Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2018)
Director: Tommy Wiklund, Sonny Laguna
Writers: S. Craig Zahler (Based on characters created by Charles Band and Kenneth J. Hall)
Stars: Thomas Lennon, Jenny Pellicer, Nelson Franklin, Charlyne Yi, Michael Paré
Recently divorced and reeling, Edgar returns to his childhood home to regroup his life. When Edgar finds a nefarious looking puppet in his deceased brother’s room, he decides to sell the doll for some quick cash. Girl-next-door Ashley and comic book pal Markowitz join Edgar for a doomed road trip to an auction at a convention celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the infamous Toulon Murders. All hell breaks loose when a strange force animates the puppets at the convention, setting them on a bloody killing spree that’s motivated by an evil as old as time.
With Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich coming to VOD today and DVD on 8th July, I got a chance to ask co-director Sonny Laguna a few questions about what we can expect from the film.
Q. You co-directed Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich with Tommy Wiklund, what can people expect from the film?
A. A throwback to a different era of horror films, with a huge emphasis on practical effects. A lot of weird characters that have a unique vibe to them, and an old school score to enjoy. Just a very different kind of experience overall in 2019.
Q. What first attracted you to the project?
A. We’ve always kind of dreamed of working with a reboot and a set of iconic characters, and with the puppets in this alongside its history of toys and comic books, this felt like a dream come true.
Q. You have worked with Tommy Wiklund on several projects now, what is the process like working together, and do you each bring something different to the film?
A. We’ve worked together for twenty years now, first starting out with horrible short films but developing a style that bounces off each other’s strengths and weaknesses so we can utilise ourselves the most. It is as fun working together as it has ever been, growing together with each experience.
Q. Littlest Reich tries to push the boundaries with some of the over the top kill scenes. Was this how they were written in the original script or where any of these adapted during filming?
A. The brutality was there at the beginning, but it was more about what could work on screen with the time and budget and a few extra kills were placed in there in post production without our involvement. I think with any smaller budget film, things are bound to change from the original vision. It can be both a curse and a blessing.
Q. There is a lot going in the film and as stated previous there are a lot of creative gore scenes in the film, but were there any elements of the original script which were removed or changed during filming?
A. Oh yes, plenty. There were things that were too expensive to shoot. It came down to budget. One character was going to get hurt a lot more by Tunneler and Blade, but time ran out unfortunately.
Q. The film brings back some of the puppets from the original films which have been adapted, but also throws in a mixture of new characters. What were your favourite designs?
A. My personal favourite was Happy Amphibian. I imagined him being badly created to walk around, so he would look drunk (but happy) due to his instability. I also really love Pinhead from the old films. I don’t think there’s any bad ones to be honest.
Q. Some of the puppets are more advanced than some of those in the original film and have a more toy like quality. Was this deliberate to move it away for the original series?
A. Yeah, it had to feel like some were more deliberate weapons of Toulon’s creations. I think it works but could have been explained more.
Q. Did you experience any difficulties during filming?
A. So many. We only had 18 shooting days, so juggling what to prioritise was tough. When a blood effect simply wouldn’t work, we would lose hours and had to try and shoot something else in the mean time. A lot of stress building up.
Q. Barbara Crampton who has a cameo in the original series plays Officer Carol Doreski in Littlest Reich. Was her involvement intended as a nod to the original or did you feel that she was just well suited to the role?
A. I think it was a deliberate nod to the original, but she’s also just an amazing actress. I believe she can carry a whole film, easily.
Q. The film was left open for a sequel, are there any plans for you to continue the story and would you like to be involved?
A. I don’t think there’s any plans for our continued involvement, but I would love to have an adviser role on it.
Q. Do you have any other projects you are working on?
A. Two scripts have been written over the past year, All Gone and Eternal Darkness. One is scifi/action and the other is supernatural horror. We hope to get these off the ground one day. But right at the moment we are collaborating with some lovely UK folks to develop a slasher. And I should mention, go watch our latest short film Mystery Box on YouTube. We need all the views we can get.
Q. If someone was looking to get into directing themselves what advice would you give them?
A. Write/create a short film per week for a year. 7 days to write, direct, shoot and edit it. They will be horrible at first, but it’s a fast and easy, fun way to learn. Create your own style and try to balance it with set rules. Believe in yourself but never become arrogant. You need others to succeed so be gentle at all times.
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
Related Posts
