Puppet Master: Axis of Evil (2010)

2010

Directed by David DeCoteau
Starring Levi Fiehler, Jenna Gallaher, Taylor M. Graham, Tom Sandoval, Jerry Hoffman, Erica Shaffer and Ada Zhou Fang

Alright, now on to some fun stuff.  It had been a decent amount of time since whatever the hell they were attempting to do with Puppet Master: The Legacy and a couple years removed from...the movie where the puppets took on the wind-up chimp with cymbals.  Now, we're up to 2010, and it was time for Full Moon to give its old franchise a fresh coat of paint.  For really reals this time.  With a new script from Charles Band himself and long-time Full Moon director David DeCoteau coming back to the series, they had all the ingredients in place for a decent reboot.  I say "decent," because my bar is incredibly low these days.  And when it comes to that bar, they succeeded with this flick.

I'll be the first person to admit that I'm not quite as well-versed with the newer Full Moon offerings.  I know there's something like 17 Gingerdead Man and Evil Bong movies, but nope, never seen 'em.  Thus, I can't speak with too much education as to the tone of these new films compared to the movies that I grew up on.  When it comes to this movie, however, I really was kind of impressed with how well it seemed to fit in with, say, the fourth and fifth PM flicks.  This flick and the ones that come after might not be out-and-out HORROR movies, per se, but you can still count on a couple Tunneler and Leech Woman deaths in each movie.  And if you're into seeing some people who really deserve to get gored, you're in the right place.  Oh, and the budget was something like two Filet-o-Fish value meals.  I have to get that bit into at least three more reviews before I lock the doors.  With that, THE MOVIE!

After a LONG time away from the origin of the series, we're back to the world of World War II and Andre Toulon.  In the flesh, this time, only the flesh version played by William Hickey instead of Guy Rolfe.  For those out there who have absolutely NO idea what I'm talking about, the Puppet Master story goes like this: Andre Toulon is a renowned puppet maker who ran a popular sow in Nazi Germany just before the war broke out.  Only his puppets are special, as they actually have transplanted human souls placed inside them.  Along with cool weapons.  Anyway, the Nazis find out this secret and kill his wife before he eventually takes revenge and runs away to AMERICA (/Neil Diamond), eventually taking up refuge in the matte painting known as the Bodega Bay Inn.  But the Nazis follow him, Toulon kills himself before they can find his puppets, and that's where this movie begins.

We've seen all of this footage before, but this movie throws a new wrinkle into the formula.  That wrinkle is Danny Coogan (Levi Fiehler), employee of the Bodega Bay Inn with a bum leg and a good heart.  We know this because there is tender, tinkly music whenever he's onscreen.  Yeah, Fiehler ain't the best actor in the world, but the movie does a decent-enough job getting you on his side.  He still lives with his mom, and he just wants to be a soldier in the upcoming major conflict like his heroic older brother Don (Taylor M. Graham).  Did I mention that Danny also became a close confidante of Toulon before his suicide and knows all about his special puppets?  Well, he does.

For those of us who have watched EVERY movie in this series so far, we think about some strange things.  Well, Puppet Master: Axis of Evil tells us the story of what happened to the two black-suited Nazi guys who came to the Bodega Bay to shoot Toulon.  Turns out they're also in the States in order to blow up a big-time weapons factory and cripple the American war effort.  They are teaming up with a Japanese agent named Ozu (Ada Zhou Fang), and these three characters are amazingly dislikable.  Like, in the best way.  Danny finds himself wrapped up in the whole thing due to the miracle/plot convenience of his girlfriend Beth (Jenna Gallaher) working in the office of the super-important munitions plant.  One of the Nazis, Max (Tom Sandoval) infiltrates the place and befriends Danny before betraying him and killing his family.  And that's when he gets mad.

Ok, maybe he doesn't turn into the Incredible Hulk, but it sure does make the puppets with super-deadly powers that he's carrying around much more handy.  The final 15 minutes of the movie take place inside the munitions factory, with Beth taken hostage to draw Danny in.  Well, he does come in, and he releases the hounds.  And, amazingly enough, I cared, despite the movie consisting of long stretches where pretty much nothing happens.

That's the thing about Full Moon movies, and I was really refreshed that this hadn't changed in all the years since I'd seen my last one.  There's just something about these amazingly simple, basic plots with archetypal characters that everyone can instantly pinpoint as "good" or "bad" that really resonates with me.  I don't know.  I like them?  Well, clearly a lot of other people do as well, because Charles Band is still alive and kicking and running his own goddamn streaming service.  Plus I'm pretty sure that he still makes regular appearances at conventions and shit.  So +2 points to this guy for every year going back to, oh, about 1982 or so.

It also goes without saying, but the star of the show is the puppets themselves.  This movie definitely doesn't disappoint in that regard, as we get to watch everyone from Blade to Tunneler to Leech Woman to Pinhead have their one moment in the sun.  This was also an area of the movie where it was a benefit that it's been such a long gap between movies, because they look fantastic this time around, even though we can see the wires every once in a while.  Call that one of the downsides of high definition.  It kind of distracts from the whole thing that, well, Levi Fiehler and Jenna Gallaher aren't the most captivating actors in the world.  Don't say I didn't warn you about that one.

Rating time.  *** out of ****.  A solid start to a solid-enough trilogy of new movies, and if you're a veteran with the Puppet Master flicks, you'll find a lot to like here.  Give it a shot!