Curse of the Puppet Master

Last updated
Curse of the Puppet Master
Curse-of-the-puppet-master-movie-poster-md.jpg
Film poster
Directed by David DeCoteau
Written byBenjamin Carr
David Schmoeller
Produced by Charles Band
Gordon Gustafson
Kirk Edward Hansen
Starring
CinematographyHoward Wexler
Edited by J. R. Bookwalter
Music byJeffrey Walton
Production
company
Distributed byMulticom Entertainment Group Inc.
Release date
  • May 26, 1998 (1998-05-26)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$250,000

Curse of the Puppet Master is a 1998 direct-to-video horror film written by Benjamin Carr and David Schmoeller, and directed by David DeCoteau. The sixth film in the Puppet Master franchise, [1] it stars George Peck as scientist Dr. Magrew, who experiments with transforming humans into puppets. [2]

Contents

Plot

The film begins at The House of Marvels, a doll museum, where Dr. Magrew, stuffs something into a crate, before driving into the woods and setting it on fire. The next morning, Magrew's daughter Jane, who has just returned home from college, asks her father about his assistant Matt. He tells her that Matt left because his father was ill. Driving into town, Magrew and Jane interrupt bully Joey Carp harassing Robert Winsley at a gas station. Jane finds a statue that Robert was carving, and Magrew offers Robert a job helping him with the Marvel show, which Robert accepts.

Returning home, they introduce Robert to Toulon's puppets, which are alive. Magrew says he tried to make a living puppet, but unsuccessfully, and asks Robert to help him carve the puppet. The next day, during the show, Sheriff Garvey and Deputy Wayburn tell Magrew that Matt is missing, and Magrew tells them he hasn’t seen him. Magrew gives Robert the blueprints for the puppet, instructing him to “put your soul into it". Robert begins carving and works non-stop.

One night, Robert has a nightmare that his legs have turned to wood. Later, Jane tries to distract him while working, causing him to cut himself. They flirt and end up kissing. That night, Robert has another nightmare that his entire body is wooden from the neck down. The next day, Jane and Robert drive to the woods, where they find the box that Magrew burnt at the beginning of the film.

Robert finds a carved wooden hand in the box. Meanwhile Jane walks off and encounters Joey and his friends, who sexually harass her. Robert arrives and defends Jane, but Joey threatens to rape her. Robert attacks Joey, but Jane pulls him away and they return to the house. Robert confesses that he felt a strange feeling while he was choking Joey, and Magrew tells him it was his violent inner self. Robert expresses fear that this self will appear again.

That night, Joey comes to the "House of Marvels" to beat Robert up, and decides to try again to rape Jane. Jane tells him to leave, and the doll Pinhead attacks Joey and chokes him, but Joey pulls him off and damages him. When Magrew and Robert arrive, Joey escapes. Magrew takes Blade and Tunneler to Joey's house and they kill him. Back at the house, Robert shows Jane that he fixed Pinhead, and they kiss. Returning, Magrew sees Robert coming out of Jane's room, and confronts her, becoming angry when she says she loves Robert, before leaving. Five days later, Jane finds Robert very sick. She asks her father to call the doctor, but he only pretends to. He then tricks Jane into leaving on a fool’s errand while he waits for the non-existent doctor to arrive. A medical examiner believes that Joey's death was intentional. Sheriff Garvey questions Joey's friend Art, who mentions seeing Joey with Jane in the woods. Sheriff Garvey and Deputy Wayburn go to question Magrew at the House of Marvels, but they are killed by the puppets as Magrew watches, laughing.

Jane discovers that her father has not ordered any new dolls for six months, and returns to the woods to examine the burned box. The puppet inside speaks to her in Matt’s voice. She realizes she has to save Robert, and returns to the House. At the house, Magrew puts Robert's soul into the puppet Tank, but the puppets attack him, angry that he killed Robert. Jane arrives to find her father bleeding to death, pointing at Tank, saying "I did it". Suddenly, the Tank puppet points its arm at Magrew and shoots him dead with a bolt of electricity. The film ends with Magrew screaming before death, and Jane screaming in horrified terror.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>Puppet Master</i> (film) 1989 American horror film by David Schmoeller

Puppet Master is a 1989 American horror film written by Charles Band and Kenneth J. Hall, and directed by David Schmoeller. The film stars Paul Le Mat, Irene Miracle, Matt Roe and Kathryn O'Reilly as psychics who are plotted against by a former colleague, using puppets animated by an Egyptian spell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puppet Master (Marvel Comics)</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

The Puppet Master is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

<i>Ernest Scared Stupid</i> 1991 American comedy horror film by John Cherry

Ernest Scared Stupid is a 1991 American comedy horror film directed by John Cherry and starring Jim Varney. It is the fifth film to feature the character Ernest P. Worrell, and the fourth film in the Ernest series. In the film, Ernest unwittingly unleashes an evil troll upon a small town on Halloween night and helps the local children fight back. It was shot in Nashville, Tennessee like its predecessors Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam, Ernest Goes to Camp, Ernest Saves Christmas, and Ernest Goes to Jail.

<i>Red Riding Hood</i> (2006 film) 2006 American film

Red Riding Hood is a 2006 American fantasy musical film starring Morgan Thompson as "Red", Henry Cavill as "the Hunter", and Joey Fatone as "the Wolf".

<i>Puppet Master II</i> 1991 US horror film directed by David W. Allen

Puppet Master II is a 1990 direct-to-video horror film written by David Pabian and directed by Dave Allen. It is the second film in the Puppet Master franchise, the sequel to 1989's Puppet Master, and stars Elizabeth Maclellan, Gregory Webb, Charlie Spradling, Jeff Weston and Nita Talbot as paranormal investigators who are terrorized by the animate creations of an undead puppeteer, played by Steve Welles.

<i>Puppet Master III: Toulons Revenge</i> 1991 American film directed by David DeCoteau

Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge is a 1991 direct-to-video horror film written by Charles Band, C. Courtney Joyner and David Schmoeller, and directed by David DeCoteau. It is the third film in the Puppet Master franchise, a prequel to 1989's Puppet Master and 1990's Puppet Master II, and stars Guy Rolfe as a puppeteer whose ability to animate lifeless material attracts the attention of the Nazis, whose members are played by Richard Lynch, Ian Abercrombie, and Walter Gotell.

<i>Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter</i> 1994 American film

Puppet Master 5 is a 1994 direct-to-video horror film written by Charles Band among others, and directed by Jeff Burr. It is the fifth film in the Puppet Master franchise, the sequel to 1993's Puppet Master 4, and stars Gordon Currie as the series' third Puppet Master, and Ian Ogilvy, his colleague, whose attempts to salvage the animated puppets of André Toulon from the Bodega Bay Inn are foiled by a demon.

<i>Retro Puppet Master</i> 1999 American film

Retro Puppet Master is a 1999 American direct-to-video horror film written by Charles Band, Benjamin Carr and David Schmoeller, and directed by David DeCoteau. It is the seventh film in the Puppet Master franchise, a prequel to 1991's Toulon's Revenge, and stars Greg Sestero as a young André Toulon, Jack Donner as an Egyptian responsible for teaching Toulon how to animate his puppets, and Stephen Blackehart, Robert Radoveanu and Vitalie Bantas as demons who pursue Toulon for his magic.

<i>Puppet Master: The Legacy</i> 2003 American film

Puppet Master: The Legacy is a 2003 direct-to-DVD horror film written by C. Courtney Joyner and David Schmoeller, and directed by Charles Band. It is the eighth installment in the Puppet Master franchise, the sequel to 1994's Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter, and stars Jacob Witkin as an elderly Peter Hertz and Kate Orsini as a mercenary hired to confront Hertz for information regarding the magic puppeteer André Toulon used to animate his puppets.

<i>Hells Kitchen</i> (1939 film) 1939 thriller film

Hell's Kitchen is a 1939 thriller Warner Bros. film starring The Dead End Kids and Ronald Reagan.

<i>Maneater</i> (2007 film) 2007 horror film directed by Gary Yates

Maneater is a 2007 American television natural horror film directed by Gary Yates and produced by RHI Entertainment, starring Gary Busey, Ty Wood, and Ian D. Clark. The film aired on various video on demand channels, before officially premiering in the United States on the Syfy Channel on September 8, 2007. This film lends its name to the film series to which it belongs and is the third film in the series. Filmed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the film is produced under an agreement with Syfy. Based on Jack Warner's novel Shikar, the film details the killing spree of an escaped Bengal tiger after it gets loose in a small town along the Appalachian Trail. Trying to stop it are Sheriff Barnes (Busey) and big game hunter Colonel Graham (Clark), while a young boy named Roy (Wood) who has a strange connection to the tiger, tries to save it. It is the 4th film in the Maneater Series.

<i>The Brotherhood of Satan</i> 1971 film by Bernard McEveety

The Brotherhood of Satan is a 1971 American supernatural horror film directed by Bernard McEveety, written by L. Q. Jones, and starring Jones, Alvy Moore, Strother Martin, and Ahna Capri. It follows a man who, while traveling through the American Southwest with his young daughter and girlfriend, encounter a small town where a coven of Satanists are kidnapping the local children to transfer their souls into their bodies.

<i>Puppet Master</i> (film series) American horror film series

Puppet Master is an American horror film series which focuses on a group of anthropomorphic puppets animated by an Egyptian spell, each equipped with its own unique and dangerous device and are represented as heroes, antiheroes and antagonists. The franchise was created by Charles Band and Kenneth J. Hall. The series consists of 15 films, 11 mainline, one crossover, a reboot and two spin-offs. The sixteenth film and third spin-off titled "Puppet Master: Furnace Leech Woman" began filming in Cleveland, Ohio in May 2023.

<i>Puppet Master: Axis of Evil</i> 2010 American film

Puppet Master: Axis of Evil is a 2010 American action horror film directed by David DeCoteau, it is the ninth official entry into the Puppet Master series of horror films.

<i>Puppet Master</i> (Eternity Comics) Limited comic book series based on the films

Puppet Master is a limited comic book series based on the horror film franchise of the same name and published by Eternity Comics And Full Moon Entertainment.

<i>Puppet Master X: Axis Rising</i> 2012 American horror film

Puppet Master X: Axis Rising is a 2012 American action horror film and is the tenth entry in the Puppet Master film series. Produced and directed by Charles Band, it is a direct sequel to 2010's Puppet Master: Axis of Evil and introduces new puppets named Blitzkrieg, Bombshell, Kamikaze, and Weremacht, who fight alongside the Nazis. Puppet Master X: Axis Rising was released on October 9, 2012 by Full Moon Features.

"Selfless, Brave and True" is the 18th episode of the second season of the American ABC fantasy/drama television series Once Upon a Time, and the show's 40th episode overall. It aired on March 24, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nica Pierce</span> Fictional character in the Childs Play franchise

Nica Pierce is a fictional character in the Child's Play franchise. She was created by Don Mancini and is portrayed by Fiona Dourif. She is the protagonist in two of the seven films, first appearing in Curse of Chucky (2013) and subsequently in Cult of Chucky (2017). She is also featured in the USA Network and Syfy produced Chucky television series.

References

  1. Liebman, Martin (August 4, 2017). "Curse of the Puppet Master Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  2. Brehmer, Nat (2021). Puppet Master Complete: A Franchise History. McFarland & Company. p. 120. ISBN   9781476645193.