Puppet Master (film)
Encyclopedia
Puppet Master is a 1989 horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

 written by Charles Band and Kenneth J. Hall, and directed by David Schmoeller
David Schmoeller
David Schmoeller is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is notable for directing several full-length theatrical horror movies including Tourist Trap , The Seduction , Puppet Master , Catacombs , and Crawlspace starring Klaus Kinski.-Biography:Schmoeller was born in...

. It is the first film in the Puppet Master franchise
Puppet Master (franchise)
Puppet Master is a horror film franchise which focuses on a group of puppets animated by an Egyptian spell, each equipped with their own unique and dangerous device and are represented as heroes, anti-heroes, and antagonists...

 and stars Paul Le Mat
Paul Le Mat
Paul Le Mat is an American actor who first came to prominence in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which won him the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor.-Life:...

, Irene Miracle
Irene Miracle
Irene Miracle is an American film and television actress and director.-Early life:Irene Miracle was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma and is of Scots-Irish, Russian, French and Osage descent.-Acting career:...

, Matt Roe and Kathryn O'Reilly as psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...

s who are plotted against by a former colleague, using puppet
Puppet
A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....

s animated by an Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

ian spell
Magic
Magic may refer to:* Magic , the art of appearing to perform supernatural feats using sleight of hand or other methods* Magic , the use of paranormal methods to manipulate natural forces, such as witchcraft...

. Originally intended for theatrical
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....

 release in summer 1989, before being released on home video
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...

 the following September, Puppet Master was ultimately pushed to a direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...

 release on October 12, 1989, as Charles Band felt he was likely to make more money this way than he would in the theatrical market. the film was very popular in the video market and since developed a large cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...

 has led to the production of nine sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...

s.

Plot

In 1939 Bodega Bay, California
Bodega Bay, California
Bodega Bay is a town and census-designated place in Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 1,077 at the 2010 census. The town is on the eastern side of Bodega Harbor, an inlet of Bodega Bay on the Pacific coast....

 an old puppeteer
Puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, such as a puppet, in real time to create the illusion of life. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by his or...

 named Andre Toulon is putting the finishing touches on a living puppet called Jester. A living oriental puppet, named Shredder Khan, stares out of the window
Window
A window is a transparent or translucent opening in a wall or door that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material like float glass. Windows are held in place by frames, which...

 at Blade, another living puppet, as Blade scouts the grounds of the Bodega Bay Inn that Andre is staying. Two Nazi spies
Spies
Spies most commonly refers to people who engage in spying, espionage or clandestine operations.Spies may also refer to:- Media and entertainment :* Spies , a jazz fusion band* "Spies" , a song...

, Max and Klaus, get out of a car and head for Toulon's room but Blade beats them there and Andre puts Blade, Jester and Shredder Khan into a chest
Chest
The chest is a part of the anatomy of humans and various other animals. It is sometimes referred to as the thorax or the bosom.-Chest anatomy - Humans and other hominids:...

 with the indian puppet, named Gengie, before hiding the chest in a wall panel
Wall panel
A wall panel is single piece of material, usually flat and cut into a rectangular shape, that serves as the visible and exposed covering for a wall. Wall panels are functional as well as decorative, providing insulation and soundproofing, combined with uniformity of appearance, along with some...

. As the Nazis break down the door, Toulon shoots himself in the mouth with a pistol. Shredder Khan and Gengie were not seen in the rest of the movie.

The film now cuts to 1989, with a psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...

 named Alex. Alex has a dream of a man that he recognizes putting a gun to a woman's head
Human head
In human anatomy, the head is the upper portion of the human body. It supports the face and is maintained by the skull, which itself encloses the brain.-Cultural importance:...

. Seconds later, he dreams that there are leech
Leech
Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. Like other oligochaetes such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. Nevertheless, they differ from other oligochaetes in significant ways...

es on his stomach, sucking out significant amounts of blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....

. The film cuts to Dana, another psychic, who has visions of being slashed across the throat
Throat
In vertebrate anatomy, the throat is the anterior part of the neck, in front of the vertebral column. It consists of the pharynx and larynx...

 with a knife
Knife
A knife is a cutting tool with an exposed cutting edge or blade, hand-held or otherwise, with or without a handle. Knives were used at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools...

. Carissa and Frank, two other psychics who are apparently lover
Lover
Lover may refer to:* A person who loves* A sexual partner outside of a committed relationship-Music:* "Lover" , by Rodgers and Hart* "Lover" * "Lovers" , by The Tears* Lovers...

s, are reading the mind of another woman when they get a call from Alex. Frank tells Alex that they also got a call from Dana, and the four psychics assess that the visions they have been having were sent from a former colleague, Neil Gallagher.

The psychics meet at the Bodega Bay Inn that Neil is staying at and meet Neil's wife, Megan, as well as the housekeeper, Theresa. The psychics are skeptical that Neil took a wife but it is forgotten when Megan tells them that Neil shot himself. Theresa, Megan, and Alex leave the body, leaving Frank, Carissa and Dana. Dana stabs a long pin into Neil's corpse to verify that he is in fact dead.

Settling into her room, Dana warns Theresa to stay away from the fireplace
Fireplace
A fireplace is an architectural structure to contain a fire for heating and, especially historically, for cooking. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows gas and particulate exhaust to escape...

. Theresa, somewhat upset and suspicious of Dana, leaves the room. Alex, in his room, finds a picture and has a vision of a couple dancing in a ballroom
Ballroom
A ballroom is a large room inside a building, the designated purpose of which is holding formal dances called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions contain one or more ballrooms...

, only to awaken from his vision with the now crumpled picture in his hand. While in the elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...

 Carissa has visions of Neil violently attacking a woman in the same elevator. Theresa tells Frank and Carissa not to say things like that around Megan, as she is already upset over the loss of her husband. They assure her they will not. As the sun sets, Pinhead, another living puppet, climbs out of Neil's casket
Casket
A casket, or jewelry box is a term for a container that is usually larger than a box, and smaller than a chest, and in the past was typically decorated...

. That night at dinner, Dana makes several remarks about Neil that causes Megan to leave the table. Alex goes after her and explains about the powers of the people in the group. Carissa can touch an object and give the object's history, Dana can tell fortunes and locate things and people, and Alex himself has premonitions in his dreams.

When night falls, Theresa goes near the fireplace and is murdered when Pinhead hits her with a poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...

. The psychics hear a scream and find Megan passed out nearby Neil's body that has been moved into a chair by someone. Carissa and Frank spend some intimate time together in one of the hotel rooms but two more living puppets, Tunneler and Leech Woman, enter. Tunneler kills Carissa by drilling into her face
Face
The face is a central sense organ complex, for those animals that have one, normally on the ventral surface of the head, and can, depending on the definition in the human case, include the hair, forehead, eyebrow, eyelashes, eyes, nose, ears, cheeks, mouth, lips, philtrum, temple, teeth, skin, and...

 and Leech Woman vomits leeches onto Frank's body
Body
With regard to living things, a body is the physical body of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death...

, which drain his blood. Meanwhile, Dana sits around with her taxidermied dog until she is attacked by Pinhead, who breaks her leg
Human leg
The human leg is the entire lower extremity or limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh and even the hip or gluteal region; however, the precise definition in human anatomy refers only to the section of the lower limb extending from the knee to the ankle.Legs are used for standing,...

. Pinhead chases her and repeatedly strangles
Strangles
Strangles is a contagious upper respiratory tract infection of horses and other equines caused by a bacterium, Streptococcus equi var equi...

 and punches her until she manages to knock him away, only to have her throat cut by Blade, using his knife
Knife
A knife is a cutting tool with an exposed cutting edge or blade, hand-held or otherwise, with or without a handle. Knives were used at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools...

-hand.

Alex has recurring nightmare
Nightmare
A nightmare is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong negative emotional response from the mind, typically fear or horror, but also despair, anxiety and great sadness. The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort, psychological or physical terror...

s of Megan having a gun put to her head by Neil and the other psychics being found dead, but is eventually awoken by Megan, who takes him into the room that Andre Toulon was in, and tells him that Neil found Andre's secret to bringing inanimate objects, such as puppets, to life. Alex has a vision and they go downstairs to find the dead bodies of the psychics sitting around a table. They are stopped by the newly resurrected Neil. He explains that "metaphysically speaking
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...

", he did commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

, but he used Toulon's formula
Formula
In mathematics, a formula is an entity constructed using the symbols and formation rules of a given logical language....

 to give himself eternal life
Eternal life (Christianity)
In Christianity the term eternal life traditionally refers to continued life after death, rather than immortality. While scholars such as John H. Leith assert that...

. He fights with Alex and beats him up, and then hurts Jester. Seeing this attack on one of their own, the puppets revolt against Neil. Pinhead locks him in an elevator, and Neil starts to attack him, forcing him to get out of his way. Neil throws Pinhead to a wall and then bangs on the elevator door trying to get out and shouting 'Open this door!', Pinhead grabs Neil's leg then Neil picks him up and pulls Pinhead's head off and throws his headless
Headless
Being headless is acrania, the failure of an individual animal to develop a head, despite belonging to a species that normally does so.Headless may also refer to:*Headless system, a server with no monitor, keyboard, or mouse attached...

 body and head to a wall. Tunneler then drills into Neil's leg, and Neil pulls him off. He then limps and climbs up the elevator, trying to get free. Pinhead puts his head back on his body, and he and Tunneler try to grab Neil. Blade then shows up and chops Neil's fingers off, which make him fall off the top of elevator. Blood (in the color of green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...

) squirts out of Neil's fingers. Pinhead grabs Neil's head, then the puppets murder Neil. Pinhead holds Neil's head, Blade stabs his hand with a knife, Tunneler drills into his neck, then Blade opens Neil's mouth for Leach Woman to vomit a leach into his mouth. Alex tries to stop the puppets killing Neil, by shouting 'Stop!', kicking the elevator door and trying to open it. Megan then shouts 'Stop!' bursting into tears
Tears
Tears are secretions that clean and lubricate the eyes. Lacrimation or lachrymation is the production or shedding of tears....

. Pinhead then cracks Neil's neck (killing him). Megan cries after he dies.

The film cuts to Alex saying goodbye to Megan and leaving the hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

. Now alone, Megan picks up Dana's taxidermic
Taxidermy
Taxidermy is the act of mounting or reproducing dead animals for display or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all vertebrate species of animals, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians...

 dog, and in the following scene, the dog becomes completely animate
Animate
is the retailing arm of MOVIC and is the largest retailer of anime, games, and manga in Japan. The first and headquarters store of Animate opened in 1983 and is located in Ikebukuro, a district in Tokyo, Japan. Currently, there are 38 Animate stores in Japan, and two in Taipei, Taiwan...

, walking up the stairs with Megan, indicating that she, too, has learned Toulon's method
Methodology
Methodology is generally a guideline for solving a problem, with specificcomponents such as phases, tasks, methods, techniques and tools . It can be defined also as follows:...

 (although the film's sequel
Puppet Master II
Puppet Master II is a 1991 horror film written by David Pabian and directed by Dave Allen...

 dispels that she has become the next Puppet Master).

Cast

  • Paul Le Mat
    Paul Le Mat
    Paul Le Mat is an American actor who first came to prominence in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which won him the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor.-Life:...

     as Alex Whitaker
  • William Hickey
    William Hickey (actor)
    William Edward Hickey was an American actor. He was best known for his Oscar-nominated role as Don Corrado Prizzi in the John Huston 1985 film Prizzi's Honor, as well as the voice of Dr...

     as Andre Toulon
  • Irene Miracle
    Irene Miracle
    Irene Miracle is an American film and television actress and director.-Early life:Irene Miracle was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma and is of Scots-Irish, Russian, French and Osage descent.-Acting career:...

     as Dana Hadley
  • Jimmie F. Skaggs as Neil Gallagher
  • Robin Frates as Megan Gallagher
  • Matt Roe as Frank Forrester
  • Kathryn O'Reilly as Carissa Stamford
  • Mews Small
    Mews Small
    Mews Small is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles; as "Candy" in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and "Dr. Nero" in Sleeper....

     as Theresa
  • Barbara Crampton
    Barbara Crampton
    Barbara Crampton is an American actress.She is considered a scream queen.-Early years:Crampton was born in Levittown, Long Island, New York. She was raised in Vermont and spent summers while growing up traveling the country with the carnival as her father was a carnie...

     as Woman at Carnival
  • David Boyd
    David Boyd
    David Boyd may refer to:* David Boyd , Australian artist* David Boyd , Canadian children's author* David Boyd , cinematographer* David Boyd , Australian rugby league player...

     as Man at Carnival
  • Peter Frankland as Assassin #1
  • Andrew Kimbrough as Assassin #2

Featured puppets


Home video

Puppet Master has been reissued several times. It is available in a box set featuring the first seven installments of the series, an 18-disc Full Moon Features
Full Moon Features
Full Moon Features is a motion picture production and distribution company headed by B-movie veteran Charles Band. It is known for the direct-to-video series Puppet Master and Subspecies, as well as the innovative VideoZone featurette at the end of films through 1989 to 2000.-Full Moon...

 collection and a Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

-subtitled import collection of the first three Puppet Master films. In 2007, Razor Digital released an uncut DualDisc
DualDisc
DualDisc was a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and 5.1 Entertainment Group and later under the aegis of the Recording Industry Association of America...

 version of Puppet Master, featuring both the standard and stereoscopic
Stereoscopy
Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...

 versions of the film. The uncut version restores a number of deleted scenes, including additional footage of Frank and Carissa having sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...

, extra frames added to Dana's death which make the slash across her throat more visible, and Neil's death scene being extended to contain more gore. In December 2008, Band authorized Puppet Master for digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

 through the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...

; his first foray into the digital market.

20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray

On June 15, 2010, Full Moon re-released Puppet Master (in its original widescreen format for the first time) in a collector's edition 2-disc set with its eighth sequel (Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys is not from Full Moon Features and is not considered part of the series), Puppet Master: Axis of Evil
Puppet Master: Axis of Evil
Puppet Master: Axis of Evil directed by David DeCoteau is the 10th entry into the Puppet Master series of horror films but the ninth entry that's canon to the series made by Charles Band's Full Moon Features.-Plot:...

. The set includes packaging resembling Toulon's trunk, a poster for Axis of Evil, mini-poster cards for all of the films in the series, and stickers featuring each puppet. The set is available in DVD and Blu-ray, marking Full Moon's first foray into the Blu-ray market, including both their first film (Puppet Master) and their latest film (Axis of Evil, at the time). As of July 27, 2010 both Axis Of Evil and new release of the first film are available to own separately on DVD and Blu-ray.

Remake

In March 2009, it was reported that Band is interested in remaking
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...

 1989's Puppet Master in 3-D
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...

. Similarly, the original film was reissued by Razor Digital in 2007 in DualDisc format, featuring both standard and stereoscopic versions.
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