Puppet Master 3: Toulon's Revenge [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

The third film in the Puppet Master series is as good, if not better, than its predecessors, Puppet Master 1 & 2. It's the beginning of Andre Toulon's story and how the puppets came to be, taking place in World War II, with plenty of Nazis and all that jazz.

What's great about this film is that you learn the origins of most of the puppets. You discover who Pinhead was based on, how Tunneler came to be, where Jester came from, and then you find out that Blade (arguably the leader of the puppet group) is based on the villain.

And then it gets better. You're introduced to Six Shooter, the hexa-armed, pistol-toting cowboy with a devilish grin. What an awesome puppet he is.

The story is quite interesting for a 'low-cut' horror flick, and the fact that it takes place in WWII makes it even more... cool.

This is a great film with decent actors and it's proof that Full Moon should have stopped the franchise here and let it go out on top. But instead they allowed it to spin into some piece of...abyss with, I think, four other sequels that were just horrible. The first three put the other sequels to shame. Puppet Master should have stayed a trilogy.

This review is for the very inaccessible dvd version of the film. This part is definitely one of the best. I'll give a quick synopsis since there aren't like, 50 other reviews telling the same thing: The story is a flashback or prequel of sorts, dating back to the WWII era, in which Andre Toulon (played marvellously by Guy Rolfe - the creepy old man in DOLLS) runs a puppet show that bashes Hitler. Needless to say, the Gestapo doesn't appreciate the message so they are sent to investigate and threaten him if he doesn't stop performing anti-Hitler sentiments. Around the same time, the German military has hired a scientist to develop a serum that will re-animate the dead, so when he gets wind of the peculiarity of Toulon's puppets, they seek him out in order to help the Nazi regime aid their plan of world domination. Interestingly, the movie has a little zombie action as did part 2 (to a certain extent) and will satisfy most b-movie horror fanatics.

The dvd itself is remarkable. Full Moon paid very good attention to this horror series. Aside from a pretty cool menu screen, this dvd contains the trailer, a behind the scenes featurette, cast and crew bios, and the other typical extras on a Full Moon disc.

I would say that I have to agree with other reviewers that this is my personal favorite of the Puppet Master series. For one thing, the story parallels itself with true history - which is usually a good thing in b-movies. It sets up interesting trains of thought considering the subject matter. It also introduces the origins of most of the puppets, most notably, Mrs. Leech. It also shows the creation of BLADE! - arguably the most popular puppet of the series.

SPOILERS - ONLY FOR THOSE THAT HAVE SEEN THE FILM (all others scroll to the last paragraph)

I thought it was pretty neat to see Guy Rolfe in this movie - I guess he just had a thing for killer dolls eh?

It was pretty cool how they placed the characters in this movie. For one thing, Toulon is placed on the opposite side of the notoriously evil Nazi bregade, especially because of his wife - i'll leave the reasons to this up to those who are familiar with their history... Another thing is that we have two sides to the villians in this movie. One of them just wants to kill, the other, although he is working for the enemy too, wants knowledge - interestingly enough, the doctor is played by the same actor who played Mr. Pitt, Elaine's boss on SEINFELD. And the third, is that we actually get some background on the origins of these puppets. A true prequel for a b-movie in my opinion.

My final verdict: If you like the other Puppet Master movies in the series, I would say go for this part. (They aren't readily available, but if you'd like to know how to get these at a reasonable price, check my review for Puppet Master 1). This is definitely one of the better sequels in the series and it makes an interesting attempt since it is actually about something other than mindless killing and cheesy stop-motion special effects. The gore scenes are pretty good and stand up to the rest of the movies. If you like these movies, this may very well be your favorite part too.

To begin, I'd like to claim that I've been a long-time fan of the 'Puppet Master' series. They are fun and original horror movies, which are also very rare to find nowadays (even on DVD!). The puppets are genuinely creepy, each in their own way (My two favorites have always been Blade and Tunneler) and the death sequences are executed nicely! Unlike the first two films, this one is actually a prequel taking place in 1940 Berlin, Germany, telling how it all began with puppeteer, Andre Toulon and the creation of his string-less [and murderous] puppets!

During WWII, A German scientist, Dr. Hess (Ian Abercrombie) is trying to find the solution to re-animating life. Unfortunately , his experiments always end in failure and his only hope lies from the wisdom of Toulon, himself, who's already figured out a way to bring the deceased back to life through his puppets. But Major Krauss (a convincingly cruel and coldhearted performance by Richard Lynch) grows impatient and takes Toulon's serum by force, thus killing his wife, Elsa (Sarah Douglas)! With the help of his puppets, Toulon exacts bloody revenge against Krauss and his officers! Here we get to see old favorites: Tunneler, Pin Head, the Leech Woman, Blade, and the newest to the batch, Six Shooter, a six armed wooden cowboy carrying a tiny revolver in each hand! As usual, each one does their job well, and for the first time, we get to catch a glimpse of how Blade was created!

Without question, this could be considered the BEST 'Puppet Master' of all since the acting is slightly better and the plot more involving than that of the first two! Of course, #1 had always been my personal favorite, but after giving this one a couple watches, it's proved to actually be a lot better! In addition, Guy Rolfe does the PERFECT performance as Andre Toulon, who you cannot help but feel sorry for. I HIGHLY recommend this and the first two 'Puppet Master' films to ALL horror fans!!