Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge (1991) (V)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

David DeCoteau

Writers:

Charles Band (story)
C. Courtney Joyner (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

When good puppets go bad

Plot:

Set in Berlin during WWII, the Nazi regime is attempting to develop a drug that will animate the dead...

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Puppet | Puppeteer | Puppet Master | Nazi Zombies

Cast

Guy Rolfe	...	Andre Toulon
Richard Lynch	...	Major Krauss
Ian Abercrombie	...	Dr. Hess
Kristopher Logan	...	Lt. Eric Stein
Aron Eisenberg	...	Peter Hertz
Walter Gotell	...	General Mueller
Sarah Douglas	...	Elsa Toulon
Matthew Faison	...	Hertz
Michelle Bauer	...	Lili
Jasmine Touschek	...	Prostitute
Eduard Will	...	Soldier on Stage
John Regis	...	Morgue Attendant
Neal Parrow	...	Young Driver
Kenneth Cortland	...	Pharmacy Soldier
Lenny Rose	...	Airport Agent

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and sensuality.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Germany:18 (SPIO/JK) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | UK:18 | USA:R | Australia:MA (TV rating) | Iceland:(Banned) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Full Moon Entertainment

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the general is killed by six shooter, you can see the cameraman.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Creeps (1997)

Fun "historic" war-time Puppet Master tale

The third "Puppet Master" movie is a prequel to the original two movies, showing events occurring in war-time Germany involving Andre Toulon, his wife Elsa and his band of merry wooden men (the puppets not the actors). This time, we see what happens when "Good Puppets Go Bad" as the ensemble of 12" killer characters seek revenge against the Nazis.

"Puppet Master III - Toulon's Revenge" is another building block in the series' mythology, filling in some of the back-story of the main protagonists. There's a continuity error with the timeframe, however, as this film is set in 1941 and, in the original, Toulon committed suicide in 1939! As expected, this is a really fun movie - the film's cast includes the late Walter Gotell as the Nazi general who commands his men with an iron fist but who also has a soft-spot for the local brothel. Gotell's best known for playing the Russian equivalent of "M" in numerous Bond movies. Sarah Douglas who plays Elsa Toulon will be familiar to genre fans as the evil Ursa from "Superman" and "Superman II". Guy Rolfe (Toulon), Richard Lynch (Major Krauss) and Ian Abercrombie (Doctor Hess) also deliver strong performances.

I was surprised at how high budget this film looks. Due to the season in which the film was made, the director settled on filming the external shots over 3 days on the Universal backlot rather than shoot on location in Europe. The results are impressively convincing.

My only complaint was that on the DVD I watched, the Ultra-Stereo soundtrack mixing had a heavy bias to the left channel.

"Puppet Master 3" is something of a rarity thesedays but it's well worth tracking down if you're a fan of the series.