For those hording toilet paper

In October of 1993, the month Vincent Price died, I still specifically remember it. Uncanny how the mind works, but that day he died, I can recall it, feeling as if a significant sadness of it (and its significance to the month, of course) was quite attached to his passing. But it was also a significant point in my life as a developing horror fan. Sci-fi channel showed that month some of the famous horror films of the last few decades. Two on the schedule weren’t as necessarily significant as Evil Dead or even Phantasm, but nonetheless Puppet Master (1989) & Puppet Master II (1991) were part of the line-up that changed my life forever. Okay, anytime you have changed my life forever, it could be seen as more than a bit overdramatic, but I can say that Sci-fi Channel did show some movies on that schedule that put me on the path of the horror fan that continues today some 24 years later. Puppet Master has a collection of psychics (Paul LeMat, Irene Miracle, Matt Roe, Kathryn O’Reilly) gathered at a hotel where a famous puppeteer committed suicide (William Hickey) to avoid Nazis, called on by a former associate to meet him there. This associate (Jimmie Skaggs) is actually a really monstrous scumbag looking to learn of the secrets of Andre Toulon so he can live forever. If puppets can move about and kill, why can’t Skaggs? His lovely wife (Robin Frates) offered the hotel to Skaggs after he endears himself to her during a time of real tragedy involving the death of her parents (later learned during Skaggs’ reveal that he killed them to get them out of the way). She tells the group that her husband killed himself, yet his body keeps popping up in seated positions in chairs. And LeMat keeps dreaming about him dancing with his wife, white mask on, pulling a gun as if to kill her. But the lure of the film are the creative killer marionettes and David Allen’s find stop motion effects.

Then the sequel brings about a foursome of paranormal investigators to study the hotel, soon encountering the same killer dolls, including a new one with a blow torch on its arm and bullets for teeth. In the sequel Toulon is brought back to life by the same fluid that allows the dolls to move about…they need him to keep them strong. He has them going after a specific part of the brain, encased in human victims they will kill. Meanwhile Toulon hides behind wraps, eye goggles, a fedora, black cape and gloves…he does obviously favor the Invisible Man (and looks cool, I thought). He engages rather awkwardly with the paranormal investigators while they are picked off one by one by the killer dolls.

 Out of both films, LeMat is clearly the most recognizable actor for his earlier work (Demme’s Melvin and Howard, Lucas’ American Graffiti, and the sci-fi cult film, Strange Invaders), while the remainder of both casts mainly disappeared after some minor film and television work (Miracle, I know being an Argento fan, starred in Inferno (1980)). I personally enjoy these films for the location (the sequel branches out into a nearby neighbors’ minor homestead where a hick couple are selected for their brains), although the cliff overlooking the ocean isn’t nearly taken advantage of for its scenic beauty and the hotel is ideal for the dolls to scurry around. Blade with his hook and knife (and pale complexion) continues to be the catchy killer doll, while Tunneler and Torch do the most visceral damage. Leech woman drops leeches and Pinhead (with his big fists) pummels faces. Still, I think Stuart Gordon’s Dolls (1987) is much better that any of the Puppet Master films. And, actually, I like the third film out of the entire ridiculously long franchise probably best, although I think the first film is probably the most cinematic. Definitely Allen’s work with the dollis moving and their abilities to kill is the highlight of both films. The very month Price died, I became a lifelong horror fan.