Puppet Master II (1990)

Directed by David Allen [Other horror films: Ragewar (1984)]

This is a somewhat difficult sequel to compare to the first movie. While I definitely found the finale of the first movie a more enjoyable affair than what this one had to offer, as a movie overall, I tend to think that this moves at a better pace. Both are likely equivalent, though, and I’d probably say this one is around average.

For the most part, that story isn’t too shabby. Andre Toulon is resurrected by his creations (specifically Blade, Pinhead, Jester, Leech Woman, and Tunneler) while the Bodega Bay Inn has more visitors attempting to research what drove Paul Le Mat’s character mad in the first film. I am glad they attempted to connect this to the first movie, though there is a dating issue – Toulon is shown to kill himself in 1939 in the opening to the first film, whereas his tombstone in this movie reads ‘1941.’ Could be a simple in-universe mistake, but it’s worth pointing out.

Also interesting, we get a new puppet in this film (after losing Kahn, who didn’t get much focus in the last movie, but had a memorable look) in the form of Torch. Torch is among one of my favorite puppets, and along with Pinhead, Tunneler, Jester, and especially Blade, there’s a strong puppet cast in this one (I never cared for Leech Woman, and she doesn’t have a whole lot to do in this movie, but she is here too). I do think the stop motion effects look decent, and as always, it’s fun to see the puppets have fun.

I think where my main hang-up with this film lies is in Toulon’s character. After being resurrected, he grows attached to one of the characters (played by Elizabeth Maclellan), who he thinks is his late wife reincarnated. Because of that, he sort of ignores the well-being of his puppets, and I have to admit to feeling bad for the little fellas. I’d just hope his character would care more about his creations than cling on to a past love (Toulon seemed rather close to the puppets in the intro to the first film), but at the same time, after being dead for 50 years, I can imagine his personality could change some.

And to be sure, the finale did have a creepy moment or two, as he tries to transfer both his soul and the soul of Maclellan’s character into life-size puppets. Admittedly, the final scene of the film was a lot less pleasing, but if I recall, that’s not followed up on in any of the sequels, so I can survive a bad ending if I need to.

Elizabeth Maclellan makes for a fair lead, and while I couldn’t much care for her growing relationship with Collin Bernsen’s character, I did like her brother, played by Greg Webb. Steve Welles did decent, rocking a Claude Rains look to him, and has some solid dialogue. Jeff Celentano and Charlie Spradling (To Sleep with a Vampire, Meridian, Mirror Mirror) didn’t have quite as much involvement as I was hoping, nor did Nita Talbot (Frightmare, Island Claws), but George ‘Buck’ Flower (Drive In Massacre, Pumpkinhead, Cheerleader Camp) was fun to see in a single scene.

Most of the kills aren’t great here, though it was always fun to see Torch light people on fire. Blade did some occasional slicing, which was welcomed, and naturally, Pinhead attempted to strangle people here and there, but the finale of the first movie had a pretty epic scene, and there’s nothing here that even comes close to matching it.

I think this movie is about as enjoyable as the first one is, though for different reasons. To be honest, though I’d seen this once before, it’s been a while, and was personally hoping for a bit more bang for my buck. It doesn’t feel quite as special, though, and the story isn’t really exactly A+ material, but the movie has better pacing than the first one, and I think it’s probably worth seeing if you also enjoyed the first entry in the series.

7/10