Curse of the Puppet Master is a 1998 horror film about a scientist attempting to transfer people’s souls into puppets. It is the sixth film in the Puppet Master franchise. While Puppet Master 5 was intended to be the final instalment of the series four years earlier, Curse of the Puppet Master (which borrows quite heavily from the excellent 1973 eco-
film Sssssss) promptly revived the series.
The movie was directed by David DeCoteau from a screenplay by Benjamin Carr and David Schmoeller.
The production stars George Peck, Emily Harrison and Josh Green.
Plot [contains spoilers]:
The story begins at The House of Marvels, a travelling doll museum operated by Doctor Magrew. He is secretly conducting experiments involving the living puppets and is obsessed with discovering how to create a human-like puppet himself. The film opens with Magrew taking a mysterious crate into the woods and setting it on fire, while screams can be heard from inside.
Magrew’s daughter Jane returns from college and begins asking about her father’s missing assistant, Matt. Magrew claims Matt has simply left town. Shortly afterwards, Magrew and Jane meet Robert “Tank” Winsley, a gentle, physically imposing young man who works at a petrol station and has an exceptional talent for wood carving. Impressed by his ability, Magrew offers Robert a job.
Robert is astonished when he discovers that Magrew possesses Toulon’s living puppets, including Blade, Pinhead, Tunneler and Six Shooter. Magrew explains that he has repeatedly tried to create a living puppet but has failed. He believes the secret is somehow connected to the human soul, telling Robert that to bring the puppet to life, he must essentially “put his soul into it”.
Robert begins carving Magrew’s new puppet, which he eventually names Tank. As he becomes increasingly consumed by the work, he starts having disturbing nightmares in which his own body gradually turns into wood. At the same time, Robert and Jane fall in love, much to Magrew’s displeasure.
Things become increasingly sinister when Jane and Robert discover the remains of the crate Magrew burned in the woods. Inside is a wooden hand, suggesting that Magrew’s previous experiments have involved actual human beings.
Meanwhile, a local bully named Joey Carp repeatedly harasses Jane. When Joey threatens her, Robert violently attacks him and is disturbed by how much pleasure and power he feels during the assault. Magrew encourages Robert to regard this violent instinct as his “inner self”.
Joey later returns to the House of Marvels and attacks Jane. Pinhead intervenes, but Joey manages to escape. Magrew then sends Blade and Tunneler to Joey’s home, where they murder him. The local sheriff begins investigating Joey’s death, as well as the disappearance of Magrew’s assistant Matt.
Jane gradually becomes suspicious of her father. She discovers that Magrew has apparently not ordered any new dolls for six months, contradicting his explanations about his business. She returns to the woods and investigates the burned crate more closely. To her horror, a puppet inside begins speaking to her in Matt’s voice. She realises that Matt was another victim of her father’s experiments—and that Robert is probably destined to suffer the same fate.
Jane races back to the House of Marvels, but she is too late. Magrew has Robert strapped into his laboratory and performs his experiment, attempting to transfer Robert’s soul into the Tank puppet.
The other puppets finally turn against Magrew. They attack and brutally mutilate him, apparently furious at what he has done to Robert. Jane arrives to find her father dying and the newly animated Tank puppet standing nearby.
Magrew proudly declares that he has succeeded. But Tank turns on him. The puppet raises its arm and fires an electrical bolt directly into Magrew, killing him.
The film ends with Jane screaming in horror as she realises that her beloved Robert has effectively been transformed into a living puppet.
Cast and characters:
George Peck – Doctor Magrew
Emily Harrison – Jane Magrew
Josh Green – Robert “Tank” Winsley
Michael D. Guerin – Joey Carp
Michael Sollenberger – Station Owner
Marc Newburger – Art Cooney
Scott Boyer – Larry
Jason Dean Booher – Pogo
Robert Donavan – Sheriff Garvey
Jason-Shane Scott – Deputy Wayburn
William Knight – Medical Examiner
Patrick Thomas – Shipping Agent
Ariauna Albright – Operator’s Voice
J.R. Bookwalter – Tommy Berke’s Voice – director of The Sandman; The Dead Next Door
Featured puppets:
Blade
Pinhead
Leech Woman
Jester
Tunneler
Torch (stock footage only)
Six-Shooter
Matt (Freak)
Tank
Dummy
Trailer:
Free to watch online in 1080p HD:
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