Hello everyone, welcome to our third installment of Tiny Terrors. So far, we have managed to survive Chucky being a diva and been introduced to Leprechaun's cousin, Jeffrey. So far, so good. I hope everyone managed to make it through so far in one piece.
We have made it to the installment that a few people have been waiting for. Welcome to Puppet Master Fridays!
As you all know, this has been a bit of an up and down week in terms of technology working properly for me. Originally this was to be the one that started it all. But Chucky somehow managed to derail that to take the spotlight. Wow, what a shocker.
So far, the Puppets have all been relatively quiet about that development. I mean Pinhead just keeps groaning and pointing at Chucky. Blade keeps dropping his jaw hissing while slashing with his knife hand. Guess Chucky managed to piss them off after all. Here's to hoping that World War Toy doesn't erupt from this...
This time it would be written by S. Craig Zahler, the director of Bone Tomahawk. This was the thing that began the train rolling on the reboot train. It continued to pick up steam as it was announced Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund would be directing the film. The hype for the film continued as the cast was announced - Thomas Lennon, Nelson Franklin, Barbara Crampton and Udo Kier would be playing Andre Toulon. This is a pretty huge cast for a relatively small film. Or at least I considered it to be a small film till I saw the budget, this thing was made for half the budget of all the other films put together. This thing is huge. Plus, it was the first film in the Fangoria Presents banner.
The hype for the film was at all time high for me. I was ready for it. I was ready to go in with an open mind. However, something happened once the film began. The nostalgia and love I have for the original series of films began to color my view of this installment. I found myself just taken aback as I kept comparing it to what came before. Ultimately, this led to me hating the film so much.
With some time passing, I took a deep breath as I sat down to watch it again for this look at the film. I was not going to let the nostalgia glasses effect my views of the film this time around.
The Littlest Reich begins with introducing our new Andre Toulon (Udo Kier). He's visiting a local Texas bar in 1989. He's attempting to engage the bartender in a relationship of sorts. Her partner does take some offense to this and Toulon expresses his disgust towards them. Clearly this is not the same Toulon that we are use to.
On their way home, the bartender and her lover are attacked by Toulon's puppets. A rookie cop follows Toulon back to his home and discovers his nefarious plans. Toulon is shot...
Then we are brought to present day, Edgar Easton (Thomas Lennon). Edgar is a man full of ambition. Full of hope...nah, he's a big old slacker that is getting over a divorce and had to move back home. He's a loser. But he's a loser that we can get behind and root for.
Edgar attempts to put his life back together and manages to reconnect with his childhood crush, Ashley (Jenny Pellicer). Somehow. Well, she's a bit damaged too. Edgar also has to deal with his boss, Markowitz (Nelson Franklin). Markowitz is a bit full of himself. Actually, he's very confident. Too much at times.
After searching through his younger brother, who recently passed, things and finds a puppet. It is this versions take on Blade. Edgar's search uncovers a convention celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Toulon Murders. Edgar, Ashley and Markowitz go to see what everything's about.
Once there, they meet the officer (Barbara Crampton) that had put Toulon down. However, it's not long after that a strange force begins to reanimate the Puppets causing all hell to break loose.
This is our basic story for the film. It's a good story. I mean, I know there would be some pressure to find a new take at the material. Puppet Master is something that does have a bit of a following. And it could have easily went downhill. However, it doesn't. It knows what kind of film the fans are looking for. The only big thing that did not necessarily click with me is seeing Toulon at the end. It felt so off. Especially considering he's turned into a zombie. It was a huge left turn for me.
The characters are all pretty great. Our main three (Edgar, Ashley and Markowitz) are ones that I found myself relating to. And therefore, I wanted to see them make it out safely. Though, the relationship between Ashley and Edgar felt a bit fast paced. But I chalked it up to it ultimately being partially a rebound. However, this is a Puppet Master film and that ain't going to happen. Another huge standout is the local hotel's bartender, Cuddly Bear (Skeeta Jenkins). This here was someone that as soon as he appeared on screen was awesome. I honestly don't know how else to describe Cuddly Bear. He's that great of a character.
The Puppets. This is an interesting topic for me. In the original series of films, these were the attraction. They still are to an extent. In The Littlest Reich, they have returned to their more evil roots. However with the change of them being Nazis, it takes that evil roots and multiplies them well past 100. They aren't the heroes. They will attack, kill and do whatever they damn well please to anybody. There are at least two moments where there are things that happen to children. And it helps show the difference in this new take and the old. Even when they were evil in the originals, they still had souls. Well besides when Torch torched the child in the second film.
In this film, we are shown a few of the iconic puppets that we do know. Blade, Tunneler, Torch and Pinhead. They are different and more grounded take on what they would be. Well, even with Blade, there are multiple versions of the Puppet. Like there are a lot of Puppets in this film. Besides the OG four, we get Happy Amphibian, a robot/drone, a jack in the box of death, and a little baby Hitler puppet. Each of these new puppets are interesting. They do represent the idea of Toulon as a Nazi well. And all of the Puppets get their moments to stand out.
When the Puppets get their moments to shine, it results in gore. Good lord are there lots of gore and lots of strong imagery. Again, there was one moment that when it happened - I was very surprised and disgusted by it. It's possibly the one time in the film that I thought they took it too far. And for those wondering, no it's not the scene with a guy getting head decapitated in bathroom. If you are looking for a film with gore. You will get it here.
The ending for the film was another area that I wasn't a fan of. Having Toulon return as a zombified self. It felt very much a call back to the second film perhaps. But overall, I was left with thinking Really..that's where we are going with this. And yeah, it also comes at the expense of Ashley. I wasn't thrilled with it. But it did help Edgar further his journey. But it left things open for a sequel.
To this day, we have not received one. I still holding out hope we will. Cause Z-Toulon takes his puppets and exits stage left. I want a sequel where we have Edgar go after Toulon. There is more to this story and where it could go. Would this film work as just a single one off? I guess.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
(Wish would have gotten a Nazi take on Six Shooter and Leech Woman. But maybe if there was a sequel. The ending felt like written into a corner a little bit.)
Here we are, we finished out week 1 of Tiny Terrors. Join me as I will be revisiting the original Child's Play on Monday.
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