunes and find things and people, and Alex can see the future in his dreams.
Neil was doing research on alchemy and, with the assistance of Frank, learned that the Ancient Egyptians had devised a mechanism for reanimating lifeless figurines, a capability also discovered by André Toulon, the last real alchemist.
Because Neil has not communicated with the other members of the group for some time, Dana and the others have come to the conclusion that he has deserted them and taken whatever it was that Neil was looking for for himself. As a result, they have decided to take it for themselves in order to settle the score.
That night, Pinhead attacks Theresa with a poker, fulfilling Dana's fate.
In the meanwhile, Alex tends to Megan as the others return Gallagher to the coffin; she faints as a result. After Blade finds protective spells in Alex and Dana's rooms, he goes to Carissa and Frank's, where they are having very loud sex and keeping Alex and Dana from sleeping. Tunneler and Leech Woman, two more puppets, walk in.
Tunneler murders Carissa by drilling into her face when she investigates a disturbance coming from beneath the bed, while Leech Woman drains Frank's blood by regurgitating leeches onto him while he is chained to the bed. Dana discovers Gallagher's corpse in her room after returning from a stroll, and she is then assaulted by Pinhead, who fractures her leg.
She eventually kicks Pinhead off of her and makes her way to the elevator, where she is assaulted by Blade, who slices off her neck, thereby fulfilling the prophesy she was told.
Alex is roused from his dreams by Megan, who then reveals to him that Toulon's notebook is in her possession and tells him that Neil has uncovered Toulon's secret to reanimation.
Alex notices Neil in their attempt to run, and they come to find Dana, Frank, and Carissa's bodies clustered around a dining room table with the just resurrected Neil.
He says that although he did commit himself, he reanimated himself using Toulon's secrets in an attempt to become eternal.
He admits that he murdered Megan's parents and displays hatred for the puppets, brutally dumping Jester, now content to experiment with human puppets. When the other puppets see this, they attack Neil; Tunneler cuts off his legs, Blade holds him down, Leech Woman regurgitates a leech into his mouth, and Pinhead eventually breaks his neck. Megan sees Alex off the following day, and as she ascends the stairs, she brings Dana's toy dog Leroy to life.
The actors in Puppetmaster (1989) were very good at what they did. André Toulon was played by William Hickey.
Alex Whitaker, the film's protagonist, was played by Paul Le Mat, an anthropology professor at Yale University with the power to dream of the future.
Irene Miracle portrays carnival psychic Dana Hadley, who tells fortunes and finds lost items.
Jimmie F. Skaggs played Neil Gallagher, the film's major antagonist and Puppetmaster (1989) who kills his former friends and coworkers using puppets.Megan Gallagher, Neil's wife, was portrayed by actress Robin Frates; she inherited the Bodega Bay from her deceased parents, which is where she and Neil originally met.
Matt Roe played Frank Forrester, a psychic researcher at Pensa Research Inc (PRI) and Carissa's partner; the two specialize in sexual psychic readings.
Carissa Stamford, played by Kathryn O'Reilly, is a psychometrist who works for Pensa Research Inc. (PRI) and is Frank's partner. She frequently receives visions of people who have experienced sexual trauma in the past or couples who are being intimate with one another, but she is also able to reconstruct the emotional history of any object through touch.
Theresa Mews Small worked for the Gallaghers as the family's housekeeper. Barbara Crampton gave the performance of a lady who worked at the carnival.
Blade, Jester, Pinhead, Tunneler, Leech Woman, Shredder Khan, and Gengie are the names of the killer puppets. On September 30, 1989, Paramount Home Video released Puppetmaster on VHS. On June 13th, 2000, Full Moon Home Video released the film on DVD for the first time.
Following the March 2008 release of The Puppet Master (1989) by Wizard Entertainment, a Blu-ray was released in July 2010. Full Moon Features also issued a remastered DVD at the same time.
Along with the Killjoy series, Echo Bridge Home Entertainment published "Killjoy and Puppet Master (1989): The Complete Collections" in 2014, however both series have since spawned further sequels.
Full Moon released a Blu-ray and a limited-edition vintage VHS compilation on April 10, 2018, with the latter limited to 3,000 copies with the first 300 signed and numbered by Charles Band.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 43 percent approval rating based on seven reviews, with an average rating of four out of ten.
A useless take on the killer-doll trope, said TV Guide in a poor review.
A website gave the film a 3/5 rating, praising the mood, music, and set designs but criticizing the performances, narrative, and opening act. The review ended, "Puppetmaster isn't a terrific picture, but its heart is in the right place, and I've always been a major fan of the evil doll subgenre of horror, making the film's flaws fairly acceptable."
Puppetmaster (1989) is one of the most fun "killer toy" type horror flicks, in spite of its shortcomings, says Wes from another website. The film's status as a cult classic sparked a series that would last for decades. Puppet Master (1989) II (1990), Puppet Master 4 (1993), Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter (1994), Curse of the Puppet Master (1989) (1998), and Puppet Master: The Legacy (2000) were the five sequels (2003).
Toulon's Revenge (1991), like Retro Puppetmaster, acts as a prequel (1999). After Puppet Master (1989): Axis of Evil (2010) and Axis Rising (2012) and Axis Termination (2013), a loose prequel trilogy has begun (2017). odahsrecked Blade: The Iron Cross, a spin-off centered on the puppet Blade, was released in 2020. Another film, this time about Doktor Death, is set to be released in 2022. (from Retro). In 2004, the Sci-Fi Channel presented Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys, a crossover with fellow Full Moon series Demonic Toys.Full Moon announced a collaboration with indie gaming firm "October Games" in September 2021 in order to release an official Puppet Master (1989) game on the Steam store by the end of 2022.
A 3-D remake of the original film was announced in March 2009 by Charles Band.
Fascinating facts about the Puppetmaster (1989)
Cindy Sorensen, a dwarf stuntwoman, donned fingerless gloves and a sweater sleeve to simulate Pinhead's fists in the film's hitting sequences, but it was her hands that were utilized. Cindy had a difficult obstacle when she was required to keep her head down the whole time while also holding the Pinhead puppet on her shoulders and throwing fake punches at the same time. Leech Woman's mouth is made of foam latex, which Puppetmaster movie review makes it look like it moves more when she "coughs" up a leech.
Despite the fact that only three quarters of the leech mechanism is visible, a simple camera cut gives the appearance that a whole leech emerges from Leech Woman's lips.
The motel at Bodega Bay was a small, about the size of a refrigerator. When the filmmakers located the ideal site, they suspended the model in the air and employed a mix of force perspective to make the hotel seem to be there. Five puppeteers were needed to control the Blade puppet. This film was inspired by the Band picture Dolls, which is about killer dolls (1986).
In a 1999 interview with horror website The Terror Trap, film director David Schmoeller said that he was not interested in continuing Full Moon's most successful series, the Puppetmaster (1989), since it would have revealed someone other than Full Moon CEO Charles Band as its inventor.
When the first "Puppetmaster (1989)" film was released on DVD, Schmoeller was never asked to record a director's commentary. He also said in the same interview that Charles Band owes him residuals. David Schmoeller drew his idea for the puppet Blade from one of David Schmoeller's favorite actors, Klaus Kinski. One of the first puppets conceived by Band was a six-armed, armed Ninja. This puppet did not appear in the film, but it inspired the puppet Six-Shooter, who debuted in Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge (1991).
When the movie was supposed to come out in theaters in the summer of 1989 and on home video in September of that same year, the film's producer, Charles Band, said in an interview that he would make more money in the direct-to-video market than he would in the theatrical market. This was back when the movie was supposed to be released first.
The original film's creator, Band, planned to recreate it in 2010. Due to reaction, the project was discarded, and Puppetmaster (1989) Axis of Evil was born instead. The majority of the soundtrack for this film was provided by The Tourist Trap (1979), a film with similar themes on which director David Schmoeller and producer Charles Band had previously collaborated. The soundtrack for this film is primarily comprised of synthesized versions of Pino Donaggio's music. Band's inspiration for Puppetmaster stems from his early days at Empire Pictures. In 1984, he worked on The Dungeonmaster (aka Ragewar), which many fans adored. He's always been interested by miniature dolls/figurines coming to life, and when he decided to produce a film about them, he recalled how much wonderful response he got from The Dungeonmaster.
He therefore opted to simply title the film Puppet Master (1989). Blade is the only character whose attire does not change throughout the flicks. Blade is the sole puppet to appear on the VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray covers of the Puppet Master Films.
The puppet Blade, who lacks lungs and other internal organs, exhales forcefully and sounds out of breath while sprinting at the opening of the film.
In addition, the other puppets can be heard panting, groaning, and moaning throughout the video. However, none of them are able to talk.