Death can be an embarrassing thing.
After all, autoerotic asphyxiation is probably not the way Kill Bill’s David Carradine wanted to be remembered… but will be forever, at least in his death.Still, of all the embarrassing ways to die, death by puppet has got to be the worst.
First of all, puppets are just so lame. They are shriveled, ugly and have been completely void of any entertainment value since their cave-man creation (let alone in the post-TV age)… at least if you believe Chris’s rantings (see below).
When killed by a puppet, everyone at your funeral would be all like “did you hear, Gary was murdered by a puppet?” and the listener would say “A f&$%ing puppet? Are you serious? What did he do, double cross the Cookie Monster in a back-alley Snickerdoodle deal? He couldn’t outsmart a puppet?”
Then the uproarious, sustained, and corpse shaking laughter would ring throughout the room… and right down into Gary’s dead ears.
That said, you gotta feel shame for the puppet victims in this week’s horror flick, “Puppet Master II.” And boy, are there a lot of them.
A group of investigators from the FBI’s “U.S. Office of Paranormal Claims” visit an abandoned hotel in order to study its, you guessed it, paranormal claims. The group, which includes lovely fire-crotch Carolyn Bramwell, hope to catch a Casper, or at least find out the cause of previous crazy events that went down in la casa.
To boot, there is a creepy abandoned cemetery in the hotel’s backyard, seeing as the property was originally built by a mystic who believed she could channel the dead. When a hotel’s strange, in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? Mulder and Scully wannabes!
Meanwhile, a band of killer puppets that live in the hotel visits the backyard cemetery and raises their bandage wrapped puppet master Andre Toulon from the dead. Toulon is a former Nazi-German era puppet genius who can create living, mechanical puppets by distilling human frontal lobes into puppet blood.
Having not seen Puppet Master I, we assume Toulon was killed in the first movie, buried in the hotel backyard, and now been brought back to life by his puppet friends to take revenge on the living.
Toulon isn’t too pleased that the FBI is snooping around his hotel. After all, he has dreams of collecting enough brain-blood to create an army of living killer puppets that he can take to Hollywood and become a star! You know, just like Taylor Swift.
He can’t have the FBI snooping around!
But, oh my, look at that, one of the FBI investigators looks exactly like Elsa (of course). With a taste of blood in his mouth and a tingle in his pants, Toulon commands his puppets to get rid of his hotel guests and bring Carolyn to his puppet lair.
How many people will be shamed with a puppet death?
Will lovely Carolyn be turned into Toulon’s captive wife?
Can Taylor Swift's evil reign of terror ever be stopped!?
Find out in the 1991 spectacle that is “Puppet Master II”
RDHP Ratings and Reviews
C-Rating: 2.3
Chris Dimick puppeteers:
“Pick on someone your own size. Words to live by, but like David Bowie, do they go both ways? It’s not fair for a big bully to pound a whittle weakling. But should a shrimp slugger be able to ass-whomp a gentle giant? Probably, but that doesn’t mean it is fun to watch.
The scenario is just too improbable. Therein lies the problem with Puppet Master II. Watching shin-high puppets put the hurt on full grown humans is fun at first. It’s unexpected that such small packages produce such a wallop. 
Is a knee high doll choking your neck? Well, grab the friggin’ thing and break its head off! Or kick its tiny butt down the stairs! Or just run, you dumbass, your legs are five times as long as theirs! It’s a puppet, dork! Done!
Or, as Nick said at one point during the movie, “if they want to stop the puppets, they should just shut them in a room that has a door handle that's at normal height.”
As a horror movie fan, I’m more than willing to suspend my disbelief when watching a film. One almost has to in order to be a lover of this genre. But there are times that my disbelief gets suspended so high that it gets acrophobia and claws its own eyes out before falling to a bone crunching death.
That’s happened with Puppet Master II. Parts of it were fun, and you get your share of hilarious early 90s outfits, but come on movie, the humans just got killed too easy by villains that could easily be stomped into submission.
Come on people, die with some self-respect!”
N-Rating: 2.0
Nick Rich puppeteers:
“The crap kids will watch.
As mentioned, this week's film was screened due to technical difficulties and as I was perusing our options I stumbled across Puppet Master II - a long lost film from my childhood. I have fond memories of watching rad puppets get their comeuppance in awesome ways... which led me to suggest we check this flick out as our pinch-hitter... as I stated: the crap kids watch.
Where to start? First off, as bad as it is seeing a fond memory from your childhood sullied, it was oddly entertaining to see what entertained young Nick back in the day. That being said, I would say this film is strong evidence for parents having a heavy hand in what kind of media they allow their children to consume. By no means am I slandering my parents, as kids will always find a way to get their hands and eyes on things they probably shouldn't, but I can't help but lament the loss of a childhood filled with classic horror movies from the 40s and 50s as opposed to the nonsense of 90s Skinemax fare. Nostalgia alone, not merit, elevated my rating of Puppet Master 2 to the 2.0 mark.
I still dig the idea of intricate little creations that can surprise you with their firepower, and while gimmicky, it is still interesting to see what emerges from the puppets in this film. (Introducing a special new puppet became the gimmick of the franchise with part 2 introducing a flame-throwing puppet - limited use in the story, but just plain awesome!) But as Chris mentioned, it really ceases to be threatening at a certain point. Sure, it's believable that a puppet with a drill for a head can kill a drunk sleeping man (did I really just say that?)... but once the rest of your crew gets past the initial shock and realizes that there are murderous puppets on the loose, there really ceases to be any serious threat.
Of course, you could argue that if there really were murderous puppets people wouldn't take the threat seriously, even after one of their friends got aced. I would be inclined to agree with this point as humans have a history of being be terribly arrogant and a 15 inch foe is indeed less than intimidating. This would have been a good argument if the filmmakers has played this angle more. Instead, after the first puppet-induced death the cast is appropriately scared, but just seems to become conveniently stunned after each initial assault (thereby allowing the puppets to easily dispatch them). I don't know about you, but if I'm being attacked by a tiny demon puppet I'm going to be fairly alert - even if my Achilles tendon is slashed. I know, I know... tough talk for a guy with tendons still intact.
Add to this ultra-unrealistic situation a Darkman wannabe with a German accent and you have a hokey-hoedown. One that is entertaining to watch at times, but lacks any real cinematic value.
The Skinny: Check this flick out if you ever wanted to be a puppeteer and are still lamenting the loss of your dream... or if you literally have nothing else to do - no wait! Check out some classic films if you find yourself in that situation.”
Things We Learned from Puppet Master II:
-People hated wearing belts in the late 80s, early 90s.
-But they loved tucking in their shirt.
-The FBI has a Paranormal Division.
-Don’t ask country folk “Are there any Satanists in the area?”
-The taint of every particle of that hotel has absorbed the fury of horrible death.
-Melted frontal lobe and black magic can bring puppets to life.
-Most women bring skimpy lingerie on work trips.
-The cross of prophecy is a heavy burden.
-11 p.m. is late for investigators.
-Think of the children when employing evil arts.
-Kids love to torture things.
-Nothing like drinking red wine in bed:
Quote of the Viewing:
[Investigator Carolyn begins to fall for the hired psychic’s son, Michael. While discussing the Puppet Master, Carolyn gets upset and Michael embraces her.]
Michael: “Just let go, Carolyn, let go!”
Nick: “Go where?”
Chris: “Into Michael's sweet, sweet arms.”
[Investigator Carolyn begins to fall for the hired psychic’s son, Michael. While discussing the Puppet Master, Carolyn gets upset and Michael embraces her.]
Michael: “Just let go, Carolyn, let go!”
Nick: “Go where?”
Chris: “Into Michael's sweet, sweet arms.”
Special Note:
When Life Gives You Lemons…
Puppet Master II was not originally scheduled for this week’s viewing. Upon longing onto Netflix to watch 1946’s Valley of the Zombies, Nick and I were horrified to find the Netflix website shut down for technical difficulties.
Scanning through the list of movie years we had yet to watch, and comparing this with free horror movies available on Hulu.com, we finally decided to cut our losses and just substitute in Puppet Master II as our 1991 film. Typically we try and select only the first movie cuts for our RDHP plates. But every now and then things go wrong and you just have to settle for a warm plate of Spam.
While we got out of our normal alternating decade rotation, we’ll be back on track next time with our 1940s flick.
Puppet Master wasn’t great, but hey, we’ve seen worse!
Puppet Master II was not originally scheduled for this week’s viewing. Upon longing onto Netflix to watch 1946’s Valley of the Zombies, Nick and I were horrified to find the Netflix website shut down for technical difficulties.
Scanning through the list of movie years we had yet to watch, and comparing this with free horror movies available on Hulu.com, we finally decided to cut our losses and just substitute in Puppet Master II as our 1991 film. Typically we try and select only the first movie cuts for our RDHP plates. But every now and then things go wrong and you just have to settle for a warm plate of Spam.
While we got out of our normal alternating decade rotation, we’ll be back on track next time with our 1940s flick.
Puppet Master wasn’t great, but hey, we’ve seen worse!
RDHP Point/Counterpoint:
Five Reasons We Love, Hate Puppets
Though they embrace in warm love for horror, Nick and Chris stand divided when it comes to puppets. Here, we list five reasons to support our stance.
CHRIS BE HATIN' PUPPETS:
No love for these stuffed “entertainment” devices here in Chrisland. While many may love Jim Henson’s creations or Jeff Dunham’s “comedy” hand socks, I feel puppets are lamer than Rebecca Black’s song writing. Here, five reasons to back my puppet hate.
1. They are creepier than a windowless van near a playground.
2. They have a hand up their ass.
3. Someone else has to talk for them. Speak for yourself, tools!
4. They have limited body movement.
5. The Muppet Show and its movies are overrated, unfunny, and boring. Die remakes!
NICK BE LOVIN' PUPPETS:
As anyone who has read the RDHP before knows - Chris has issues. Clearly, his hatred of puppet-kind is yet another one of these issues... I mean, clowns I can totally get behind, but puppets??? Come on man! Have you no heart? Have you no soul? Think of everything puppets have done for you:
1. They taught you your ABC's. (Don't even TRY to pretend they didn't Chris!)
3. They allowed you to express yourself in that time of your life when you were to shy to do it yourself. (Note: some people never grow out of this phase).
4. They facilitate cross-cultural exchanges.
5. They are one of the few things that can still creep you out as an adult! How many things can horror aficionados say that about? Thank you puppets for nurturing our childhoods and haunting us ever since!
Five Reasons We Love, Hate Puppets
Though they embrace in warm love for horror, Nick and Chris stand divided when it comes to puppets. Here, we list five reasons to support our stance.
CHRIS BE HATIN' PUPPETS:
No love for these stuffed “entertainment” devices here in Chrisland. While many may love Jim Henson’s creations or Jeff Dunham’s “comedy” hand socks, I feel puppets are lamer than Rebecca Black’s song writing. Here, five reasons to back my puppet hate.
1. They are creepier than a windowless van near a playground.
2. They have a hand up their ass.
3. Someone else has to talk for them. Speak for yourself, tools!
4. They have limited body movement.
5. The Muppet Show and its movies are overrated, unfunny, and boring. Die remakes!
NICK BE LOVIN' PUPPETS:
As anyone who has read the RDHP before knows - Chris has issues. Clearly, his hatred of puppet-kind is yet another one of these issues... I mean, clowns I can totally get behind, but puppets??? Come on man! Have you no heart? Have you no soul? Think of everything puppets have done for you:
1. They taught you your ABC's. (Don't even TRY to pretend they didn't Chris!)
2. They made it so you could understand the crazy demands your parents made of you as a child (such as eating).
3. They allowed you to express yourself in that time of your life when you were to shy to do it yourself. (Note: some people never grow out of this phase).
4. They facilitate cross-cultural exchanges.
5. They are one of the few things that can still creep you out as an adult! How many things can horror aficionados say that about? Thank you puppets for nurturing our childhoods and haunting us ever since!
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