Review: Puppet Master 4 (1993)

Directed: Jeff Burr

Starring: Gordon Currie, Chandra West, Ash Adams, Teresa Hill, Felton Perry, Stacie Randall and Guy Rolfe

Written: Charles Band, Douglas Aarniokoski, Steven E. Carr, Jo Duffy, Todd Henschell, Keith S. Payson and David Schmoeller

Anyone who loved Puppet Master 3 like me, should buckle in for disappointment town as we are making another time jump and another lore rewrite. Honestly while I was entertained by the forth in the series, I think it actually really did a number on my general liking of the series so far. Personally it feels like nothing matters as it's going to change even if they create something great. So with the shadow hanging over it all, what is Puppet Master 4 all about?

Demons.

Puppet Demons.

You see in another lore change, the secret of animating the puppets was actually stolen from demons. Now for some reason the demons want to wipe out anything related to this creation of life. This includes attacking scientists trying to figure out the secret to AI. Yep the world of Puppet Master is getting more and more convoluted.

Getting rid of the Nazi's as the main villain really means this movie needs to get new villains that hit it out of the park. Thanks to the convoluted plot the demons just seem, there. They never really captured my attention, nor did I really want to learn more. I'll give a partial credit to the lesser demons called totems. Their look was at least menacing.

So with plot and villain being a let down, how about the hero's? Well Andre Toulan while still played by Guy Rolfe is present, he is just a mere spirit cameo. The main hero is scientist Rick Myers played by Gordon Currie, and I can't begrudge that he brings a nice energy to the movie. While Toulan's absence is felt, Rick Myers at least manages to pick up and carry the movie somewhat. Everyone is adequate with Ash Adams being a sleazy secondary villain as Cameron, a 'friend' of Rick's who wants to steal his research into AI.

As for the puppets we know and love, they are just as good now as before. However the new puppets barring the totems are a bit of a let down. The main demon puppet just looks stupid and the newest puppet on the good puppets side just seems cheaper compared to the rest. But if you after the uniqueness of killer puppets then the movie still gives you that thrill.

Unfortunately this just can't live up to the third movie, but if you don't think about it too hard you can still have an okay time. There is still some passion behind the making of these movies but you can feel that the franchise is really starting to bend under the weight of all the added on lore.