Puppet Master: Axis of Evil

Puppet Master: Axis of Evil is the 10th instalment in the Puppet Master franchise (the 9th if you only include those made by Charles Band's Full Moon Features production company) which dates back to 1969 with the original Puppet Master. For some reason, I'm not exactly sure why, this is one of the many titles and franchises that has completely passed me by so I went into this film without having seen any of the other Puppet Master films and so was able to judge it on its own merits rather than comparing it to the other films in the franchise.

The film begins in 1939 where Danny Coogan is a working at the Bodega Bay Inn (which looks more like a huge hotel when a simple bed and breakfast) fixing furniture for his Uncle Len. Danny is desperate to join the war effort but, because he had polio as a child, has been classified 4F and will, much to his dismay and anger, not be called on to go and kill Japs or Krauts. Danny's brother Don is due to be shipped out in a week and so plans are made for him to return home to stay with his mother whilst Don is away.

Before he leaves, Danny wants to see if he can help an elderly German guest, Andre Toulon, a widower whose wife was killed by the Nazis who were desperate to get their hands on his secret formula that enables his puppets to come to life and behave semi-autonomously. Whilst Danny is on the way to Toulon's room, he hears a gunshot and sees two young men -- Nazi spies -- leaving the room, one of whom barges into Danny, knocking him to the floor. When Danny enters the room, he finds Toulon dead from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, hoping to take his secrets to the grave. However, Danny had befriended the old man and was fascinated by his puppets and knew the secret location where the trunk containing the stringless marionettes was stashed.

Arriving home with the trunk and still expressing his desire to go overseas and fight with his countrymen, his mother is glad to see him back and doesn't want to leave as it is hard enough seen one of her sons go into harm's way. Fortunately for Danny, the girl on whom he has a long-standing crush, Beth, is still attached and appears to have the same feelings for him. He tells her all about the puppets and what a genius Toulon was but she doesn't believe him because the puppets are distinctly still.

Eventually, Danny figures out how to make the puppets come to life just as he stumbles on a nefarious plot by the two Nazi spies and a shadowy Japanese woman and her henchmen who plan to team up and blow up the bomb factory in the town, crippling the American war effort. This is extremely personal to Danny as Beth works at the factory and, just as with the puppets, Danny knows he will have an extremely hard time getting anyone to believe him and therefore decides to take matters into his own hands.


Although I haven't seen a single Puppet Master film, I was surprised at just how easy this was to follow as it works as a stand-alone film so you don't need any knowledge of the franchise in order to follow the events in this movie. If you have any understanding of 20th century world events then you may be slightly puzzled as to why Don is 'shipping out' and why Danny is so desperate to go overseas and kill Germans and Japanese when the war, for the Americans at least, won't begin for over two years! That quibble aside, the film doesn't really take things too seriously as it really is a story about how Danny will become the new Puppet Master, controlling the collection of deadly marionettes and how he will fare in the next film -- the ending leaves you in no doubt that another instalment in the franchise is on its way.

Puppet Master: Axis of Evil about how Danny will foil the saboteurs and get the girl whilst mastering the puppets and ensuring that his brother still sees action when he, and their mother, are killed by the Nazi saboteurs. Because of the Don's ability to sneak up on Danny, fancying himself as a silent assassin, there is a new puppet in this film: Ninja who joins the other eight in Toulon's box of tricks.

This film is far from the greatest you will ever see with some appalling expository dialogue in which a character will enter a room and, in full Basil Exposition mode, explain what has taken place whilst you have been watching something else and what is about to unfold. It is also directed with no great sense of pace or tension and I never once felt that Danny or Beth were in any great danger or that the saboteurs had the slightest chance of pulling off their master plan. Forgive the pun, but the acting is as wooden as the puppets with most of the cast displaying thespian talents that would be more at home in a community theatre outfit that in a feature film.


Something I've learned from watching numerous low budget or far from great movies is it is always a bad idea to reference films that are better than yours and this one includes Rollo Tomasi as the name of a spy that the German saboteurs are after (Rollo Tomassi is the name of the non-existent criminal from L.A. Confidential) and there is a scene with a syringe of fluorescent green liquid, similar to that in Re-Animator. By referencing those films it only draws attention to how inferior this is compared to those, especially the Oscar-winning L.A. Confidential.

That being said, the film is eminently watchable and is one of those where you can virtually disengage your brain after pressing play and just watch it as a film to fairly pleasantly pass the time or continue the franchise if you are a fan of the Puppet Master series. There are plenty of moments where you will find yourself laughing at the film rather than with it but this is perhaps something intentional by writers Charles Band and August White along with director David DeCoteau, a man without any great pedigree as a director but who did helm Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge in 1991.


The Disc

Extra Features
No Strings Attached (7:19) is a look behind the scenes of the original Puppet Master containing interviews with director David Schmoeller and the guys who operate the puppets and are responsible for the special effects. I'm not quite sure this is included rather than one made on the set of Puppet Master: Axis of Evil but I imagine nothing has really changed in the 40-odd years since the first film was released.

The only other special feature is the trailer for the original Puppet Master film.


The Picture
The anamorphic 2.35:1 picture is decent enough without the detail levels and deep contrast and vibrant colours that a more expensive and accomplished release would contain. It is fairly well shot and the edits that allow the puppets to independently get up and walk up well done so you don't see the human involvement in proceedings.

It looks like a fairly low budget film with only a few locations and the majority of scenes shot on the set so you don't have the expense or complications that come with shooting outside. There are only a handful of gore effects but these are done fairly well and could have looked extremely silly and cheap.


The Sound
The disc has Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo and I started off with the 5.1 track before quickly switching over to the stereo as the 5.1 option is very badly mixed, using the front surrounds instead of the centre speaker and really just filtering the 2-channel sound through the five speakers and not troubling the subwoofer at all.

Fortunately, the stereo option clear, presenting the dialogue and atmospherics very well whilst not allowing those to be troubled by the reasonable score by Charles Band.


Final Thoughts
I am in no position to comment on the quality of Axis of Evil against the others in the Puppet Master franchise but can say that I found this to be fairly cheap-looking, badly acted and written without a great sense of urgency and with much too much attention on exposition than driving the plot forward. It is by no means a terrible film but it is no great work of art either. If you are a fan of the franchise then you are likely to check this one out either by a rental or a purchase -- the prices online aren't extortionate but I wouldn't recommend this as a blind buy due to the quality of the film and paucity of extra features.