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. 

There has been a rise in popularity for 80’s horror in recent years with remakes, reboots and sequels being delivered with mixed reception from fans and critics. Although recently I have been impressed with the sequel/reboot Leprechaun Returns (2018) which added new life to the franchise, whilst still connecting back to the original film. So, naturally when I heard that another straight to video franchise The Puppet Master was getting a main steam reboot, I was excited about the prospect. Even though the quality of the sequels have started to dwindle over the years, the number of sequels and crossovers has continued to prove that there is still a fan base for those killer puppets.

In addition to the prospect of the killer puppets returning to the big screen Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich also boasts a solid cast. Thomas Lennon takes the lead in the film and is joined by Barbara Crampton who makes a return to the series following her cameo in the original and a cameo from genre legend Udo Kier.

It is clear that Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund wanted to re-create the puppet master series to make the new film there own. Adding more puppets, more gore and to make it really stand out in the genre more offensive. These are normally tick in the box for me when it comes to the horror genre, but I was also hoping that the film would have something more to offer. Not taking anything away from some good performances from the cast and the memorable moments that the film creates, but beneath all the blood gore and over the top killings I was still left somewhat underwhelmed.

With the original series one of the elements that made it so popular amongst fans were the puppets themselves. They all had their own unique personalities and were therefore recognised as individual characters in the story. Pin Head, Blade, Tunneler, Jester, Leech Woman; they all had a unique trait which made them memorable amongst fans and more importantly you could see that they were all designed as puppets. With Littlest Reich however it seems to be like a conveyor belt of puppets, many who we see briefly during a kill before moving onto the next. Some of the original puppets that they have brought back such as Blade and Pin Head may get some more screen time being recognised as fan favourites, but again they are still underused.

Another issue I had with the puppets, especially as a fan of the original, is the fact these were not actually puppets. I don’t want to give too much away but a lot of them are an assortment of different toys and although some do look impressive in the brief moments we see them they are just not puppets. Surprisingly the ‘toys’ with the most screen time were the robot helicopter drones flying about. Admittedly the abilities of characters such as Leech Woman from the original films never made much sense, (she was far too skinny to have ingested that many leeches) but the ability of the drone robots just seem too advance for Andre Toulon, who would have made them at least 30 years ago.

The extremely gory and creative killings is where Littlest Reich will find its audience amongst the gore hounds, as there is plenty of over the top tongue in cheek toilet humour which people will be losing their heads over. There are so many outrageous moments which will either have you laughing or extremely offended, but either way it certainly makes an impression.

The film delivers some good performances. Thomas Lennon proving a perfect choice as the central character and although he only has a brief cameo Udo Kier once again delivers a memorable performance as the creepy Andre Toulon. It is however Barbara Crampton who seems at home once again as the retired Officer Carol Doreski. It may not be the most challenging role for Barbara, but as she has proved continuously in recent years she still on top of her game and always a joy to watch.

It is good to see that Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund have tried to do something different with the series and they have definitely made their own unique mark. I am sure that Little Reich will gain a cult following with some horror fans, who will enjoy the chaos and over the top gore which the film does really well. However, more is not always better and with the changes it has made to the film it has lost some of the charm of the original which left me somewhat disappointed with the final execution.

Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich is released on VOD 5th July, DVD and Blu Ray 8th July 2019

You can see the original reviews for the film on Blazing Minds below below
Review by Karen Woodham
Review by Philip Rogers

Philip Rogers

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!