Better Late Then Never

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

A young scientist (Gordon Currie) and his friends, upon being attacked by demons, are protected by a gang of animated puppets.On Super Bowl Sunday 1993, Charlie Band called director Jeff Burr and asked him to come in for a meeting. Burr had previously worked on Band's "The Vault", but the film never came out. At this meeting, Burr was offered parts 4 and 5 for "Puppet Master" and two parts of "Oblivion". At this time, Full Moon was largely backed financially by Paramount.Someone concerned with the continuity points out: In "Toulon's Revenge", Andre Toulon escaped Berlin somewhere between 1942 and 1944. Toulon committed suicide on March 15, and the film mentioned the Eastern Front, whose conduct of operations didn't take place until summer of 1941. In this film, Toulon's diary recounts Major Krauss's death as being on April 7. Since in previously established timelines, Toulon made it to America almost one year after escaping, Toulon would have to had killed himself on March 15 either in 1943 up to 1945.Who is this concerned? "Puppet Master" may be one of the worst horror franchises out there. Possibly not the very worst, because "Hellraiser" (for example) has really gone downhill to low, low depths. But really, this is Charles Band cheese, luckily saved by Jeff Burr, one of the best directors in the genre.The film is not all bad. The casting is strange and the acting is poor, but the effects are decent. Not great, as they never are in the series, but the introduction of the demons is nice and they're way better than any of the puppets. Apparently Burr had only limited impact on the casting, as he wanted Judy Geeson for a role but Charlie Band overruled him and handpicked his own actress.If you love movies, especially these lower budget movies, pick up this disc with Jeff Burr's audio commentary. Burr really needs to write an autobiography, as his memory is incredible and he is an excellent storyteller. He finds a way to fit 200 minutes worth of discussion into a less-than-90 minute film. His reflections on Albert Band and puppetry and everything else are priceless.

I absolutely love the first three movies, they were great! I once caught Part 5 on VHS 10 years ago, and I was disappointed. But perhaps that was because I never saw the fourth one, because they were shot back-to-back. but after finally viewing a copy today, I have to say it was no way better than number 5. My expectations weren't high to begin with, but this is cheap direct-to-video stuff, not even a horror movie, it's PG-13. The acting was not convincing, the story was rather dumb without any excitement and there were not many effects. But the main problem is that there were no kills or any gore (the annoying kid who gets killed in his car was supposed to be the highlight, but come on..)Surprisingly, both Parts 4 and 5 were directed by Sequel-director Jeff Burr who gave us the excellent Stepfather II and Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III. I liked Puppet Master: The Legacy, even if it was nothing else than a tribute with the best scenes from all movies.Overall, Puppet Master is very much like the Hellraiser Series: A great trilogy but forget the rest..

Puppet Master 4 brings something new to the series by making the Puppets the main good guys and having them fight against a new foe called the Totems. It was actually cool seeing the Puppets teaming up to fight them. The plot sees a demon named Sutek who wants the secret of bringing life to inanimate objects returned to him so he sends some of his Puppets called the Totems who are controlled by the creatures inside the dimension, a high-tech corporation receives one of the Totems in the create and after being opened it attacks Dr. Baker and Dr. Piper. In the Inn a young employee Rick Myers who is also the caretaker for the Inn is trying to create artificial life but can't seem to make the robots work on their own, after his girlfriend, college and his girlfriend who is psychic arrive he shows them around and they find one of the Puppets, Blade lying around. Soon they find Toulon's puppet cabinet in one of the rooms but it's sealed up so using acid they break it open and find the other Puppets: Pinhead, Jester, Six-Shooter, Tunneler and Decapatron. They also find Toulon's diary and serum, injecting the Puppets with the serum they come to life again. Cameron and his girlfriend use a Ouija board to try and talk to Toulon but instead the Totems appear, then Rick must protect the secret and stop the Totems with the help of the Puppets and Toulon's spirit. They soon learn that to stop the Totems they need to use Toulon's unfinished Puppet Decapatron, Rick with the help of the Puppets go to re-animate Decapatron to stop the Totems from getting the secret. Puppet Master 4 is another good sequel to the Puppet Master franchise. Check it out. 10/10

"Puppet Master 4" shows the great potential this straight-to-video horror franchise has in terms of the variety of stories that can be explored. In this third sequel, the human characters and the infamous puppets are forced to battle the forces of darkness in the shape of a towering demonic baddie, Zutek, and the evil Totems (think gremlins but with less personality).It's a feel-good horror movie but with a few genuine scares thrown in early on (a first for the "Puppet Master" series). The film is ably directed by Jeff Burr ("Leatherface") and moves at a cracking pace.The cast do a decent job and there's even the introduction of a new puppet for the film's finale.All in all, a great popcorn horror film that leaves the viewer hungry for the next (but not final) instalment.