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10 out of 10 people found the following review useful: 1950s Horror Rules!, 25 May 2001 Author: ronnie from United States
Yet another minor classic from the 1950s has been released in a pristine B & W print to DVD for posterity and fans' delight. I recall the television print being yellowed and water-marked, but not here, in its crystal clarity, and sharp sound. John Hoyt is excellent as a once-jilted European dollmaker who has devised a machine that can shrink animals and humans to about one-sixth their size. When his current secretary/receptionist June Kenny decides to quit to marry John Agar, his loneliness gets the better of him, and they are victimized, along with previous unfortunates. Great rock music is worked into the plot, and they are terrified by a giant rat, cat and dog. Adolph Glasser's music is robust and amplified, the technical effects by the director Bert Gordon well-done for the time (his daughter Susan Gordon plays the little blonde girl). Kenny is a lovely, blue-eyed, shapely blonde, who was "Teen-Age Doll" (1957), while Agar has his best moments in an un-nerving puppet show scene with a Dr. Jekyll character. Included in the cast is Laurie Mitchell, the "Queen of Outer Space" (1958), giving a good performance as do the others. Toward the latter part of the decade, nothing was too wild to hit this lucrative market, and this engaging picture stands up to the test of time.
11 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Nicely handled by all concerned., 7 March 2003 Author: bruce-j-patience from Melbourne, Australia
Reasonably entertaining entry into the 50s sci fi/horror genre.Star John Hoyt was always interesting to watch (check out his brief but commanding performance as antique shop proprietor Nils Dryer in "The Big Combo").The basic theme of this film had, in fact, already been tried out the year before in the vastly superior "Incredible Shrinking Man". However, the 'puppet twist' (good name for a song!) was certainly an original touch.Co-star John Agar is smoothly competent and does his best against the odds.Strictly for those whose tastes lean towards the ultra-cheesy variety of midnight movie fare.
9 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Typical Bert I. Gordon fare, 8 July 2003 Author: rosscinema (rosscinema@cox.net) from Oceanside, Ca.
This was your typical low (I mean low!) budget sci-fi film and the film really doesn't build to an exciting climax. The story starts with a pretty young woman named Sally (June Kenney) who applies for an office job at a small company that makes dolls. She is hired by the kindly owner Mr. Franz (John Hoyt) who keeps losing his office workers. While working for Franz she meets a business associate named Bob Westley (John Agar) and of course he is smitten by her immediately and it doesn't take long for them to start dating and eventually he proposes and wants her to move to St. Louis with him. Franz discovers this and Bob disappears. Sally thinks he is making people into dolls and she goes to the cops and talks to Sgt. Paterson (Jack Kosslyn) who is interested because others have disappeared who been in contact with Franz. Finally Franz gets Sally alone and "Poof"! She wakes up and she's shrunken! Franz brings out Bob and a bunch of others that he has shrunk. Franz is able to shrink people with a machine that uses audio waves to break things down into energy matter. Franz is a lonely old man and he wants company! This film was directed by veteran Bert I. Gordon who would end up directing one of my favorite films of all time "Village of the Giants". Gordon usually made his films about people either growing or shrinking. Hoyt gives a convincing performance as Franz and if he's not just irritating then he's aggravating but thats what you would come to expect from an old kook. Kenney is very attractive and its easy to see why she was used in several of these types of films. Agar had already begun his slump into "Z" movie stardom and its very amusing to watch him get angry and tear apart the marionette. The film has an ending that is somewhat inconclusive but maybe Gordon wanted it that way just in case! Very silly film has lousy special effects but thats the charm to these movies. Several of the actors from "Earth vs. The Spider" appear in this film as Gordon liked using actors that he was comfortable with. Gordon's daughter Susan appears as the little blond girl. If you love these cheap sci-fi films of the 50's like I do, then you want to check this out!
10 out of 11 people found the following review useful: Little Things Mean a Lot, 24 December 2004 Author: BaronBl00d (baronbl00d@aol.com) from NC
What should you do if your wife leaves you for another man? John Hoyt, playing a German puppeteer, decides that he will devise some incredibly complex scientific device that miniaturizes the people he likes so they will never again leave him. Director/producer Bert I. Gordon does it again; he creates a film with a pretty ridiculous script, interesting if not always impressive special effects, and an entertaining film notwithstanding. The film starts out with many puppets already "made" and then shows how Hoyt creates some, interacts with some, how some try to escape and so on... Much of the film is used to let Gordon showcase his effects as the little people are surrounded by large objects. One little person even gets to sing a hip rock song. Hmmm...okay. Ultimately I liked Attack of the Puppet People. It doesn't have the greatest story or acting or effects, but it has heart. It is an inferior film in every way to the impressive Dr. Cyclops made with Albert Dekker the previous decade. Hoyt gives a heartfelt and tired performance. John Agar plays the man who has fallen in love with Hoyt's newest blonde bombshell secretary. He literally has a short fuse! The other actors are competent if nothing else. For me the most fun scene is that with the little girl, played by Gordon's real life daughter Susan, comes into to get her doll fixed and finds a matchbox. Another Mr. BIG production that is fun.
6 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Pure fun! An excellent 50s sci-fi classic!, 6 November 1999 Author: Casey-52 from DVD Drive-In
This is the only review for this film? Well I better milk it for everything it's worth! This movie is truly one of the best 50s sci-fi movies. Bert I. Gordon does it again; he really did his best work in the 50s. The story is quite simple: a dollmaker shrinks people so he can keep the people he loves close to him. The effects are above average considering the age of the film and the acting is pretty good. But what do you really look for in a 50s sci-fi movie? Special effects and monsters, of course. Now monsters aren't present (unless you count a giant cat and a giant rat), but the special effects are great! The best scene: John Agar and June Kenney are forced to be a part of a puppet show, Agar gets annoyed and beats his marionette "co-star" to a pulp!
3 out of 3 people found the following review useful: A strange little film, 12 August 2006 Author: mbryanbook from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I remember seeing this odd little movie as a kid and enjoying it, I guess because of the puppetry and "little people" angle, which has always fascinated me. After seeing it several times since, I still like it. It's nothing profound, but the sets for the "dolls" were pretty good for the time. The title is just Hollywood talking -- it doesn't make any sense because the little people aren't puppets and they don't attack. I don't think Mr. Franz, played by John Hoyt, is an evil man at heart, just driven to do what he does by his extreme loneliness, which in the end destroys his moral judgment. This is an old movie in my collection I'll watch from time to time for nostalgic value and continue to enjoy.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Not bad for its kind,but that ending......, 6 September 2008 Author: garyb04 from United States
I rented this movie through Netlflix the other day and I must say,I was disappointed in the ending.Should I expect so much from a low budget movie from the 50's made my Bert I. Gordon?? I think so.I enjoyed the movie for the most part,but I did wonder why after the first 4 people was out of their tube in the beginning that they were happy about their situation,then turn around later and want to escape.What made them change their minds??? I did like The Amazing Colossal Man and Village of the Giants(from seeing them on TV way back then to Mystery Science Theater 3000).They were guilty pleasures and still are.What made me upset or disappointed(depending on how you look at it)was that John Agar and June Kenny didn't shrink the old man,put him in one of those tubes and take him to the police.Too predictable,perhaps?? They just left him there while they went to go get the police.Plus,what happened to the other 4 people?? Making too much out of it?? Maybe,but there's no payoff,right??? Didn't they think the old man would run off or maybe shrink some more people while they were gone?? Anyway,I liked the movie,but thought the ending was weak...Thank you! I'm outta here!!
3 out of 4 people found the following review useful: A clever way to keep your friends close., 15 March 2008 Author: lastliberal from Florida
Now, this is a strange little man. Mr Franz (John Hoyt) makes dolls. But, in addition to his regular dolls, he has some very special ones that look oh so realistic.Left by his wife for an acrobat, Franz has found a way that one one he loves will ever leave again.Sally Reynolds (June Kenney), his new secretary found out the hard way that Franz can't bear to part with those he loves.But, the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, and so do the plans of Mr Franz as Bob (John Agar) save the day and his love.A strange film.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Blueprint for LAND OF THE GIANTS, 24 March 2008 Author: LCShackley from United States
It's hard to begin to describe all the faults of this movie. The wooden dialog, perhaps? Or the wooden actors? Or the plot, which might have made a good 30-minute TWILIGHT ZONE but overstays its welcome in feature format? The subplot with Franz's old friend, and the long theater scene near the end, should have ended up on the cutting room floor.Part of the weakness is the handling of the villain. The director can't seem to figure out if he wants us to be afraid of him, or feel sorry for him. The closing shot would argue for the latter. But the puppet master is obviously a twisted, manipulative individual. John Hoyt never really gives us that feeling. He might as well be Geppetto, for how frightening he comes across. Most of his victims seem not to care about their fate, which also reduces the fear factor.The music is trite, with overblown stingers in the first 15-20 minutes every time we see a "puppet person," and restless churning in later action scenes. The special effect shots are amateurish and ineffective; perhaps in 1958, they would have caused a gasp or two. And good old Bert Gordon once again inserts an ad for his other big movie (COLOSSAL MAN). He did the same thing in EARTH VS THE SPIDER.What struck me the most was how this film, more than SHRINKING MAN, became the blueprint for Irwin Allen's LAND OF THE GIANTS. We have the mixed array of tiny people, trying to communicate on over-sized phones, sliding down power cords and shimmying up desk drawers, and running across giant floors (shot from a crane). Then of course they have to contend with giant rats, cats, and automobiles. You can almost see the light turn on over Irwin's head as he watches.I'm a fan of corny 50s and 60s science fiction flicks, but this one has little to recommend it, even in the schlock department. Beware: it may shrink your brain, or at least your attention span.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Small World, 15 March 2008 Author: wesconnorsehny from Earth
Lonely doll-maker John Hoyt (as Mr. Franz) hires pretty June Kenney (as Sally Reynolds) as secretary at his "Dolls Inc", where he fashions and fixes puppetry. In short order, Ms. Kenney hooks up with salesman John Agar (as Bob Westley). Then, Kenney learns Mr. Hoyt's previous secretary has mysteriously disappeared, along with a mailman (they didn't elope). Soon, Mr. Agar joins the missing persons list. When an Agar doll turns up among Hoyt's creations, Kenney freaks. Could the odd "Mr. Franz" be, in reality, a mad scientist? Could he be turning people into dolls? Is Kenney next? A very small budget, and likely short production time keeps "Attack of the Puppet People" from becoming something bigger. Still, the direction (Bert I. Gordon) and story situations keep things moving along; a "drive-in" movie and silly theme song are pleasant diversions. The film's main asset is the lead performance of the smooth talking John Hoyt as the obviously touched, but slightly touching, "Mr. Franz". My contribution to the movie's unanswered questions is, "What about the other doll people in the plastic tubes?" **** Attack of the Puppet People (1958) Bert I. Gordon ~ John Hoyt, John Agar, June Kenney
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