On this edition of Direct to DVD Dissection, a horror franchise born in the era of VHS hits their 10th direct entry and 11th overall. It’s puppets versus Nazis and among the many things it produces, it raises one question: When did filmmakers stop trying to make legitimately good movies?
Watch Trailer Here
The Specs
Rated: Not Rated
Director: Charles Band
Running Time: 88 minutes
Studio: Full Moon Features
Release Date: October 9th, 2012
The Story
After foiling a Nazi plot, Danny Coogan finds that his troubles have just begun. One of Toulon’s Puppets has been kidnapped, and under the watchful eye of Commandant Moebius, the Puppets’ life-giving serum is synthesized to create his own Nazi Puppets!
The Cast
Paul Thomas Arnold as General Porter. Before this, he appeared in the film TALES OF THE UNKNOWN.
Kip Canyon as Danny. Before this, worked on one of the entries in the 1313 series, BERMUDA TRIANGLE
Stephanie Sanditz as Uschi. She’s appeared in films like KATE & LEOPOLD, LAST HALLOWEEN, and DISORIENTATION.
Jean Louise O’Sullivan as Beth. She previously worked on the film THE DEAD WANT WOMEN, and GINGERDEAD MAN 3: SATURDAY NIGHT CLEAVER.
The Dissection
The Puppet Pinhead.
The PUPPETMASTER series started at the tail end of the 80s, 1989. Through various sequels and a crossover with DEMONIC TOYS, the series has made a name for itself as a veteran of the horror movie circuit. It even grew a cult following of fans who ate up each addition entry in the series. However, as the calender hit the 21st Century and the budgets dropped down, it lost some of it’s traction and focus. Then, in 2010, the 9th entry hit, called AXIS OF EVIL, focusing on the puppets facing off with the Third Reich. That wasn’t considered a poor entry into the series, and drove away fans of the series. Strangely enough, it did well enough to warrant a sequel, AXIS RISING.
So, fans of the serious who didn’t enjoy the turn in the last movie will not enjoy it being continued here. Then, you must be thinking, people who did enjoy the last movie will enjoy this, right? Not necessarily, as the movie is it’s own beast. None of the cast from that movie return for this one, so if you did like the last movie, this resets the world it built last time. There is a return of some characters who were left missing from the last one, but the actual effects for the puppets are lacking and a lot of the movie is focused on the human lead and very little time is actually spent with the puppets. The acting isn’t that good, and there’s nothing to really write home about.
American vs Nazi Puppets collide.
Well then, you might also be thinking, what about people that enjoy trashy movies like this? They’ll like it, right? No, no they wouldn’t, and the simple reason is that if you’re gonna look for trashy films, there’s already stacks of films that fulfill that purpose. A lot of movies have dedicated their films to films like this. Even Full Moon Features has done this several times with their franchises, such as the KILJOY, GINGERDEAD MAN and EVIL BONG movies. Not to mention movies from other studios and other films released that capitalize on that kind of film releases.
The Extras
Probably the best part of the DVD release. Some interesting features and extras, showing off the puppets and the film there’s also things for fans of the studio with various trailers, uncensored reviews, and a Videozone featurette.
The Verdict
There’s really no reason to to see this movie. PUPPETMASTER fans will enjoy seeing the first releases of movies, people who enjoy the newer films will be left out of this one, and there’s way more films out there that will leave you better off than this movie. Unless you’re someone who wants to keep every film or wants to check out the extras, there’s nothing to really get you into it.
Find PUPPET MASTER X: AXIS RISING at Redbox:
http://www.redbox.com/movies/puppetmaster-x-axis-of-evil