Search - Puppet Master (8pc) on DVD

Collecting the first films together (legally) for the first

ChibiNeko | Whereever I go, here I am. | 07/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Apparently someone out there had the good sense to re-release the box set of the brilliant Full Moon series "Puppetmaster". Fans of the series will recall the previous ill luck that befell the original release back in 2000 when they had to recall the sets due to licensing issues with the now defunct Pioneer. (According to rumor, Full Moon had not gotten approval from Pioneer to sell the series on DVD.)

The box set is comprised of the first seven films in the series, from the first wonderful Puppetmaster to the inferior sequels that came after it. I have to admit- I really didn't like the later movies nearly as much as I did the first three. They have their "charm", I suppose, but overall they're just a little too cheesy for my tastes. There is also an additional disc in the boxset, a collection of trailers for the films. I have to admit that as far as extras go, I was a little underwhelmed. It's been about 20 years since the first film was released- wasn't there anything else they could put in there?

Now for what the series is about. Since Amazon has no description of the actual series, I'm going to give a brief outline of the series. Killer puppets that frequently end up in the hands of the wrong people. Ok, so maybe it's a bit more complex than that, but the beauty of the series lies in how the series' creators were able to take a simple idea & turn it into one of what is arguably one of the most infamous series in horror. Forget Jason & Freddy. If you haven't seen this series or at least the first movie, you can't call yourself a true horror movie buff."

Puppet Master lives again. And again.

Ryan Lee Brookhart | 06/10/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's important, but perhaps not critical, to put the Puppet Master franchise into its proper context as the "father" to the 'direct to video' business model adopted by nearly every major studio in the wake of PM's success. Simply put, there was never anything like the crafted, shot-on-film, stop-motion esthetic being offered in the early, tentative days of the home video market. Back then, Blockbuster Video was more a burgeoning business plan and less a full fledged jugerernaught (oh how the times have changed).

While not the first film series to be placed as a direct-to-video offering, it was clearly one of the first to be built as a serious film, locked into traditional B-movie conventions, but not in a "cheap" looking way... rather an embrace of the best in B-movie conventions (the slightly edgy, unhinged quality that only independent filmmakers seem to possess... or at least film makers still rooted in their earlier, B-movie days imbue their films with; think Sam Rami, Peter Jackson, etc ).

Charles Band, the creator and overlord of most all of the PM iterations (save for the terrible and not included in this box set 'Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys' as seen on the Sci-Fi Channel) has kept the franchise alive through the years, even through the countless permutations of his Full Moon pictures. A successful toy line, complete with action figures, models, studio scale replicas, as well as comic books, fine art prints and soundtracks have filled in the gaps of years where no film lay on the horizon.

This box set represents the period of time where Puppet Master reigned supreme on the video shelves of every mom and pop video shelf across American and many places world-wide. While the first four films offer the best the series had to offer in terms of stop motion effects and finely evocative music, the latter films too expand the PM cannon with some great turns at directing and storytelling.

Upon writing this review 'Puppet Master: Axis of Evil' is being shot in China and looks to be a return to form for the series early days. As a member of the Full Moon family (I create most of the key art for the films) I can attest to a great script, stunning locations, and an inspired choice for directing (David DeCoteau)."

Lets be honest about these movies.

Micheal Hunt | Hellbourne | 07/12/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The characters portrayed in the Puppet Master series make them some of the most recognizable characters in horror movie history. They are up there with Jason, Freddy, Myers and Chucky etc.. but they also fall on the curse that these guys all obtain... bad B-grade movies.

Now, before you decide I just hate horror movies, I don't, I love them, but when you really think about it, and stop lying to yourself that these movies are masterpieces of cinematography, what you really need to ask yourself is, what is it about the movies you like? Because it certainly is not the plots of this series, which the continuation of each film makes no sense to most of the predecessors. I think what it is about these horror movies we love so much, is the icons themselves, but not the movie plot that surrounds it. For example, those of us who love Freddy Kruger can all say we have our favorite moments from the 8 or so movies made for the Nightmare On Elm St series... but is it really the movie and the plot that you enjoy, or just something your favorite ''dream killer'' did or said in one part of the film? What I am getting at, is when you watch all these films back to back, did you love it from start to finish and not think at one point that a certain scene should have been changed, or something was said that threw the continuation out of whack, and blah blah blah... at least with the Nightmare on Elm st series, after part 3, they tried to set the rules of the Freddy reality so they could somewhat tie in and make more sense... but not here, with the Puppet Master series, the continuation is shockingly horrendous. Leaving my only thoughts about why people love these movies is they enjoy the iconic killers of it, Blade, Pin Head, Tunneler, Torch, Leech Woman and so on... but the plots of the movies are all hit & miss.

Puppet Master 1 & 2 tie in together, the man who created these puppets kills himself in a hotel room in 1930ish? Leaving the puppets to be controlled by a new owner, who has twisted ambitions for them. Upon the death of the owner, several of his colleagues who have psychic abilities come to stay at the hotel and get picked off by the puppets.... now, like I was saying before; the plot of the movie is pretty stupid when you think about it... why did they HAVE to be psychics, when it contributed so little to the movie?

Puppet Master II see's the puppets bring there master back to life to make them more serum to sustain there life force. The new investigators to the hotel fall victim to the Puppet Master when he falls in love with someone he thinks is his wife. The plot of this one wasn't bad, and is one of the better movies in the series. At least this ones continuation from the 1st movie made sense.

Puppet Master III. Now a prequel to the first two, it shows how the Puppet Master was with his puppets back in the early 40's during the Nazi war. He is trying to escape Nazi Germany and has a Gestapo putting a bounty on his head... decent enough.

Puppet Master 4: Now were back to the same time of the first two movies. Yet, it completely ignores the death of the Puppet Master in part 1, and his resurrection in part 2. These two movies no longer exist, making Puppet Master III the reboot of telling the Puppet Master story.
Puppet Master 5: is a direct sequel to part 4, as intended... and the big bad demon still looks as fake and dorky as ever.

Puppet Master 6: Curse of the Puppet Master. You could debate over weather or not this is a sequel, or just an excuse to see the Puppets in a movie that is set away from the Hotel, but in present times. A retard gets a job at a Puppeteers house where he is asked to make a new puppet... what makes no sense is that he carves a puppet out of wood for the whole movie and the end result is a robot... not to mention, the actual ending is a rush job to what could have been a decent movie in the series if it wasn't for the terrible and rushed ending that had no thought at all put into it.

Puppet Master 7: Retro Puppet Master: now to make things confusing, this is a sequel to part 3. Am I starting to make you understand why I am saying this is a very sloppy series of events?

I was completely against the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm st reboots, and when seeing those movies, I did in-fact hate them very much. But if someone was to say they where going to reboot the Puppet Master series, and make sense of it this time, and follow a set of rules for the continuation, I would have no problem being for this to happen. I can only see that so many fans of this series see the Puppets, and they love the characters of the Puppets, but I can not see them enjoying each film for the out of whack plots and continuations, that seems to make up a new set of rules for each installment. There are a lot of movies out there where when sequels are made, they didn't have to have continuation, if they where going to be a series of movies like "Tales From The Crypt", where each movie brings back the Puppets, but gives them new back-stories and personalities each sequel... no, reboot it, and do it right this time.

"

A box set of the Puppet Master films.

Danny | South Philly | 12/19/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Title speaks for itself. This is a box set of the first seven Puppet Master films and a disc of trailers. Cases and inserts are cheap (you'd think they were bootlegs), but this is official product and the audio/video quality of the films aren't bad. Serviceable presentation of a cult series.

Too bad it's OOP again. Seems like this series of movies goes out of print faster than it does to make one of these films. Don't pay more than three figures for a used copy because I'm sure it will be back in print soon enough."