Puppet Monster Massacre [DVD] [2010] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

...okay, maybe more than a few blocks. This one definitely isn't for today's kids, perhaps more so for kids of the MTV generation. A near-perfect homage to 80s monster horror, the Puppet Monster Massacre manages to take puppets where they've never gone before. And it works! Dustin Mills uses special effects, animation, and of course puppetry, to tell his story in a truly unique, interesting, and creative way--something most films of late are critically lacking. Perhaps most importantly, there's plenty of laughs amid the "horror," making this film more than just a simple tribute to those 80s flicks we've become so nostalgic for. Ultimately, Puppet Monster Massacre is a surefire way to ensure your next movie night is the most fun you've had with puppets (well, I hope that's the most fun you've had with puppets...but who knows what you do in your free time).

Actually, Puppet Monster Massacre is a damn good film that acts as a love letter to 80s-style horror with an adults-only brand of humor that borders on Meet the Feebles territory tempered by a Mad Monster Party premise. Even without the elaborate sequences of Feebles, Mills and his team managed to create a pretty close approximation of a fully-realized world with subplots and supporting characters that really flesh out the characters. Speaking of which, the film finds a group of teens who have been invited to a creepy mansion by Dr. Wolfgang Wagner who is preparing to unleash the forces of hell upon our world via a demon of his own creation.

This House on Haunted Hill setup is only one of many Easter Eggs scattered throughout the film by Dustin, who also portrays The Hunter, The Sarge and (perhaps my favorite character of the entire movie) Raimi. As you might expect from looking at him Raimi is the hapless nerd of the film and a huge horror fan- he also happens to be one of the most entertaining characters of the whole cast. Other notable characters include the Aussie-accented Iggy and Gramps, though they are all pretty memorable. The only character I didn't like (ironically) is our "hero" Charlie who may or may not be a reference to Fright Night and acts as our point of view for the majority of the movie.

As you might expect, the teens are picked off one by one as Wolfgang's scheme reveals itself and, I must admit, Charlie does make up for all his whining in a big way towards the end which validates his weak-willed personality. The voice work is also noteworthy with Steve Rimpici hamming it up as the "mad" Dr. Wolfgang Wagner and Bart Flynn double timing it as both Iggy and Gramps. The female voice work was a little weaker, Jessica Daniels (Gwen) and Erica Kisseberth (Mona) lack some of the emotional range of Rimpici and Flynn, but still hold their own remarkably well throughout the film. By the time the credits roll we've seen hails of bullets flying, puppet decapitations and disembowelments aplenty and a giant monster rampaging around- very cool.

An incredible puppet interpretation of a B-Horror Movie...and that is a recipe for awesome.

The humor is intelligent and the puppets are well made.
The sound quality is top notch and the voice acting is spot on.
This movie is a lot of fun and definitely deserves a watch - or two - or ten.

ThIS is a film for anyone that remembers "Meet The Feebles," filmmaker Dustin Mills has created a comedy/horror that is so wrong it's great. It's "Sesame Street gone bad" but in a highly entertaining way. The story takes place in 1985 and it's main character is a wimpy little kid named Charlie who lives with his foul-mouthed grandfather. Charlie has a dream of opening back up the family dime store, one day several other Teenagers in town and himself receive an invitation to spend the night at an old mansion owned by the infamous Doctor Wagner. They are promised to share one million dollars if they can stay the night but the mad Doctor has plans he's been waiting to put into motion for a long time, the mansion might be haunted by this group of Teenagers have something a bit more deathly to worry about. To go into any more details about the story would only ruin it for those wanting to see it so that is about as deep into the plot as I am going to go.

The film is very well made and has some hilarious and memorable moments as well as plenty of action, blood effects and lets not forget about the language, yes this is an adult puppet film so be sure to watch this one when the little ones are not around. The use of animation with the puppets works great together, the animated scene when the Doctor is explaining his past is very well done and memorable.

"Puppet Monster Massacre" is a unique independent gem full of great visuals a good story that isn't too complicated and plenty of adult humor. So if you're an indie fan or just looking for something different to watch I highly recommend picking this up, it was so much fun I went back and watched it a second time already. It's not a horror movie designed to scare people, it's instead a hilarious and highly entertaining film that brings back memories of those those great movies we saw in the 80's, a homage yes but it stands on it's own as a future cult classic.

Personally, I was a little disappointed with this film, I thought it would be funnier then what it was (I was expecting "Meet the Feebles," but obviously without a big budget). Despite the initial disappointment, all in all, I did like the film, and I would watch it again.
PROS AND CONS LIST:
Pros:
(1) the story was entertaining enough, and for the most part held my interest. The movie was basically about a mad German Nazi scientist who created a monster, and he wanted to feed it people.
(2) All the backgrounds seemed to be done by CG/Green Screen, and it was done very well. In the past I've seen several independent films where green screen was used, but wasn't done well/ didn't look right/ didn't look real. For EXAMPLE the actors might have had a brighter lighting, but would stand out (too much) from the darker settings/backgrounds. However, that is not the same case with this puppet movie. In this film the puppets and the background (lighting/coloring) complemented each other very well. It looked real enough for what the movie was about/contained.
(3) The voices for the puppets (excluding one or two) were done very well. They emoted the proper emotions for different scenes. Most of the voice actors gave their specific puppets their own personalities.
CONS:
(1) There were a lot of jokes, which revolved around farting and pooping (this can be a pro or a con depending on your tastes). Some of these jokes were funny, but there were also times I had said to myself, "god, another fart joke...really?"
(2) The entire cast consisted of puppets, and not real people, there were very few facial/ body gestures, which expressed emotions...only the puppets' voices conveyed emotions/moods. Due to this fact, I felt that the director should have done more shots from varying angles or close ups, or far shots, or medium shots, etc. This would have at least changed the view for the audience, so that it wasn't so obvious that the audience was just watching a movie about poorly constructed puppets. I hate to say it, but more editing (close ups, far shots, etc) would have helped the believiblity of the puppets/ helped me to stay more focused during certain scenes. Not just watching two puppets having a conversation, while the film would cut back and forth to the two puppets in the same position/camera angle as it was at the beginning of their conversation. AND YES I AM AWARE that this is a movie about puppets/audience is suppose to know they're puppets. However, the changes I had written above would have helped the film in moving along more smoothly.
(3) I felt at times they should have added more sound effects and music into specific scenes. This would have helped the story even more so/ held my attention longer during specific scenes.
There are other pros and cons, but this movie hinges on what is your taste in movies? This movie can be entertaining, but at the same time it can also come across a little boring, aquard, and lacking true charm. However, it's not a bad movie, but not a great one either. Also, there are a couple of sex scene (nothing x-rated) in this film. Pretty much all that was seen were a pair of felt looking breasts, accompanied by the sounds of moaning. If you want to see a true x-rated puppet movie watch "Let My Puppets Come."
Would I buy this movie again???? Yes I would, but not at a high price.
Below are some of the jokes from the movie (SPOILER ALERT) to help you in gaging if this film is right for you:
(1) In one scene the nerdy character continued to say "what is that" and all that could be seen was furniture. However, there was one time where he said "what is that" and the audience saw the monster. The nerdy character then did an elongated fart. The fart was so long, and I guess stinky, that the monster had thrust it's head back ...almost as if he was saying "WTF?"
(2) The main character was stuck in a room full of rabbits (the monster's secondary food). The boy first talked about how cute the rabbits were, but then the bunnies began farting. The boy then said, "Oh, it smells like carrots and poop!"
(3) The boy's grandfather talked about how in WW2 he kicked Hitler in his "ding ding," and also how he screwed the boys grandmother "six ways from Sunday."