Paul Le Mat, Irene Miracle, Matt Roe, and Kathryn O'Reilly play psychics plotted against by a former colleague using Egyptian-spelled puppets. Originally scheduled for a summer 1989 theatrical release before being released on home video the following September, Puppet Master was rushed to a direct-to-video release on October 12, 1989, because Charles Band believed it would be more financially successful than a theatrical release.
The series has spawned various spin-offs as a consequence of its success.
At the Bodega Bay Inn in California in the year 1939, an experienced puppeteer by the name of André Toulon is putting the finishing touches on his most recent creation, Jester, before he brings it to life. Nazi spies arrive and make their way to Toulon's room, while Kahn, another real puppet, warns him to stay away. Toulon puts all of the animated puppets in a chest and hides it in a wall panel recess. As the Nazis knock on the door, Toulon takes his own life. Contact was made with Professor Alex Whitaker by Neil Gallagher in the form of a nightmare in which both Neil and leeches appeared. "Contact" was also made with Dana Hadley by means of an impending death premonition. "Contact" was made with Frank Forrester and Carissa Stamford by means of an unknown method. Dana has also discovered Toulon's "hiding location" and informs the others, setting up a rendezvous at the Bodega Bay Inn, where Neil lives. Upon arriving, they are shocked to discover that not only does Neil have a wife, Megan, but he has also committed himself, leaving instructions for Megan. After she leaves, a large pin is inserted into Neil's body to ensure the victim is really dead.As the psychics start to feel more at ease in their rooms, they start seeing strange and unsettling visions of Neil appear in front of their eyes. After Dana has purposely riled up Megan, a second animated doll, Pinhead, crawls out of Neil's coffin as the rest of the family sits down to have dinner. Alex informs Megan about her husband's past. Carissa, a psychometrist, can perceive an object's emotional past by touching it. Dana can read fortunes and find goods and people. With Frank's aid, Neil found that Ancient Egyptians could reanimate lifeless statues, a skill previously revealed by the last genuine alchemist, André Toulon.
However, since Neil had not spoken with them in a long time, Dana and the others assumed he had abandoned them and taken whatever he was searching for for himself, and they are now going to take it and settle the score. That night, while tending to the fire, Theresa, the housekeeper, is assaulted by Pinhead with a poker, sealing Dana's destiny.
Megan faints after discovering Gallagher's corpse on a chair; Alex attends to her as the others return the body to the coffin.
Because spells have been discovered to guard Alex and Dana's rooms, Blade proceeds to Carissa and Frank's, where they are enjoying an extremely loud sex session that is bothering Alex and Dana. As a third puppet, Underground and Leech Woman enter. Carissa is fatally drilled by Tunneler while exploring the noise under the bed, and Leech Woman regurgitates leeches onto Frank, who is chained to the bed and drained of blood. Dana discovers Gallagher's body in her room after returning from a walk; Pinhead assaults her and breaks her leg as a consequence. Pinhead pursues her and violently strangles and beats her until she knocks him off and crawls to the elevator, where Blade slits her neck to complete her destiny. Alex has more nightmares, and Megan finally wakes him up by showing him Toulon's diary and telling him that Neil found Toulon's secret to coming back to life. Alex sees Neil and rushes downstairs to flee, but they discover Dana, Frank, and Carissa's dead seated around the dining table, followed by the freshly revived Neil. He says that, while committing suicide, he utilized Toulon's secrets to reanimate himself in an attempt to become immortal.
He admits that he murdered Megan's parents and displays hatred for the puppets, brutally dumping Jester, now content to experiment with human puppets. When the other puppets see this, they attack Neil; Tunneler cuts off his legs, Blade holds him down, Leech Woman regurgitates a leech into his mouth, and Pinhead eventually breaks his neck. Megan sees Alex off the following day, and as she ascends the stairs, she brings Dana's toy dog Leroy to life.
The actors in Puppet Master (1989) were very good at what they did. André Toulon was played by William Hickey. Paul Le Mat played Alex Whitaker, the protagonist of the film, an anthropology professor at Yale University who is able to see into the future and see what may be.
Irene Miracle plays Dana Hadley, a small-time psychic who works at a fair and specializes in telling fortunes and finding lost or missing things.
Jimmie F. Skaggs portrayed the role of Neil Gallagher, the antagonist of the movie and the eponymous Puppetmaster. Neil Gallagher is the one who is ultimately responsible for the deaths of many of the film's former coworkers and friends at the hands of the live-action puppets. Megan Gallagher, Neil's wife, was portrayed by Robin Frates. Her parents owned and ran the Bodega Bay, which she inherited when they died and where she met Neil for the first time.Matt Roe portrayed Frank Forrester, a psychic researcher at Pensa Research Inc (PRI) and Carissa's partner; the pair specializes in sexual psychic readings.
Kathryn O'Reilly portrayed Carissa Stamford, a psychometrist for PRI and Frank's colleague. She can recreate the emotional history of any item by touch.
Theresa Mews Small worked for the Gallaghers as the family's link housekeeper. Barbara Crampton gave the performance of a lady who worked at the carnival.
Blade, Jester, Pinhead, Tunneler, Leech Woman, Shredder Khan, and Gengie are the names of the killer puppets. Paramount Home Video released Puppet Master on VHS on September 30, 1989.
Full Moon Home Video released the film's first DVD on June 13, 2000. Following the March 2008 release of The Puppetmaster (1989) by Wizard Entertainment, a Blu-ray was released in July 2010. Full Moon Features also issued a remastered DVD at the same time.
Along with the Killjoy series, Echo Bridge Home Entertainment published the "Killjoy and Puppet Master (1989): The Complete Collections" in 2014, however both series have since spawned new sequels.
Full Moon released a Blu-ray and a limited-edition vintage VHS compilation on April 10, 2018, with the latter having only 3,000 copies made with the first 300 being signed and numbered by Band. The movie now has a rating of 43 percent acceptance on Rotten Tomatoes, based on seven reviews, with a weighted average rating of four out of ten points. According to TV Guide, it is "a useless variant on the killer-doll theme."
A website gave the film a 3/5 rating, praising the mood, music, and set designs but criticizing the performances, narrative, and opening act.
Puppet Master isn't a terrific picture, but its heart is in the right place, and I've always loved the evil doll horror subgenre, so its flaws are readily forgiven. According to Wes, who writes on a different website, Puppet Master (1989) is, despite its flaws, one of the most entertaining films in the "killer toy" subgenre of horror movies.
The popularity of the movie inside a subculture served as the impetus for the creation of a series that would last for decades. The film was so successful that it spawned a total of five sequels: Puppet Master II (1990), Puppet Master 4 (1993), Puppet Master (1989) 5: The Final Chapter (1994), and Curse of the Puppet Master (1998). (2003).
Toulon's Revenge (1991) and Retro Puppet Master are prequels (1999). Puppet Master (1989): Axis of Evil (2010) was followed by Axis Rising (2012) and Axis Termination (2013). (2017). odahsrecked Blade: The Iron Cross, a Blade spin-off, was published in 2020. 2022 will see the premiere of a film about Retro's Doktor Death. In 2004, the Sci-Fi Channel broadcasted Puppetmaster (1989) vs. Demonic Toys, a crossover with another Full Moon property, Demonic Toys.Full Moon announced a collaboration with indie gaming developer "October Games" in September 2021, with the goal of releasing an official Puppetmaster (1989) game on the Steam store by the end of 2022.
Band was said to be making a 3-D remake of the original film in March 2009.
Puppetmaster (1989) facts. Dwarf stuntwoman Cindy Sorensen wore fingerless gloves and a sweater sleeve to imitate Pinhead's fists in the film's punching scenes, but it was actually her fists that were used. Cindy said that the most challenging aspect of these sequences was keeping her head down while holding the Pinhead puppet on her shoulders and while throwing fake blows.
When Leech Woman "coughs" up a leech, her mouth is made of foam latex, giving it a more flexible appearance.
Only three-quarters of the leech mechanism emerges from Leech Woman's lips, but a simple camera cut gives the impression that the full leech emerges. Miniature: The Bodega Bay motel resembled a refrigerator in size. As soon as filmmakers had chosen a suitable setting, they employed force perspective to make their model hotel look as though it were standing in the real world. The Blade puppet could only be operated by a team of five skilled puppeteers. The film was inspired by Band's previous film about deadly dolls, Dolls (1986).
In an interview conducted in 1999 by the horror website The Terror Trap, film director David Schmoeller stated that he was not involved with the continuation of Full Moon's most successful franchise, the Puppetmaster (1989), due to the fact that doing so would have revealed the identity of the franchise's creator as someone other than Full Moon CEO Charles Band.
When the first "Puppet Master (1989)" film was released on DVD, Schmoeller was never asked to record a director's commentary. He also said in the same interview that Charles Band owes him residuals.
David Schmoeller's favorite actor, Klaus Kinski, inspired the puppet Blade. One of the first puppets conceived by Charles Band was a six-armed, armed Ninja. This puppet did not appear in the film, but it inspired the puppet Six-Shooter, who debuted in Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge (1991).
When the picture was initially intended for release during the summer of 1989 and on home video in September 1989, film producer Band said in an interview that he would make more money in the direct-to-video business than he would in the theatrical market.
In 2010, the original film's creator, Band, planned to recreate it. Due to reaction, the project was shelved, and Puppet Master (1989) Axis of Evil was born instead.
Much of the soundtrack for this film is made up of synthesized versions of Pino Donaggio's music from The Tourist Trap (1979), a film with similar themes on which director David Schmoeller and producer Charles Band previously collaborated.
Band says that he got the idea for the title Puppet Master (1989) from his early days working for Empire Pictures. In 1984, he worked on a movie called The Dungeonmaster (also known as Ragewar). He said that many fans told him they loved that title. He's always been interested in how small dolls or figures can come to life, and when he wanted to make a movie about puppets that come to life, he remembered how well people liked The Dungeonmaster. After that, he just chose the title Puppet Master for the film. Blade is the only character whose costume remains same from film to film.
Blade is the sole puppet to feature on the Puppet Master (1989) Movies' VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray covers.
Despite the fact that the puppet Blade lacks lungs (or any other internal organs), he breathes hard and sounds out of breath when sprinting at the opening of the film. The film's other puppets pant, groan, and moan. They can't talk.