The Puppet Master series started back in the 80's and initially was watchable campy stuff but quickly spiraled out of control. They went from horror to comedy horror to barely even comedy and the Axis Trilogy that rounded it off was just cringe worthy.
Hearing that the franchise was getting rebooted I was skeptical, I hate reboots and after how embarrassing Puppet Master had gotten I figured it should just be another franchise that should be left to die. When I heard that Full Moon weren't making it however, my curiosity peaked. What could a new studio do with a Full Moon franchise?
Well, apparently quite a bit as I'm very impressed. The Littlest Reich is a different creature altogether and though clearly a Puppet Master film has been overhauled and entirely in a good way.
Starring the excellent Thomas "Reno 911" Lennon, horror legend Udo Kier and Michael Pare I'm not sure why it's been labelled a comedy horror as this is played straight and the comedy/campiness seems to have been sent out to pasture.
It tells the story of an Andre Toulon event where people worldwide have traveled to a convention to sell their Toulon puppets for big bucks. But you know the drill, the puppets burst to life and carnage ensues.
Make no mistake the puppets aren't the cutesy good guys here like they've been in a lot of the Puppet Master movies and they're are a lot more of them as well. Despite adding a lot of new puppets and lore it does still stay true, you'll see plenty of familiar faces and though overhauled drastically it does have the Puppet Master charm.
Because this isn't made by Full Moon it's a different SFX team, therefore the naff puppet effects are gone and that's oddly refreshing.
Regarding the content, it's merciless. This is a gory horror film and a really fun one at that. Again there is no comedy/campiness that fans of the series will expect, but that works in its favor.
Sure it's got its flaws and it badly needs a sequel, but The Littlest Reich has breathed new life into a stale franchise and I do hope they continue it.
The Good:
Decent deaths
First fresh feeling Puppet Master in decades
The Bad:
One death was a tad, edgy
Poor sound editing
Couple of really poor cinematography moments
