Summary:
Recently divorced and reeling, Edgar returns to his childhood home to regroup his life. When Edgar finds a nefarious looking puppet in his deceased brother’s room, he decides to sell the doll for some quick cash. Girl-next-door Ashley and comic book pal Markowitz join Edgar for a doomed road trip to an auction at a convention celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the infamous Toulon Murders. All hell breaks loose when a strange force animates the puppets at the convention, setting them on a bloody killing spree that’s motivated by an evil as old as time.
Review:
Plot- 8/10:
The Littlest Reich had a plot that wasn’t complex by any means, but I didn’t find it boring. Ultimately, I wanted to see a bunch of puppets killing people, and that’s what I got. One knock could be the lack of character development. Most of the characters were introduced and quickly killed off. Not a huge problem for me. The story was also quite offensive. Some folks won’t enjoy the more offensive bits, but they really shouldn’t be surprised. It is a movie about murderous Nazi puppets, after all. I appreciated their take on Andre Toulon in the beginning of the film.
Acting- 7.5/10:
Most of the acting here was average, but I gave a higher score merely for Thomas Lennon’s performance. Lennon is a borderline comic icon, and his deadpan delivery created a comedic element that worked really well. The rest of the cast held up just fine, nothing spectacular or horrid to report.
Special Effects- 9/10:
The effects here were the real star of the movie. The different puppets came to life and the creature effects were executed extremely well. The kills in the movie were fantastic, with bucket loads of blood and gore. It’s always a pleasure to see practical effects in lieu of CGI. In sticking with the Charles Band/Full moon tradition, these practical effects were top notch.
Atmosphere- 6/10:
While not overly terrifying, I do think the atmosphere of the film was fine. The gore kept you on edge and wanting more, and you could sense the feeling of dread in the characters as they awaited their untimely demise. This probably won’t give anyone nightmares, but I do think the crew did a great job preserving the key elements of the original Full Moon Features franchise, all the while making it their own production.
Conclusion- 7.9/10:
All in all, I had great fun with Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich. As a great fan of the original series, I was super excited to learn of this reboot, and was not disappointed. The deadpan humor of Thomas Lennon, and the gore-soaked puppet slaughter added up to an incredibly entertaining viewing. Scenes of visceral puppet slaughter were just what the doctor ordered. I’m anxious to see where the series goes from here.
IMDb – 5.8/10
BloodSoaked13 – 7.9/10
