The Puppet Master franchise is clearly having a second life these years. The saga started with Puppetmaster (1989), directed by David Schmoeller and based on a story by Charles Band, writer, director and producer of over 200 horror movies since the 1970s. It told the story of a puppet maker named André Toulon who shoots himself before his secret to creating life can be stolen by the Nazis. 50 years later in 1989 the secret is discovered. Murderous puppets are awakened and unleased and the massacre starts.
If last year we saw the release of Charles Brand’s Puppet Master: Axis Termination (2017), this summer is the turn for Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2018). The movie is written by S. Craig Zahler, the guy behind the spectacular Bone Tomahawk (2015) and the brutal Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017), and directed by the duo formed by Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund, responsible of Vittra (2012), We Are Monsters (2015) and Madness (2010).
The movie centers on a recently divorced and reeling man named Edgar who returns to his childhood home to regroup his life. When Edgar finds a nefarious looking puppet in his deceased brother’s room, he decides to sell the doll for some quick cash. Girl-next-door Ashley and comic book pal Markowitz join Edgar for a doomed road trip to an auction at a convention celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the infamous Toulon Murders. All hell breaks loose when a strange force animates the puppets at the convention, setting them on a bloody killing spree that’s motivated by an evil as old as time.
Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2018) stars two veteran horror flicks superstars like Udo Kier and Barbara Crampton, who also appeared in the first title of the saga Puppetmaster (1989). The rest of the main cast is formed by Thomas Lennon, Michael Paré, Nelson Franklin, Charlyne Yi, Tina Parker, Matthias Hues, Jenny Pellicer, Kennedy Summers, Alex Beh and Betsy Holt.
The movie had its world premiere this spring at Overlook Film Festival where it achieved very positive reviews, which outstood its irreverent humor and high dosage of gore. Now we know on August the 17th Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2018) will open on selected theaters in America. Information about the theatrical release in the rest of the world is yet unknown. But I don’t think it’s a crazy thing to think we might enjoy the presence of the movie in some genre festivals this summer and fall.
