Film Festival Reviews

Dallas International Film Festival Review: “Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich”

[yasr_overall_rating]
 

Recently divorced and reeling, Edgar returns to his childhood home to regroup his life. When he finds a nefarious looking puppet in his deceased brother’s room, he decides to sell the doll for some quick cash at a small-town convention celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the infamous Toulon Murders but things don’t go according to plan!

Nobody watches a “Puppet Master” movie for its cinematic conventions. Nobody looks up the “Puppet Master” movies and dives into them (there’s like 13 of them). Instead, you have to have an appreciation for low budget horror cinema. Suggested movies include: “Evil Bong,” “Ginger Dead Man,” “Puppet Master,” and some other darker movies. There’s a whole niche for this sort of stuff and the tropes of the genre typically include: extremely violent deaths, cheesy dialogue, nudity/sexuality, and a particularly bold concept that you can’t possibly imagine someone pulling off, even when it’s cheap. “Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich” delivers on all of these things in spades, with a surprising amount of star power to cast.

I caught this one at the Dallas International Film Festival with Dallas-based producer Dallas Sonnier (producer of “Bone Tomahawk,” “Brawl in Cell Block 99”) available to answer questions. “Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich” kind of lives and dies by its gore despite being a loosely-strung together plot.

Edgar Easton (Thomas Lennon) decides to sell a Blade puppet at a convention. His girlfriend Ashley (Jenny Pellicer) and his boss/best friend Markowitz (Nelson Franklin), accompany him to the 30th anniversary of the Toulon Mansion murders to join several others in selling a variety of Toulon’s Puppets. The Puppets rise up and start murdering the hotel’s occupants. Edgar, Ashely, Markowitz and several friends must survive the night.

You might know several of these names (or you will in a couple years) on this cast list: Thomas Lennon (of “Reno 911!” Fame), Franklin Nelson (think “Blackish” or “Veep” or “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” or “The Office”), Michael Paré (“Streets of Fire”), Barbara Crampton (from the OG “Puppet Master”), Udo Kier (character actor extravaganza), Charlyne Yi, Alex Beh, and Jenny Pellicer. It’s an impressive list and they’re ironically juxtaposed. Lennon’s quick performances and short quips are kept to a minimum throughout the film as we see him play this role seriously. Meanwhile, Franklin Nelson delivers all the sass, sarcasm, and rash judgments as the much-admired-low-morals Markowitz. Jenny Pellicer stands out among all of the boys as a girl, holding her own, in a role half-written, half-felt. Amid the sea of talent, one performance stands above the rest (and earned the most admiration from audience members), Skeeta Jenkins as the Hotel Bartender (wait for it) Cuddly Bear.

The dichotomy of low budget horror films are laid bare in “Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich.” While plot does not often get the attention things like special effects and gore do, “Puppet Master” is missing some connective tissue. The film feels disjointed as we bounce from divorced Edgar to single Edgar to dating Edgar to mourning Edgar over the runtime. We see events happen and suddenly we’re living in the aftermath. Edgar’s mentioning his brother’s death in relation to these puppets, but we never knew there was a mystery surrounding the death in the first place. I can’t remember if Detective Brown (Michael Paré) actually introduces himself or if everyone just calls him Detective Brown. It would be easy to say this disconnection sinks the film, but it makes up for that with an incredible amount of blatant gore.

Just a note: this movie is coming out unrated. Sonnier admitted as much during the Q&A. So, trust me when I say: this movie will gross you out. Which is great! Severed heads, charcoaled corpses, even one horribly psyche-disfiguring pregnancy scene will leave you with your jaw open throughout the course of the film. You will not lack for blood, bloody walls, puppet violence, or anything else. If anything, the deaths, which have no context in and of themselves, feel like the connective tissue for the rest of the plot.

While the first third sets expectations low, the movie soars in its center third. The plot coalesces into direct action, broken up by puppet murder, and by the time the humans fight back, we finally grasp the stakes, the characters, and the overall context. The final third drags us to its closing with more character deaths (this time we care more because of the sheer amount of time we’ve spent with some of them).

Look, like I said: Nobody gets a “Puppet Master” movie because they want to admire some intelligent character-driven piece, it’s about Puppets and it’s about murder and sometimes it’s about sex too(!). This movie delivers on those important two elements. The Puppets themselves impressed the audience. We see a swath of puppets (new and old) that fly, jump, run, walk, sneak, slice, spear, and scorch. The gamut of puppet action is so varied it’s fair to say this is a technical showcase for Puppet action. Which is important to know because there will 100% be more puppet action.

Sonnier explained to the audience that Charles Band approves of this new “Puppet Master” offshoot. In fact, Band will continue to make his own “Puppet Master” movies while Cinestate will dive into their own “Puppet Master” timeline. S. Craig Zahler is scheduled to write the next installment (a title I’ve heard rumored to be “Puppet Master: Aryans Ahoy”) so you can expect much more violence. “Puppet Master” fans will love and fans of schlock will love as well. “Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich” delivers the things you expect from it and so I can’t say it’s a bad movie. Maybe underutilizing the talent they have, but on the whole – I’d watch it again. Maybe rent it online or find it when you go down the rabbit hole of obscure horror movies. Don’t waste time on slow movies. Keep up with Blade, Happy Amphibian, Torch, and friends on the internet. Stay with it too cause this rabbit hole is only going to get deeper.

“Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich” recently premiered at the 2018 Dallas International Film Festival

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