MaximumMadness Director David Decoteau's ("Puppet Master III", "Curse of the Puppet Master" and "Retro Puppet Master") 2010 direct-to-DVD prequel "Puppet Master: Axis of Evil" is quite a surprise. It's not a good movie by any means, don't get me wrong. It's really bad at times, but it's also highly enjoyable as a cheap horror film and has some good fun moments, and it is a definite step up after the abysmal, cheap clip-show of a film the prior entry ("Legacy") was.The films starts off with an extremely well-done retcon of the original "Puppet Master" film's prologue, almost seamlessly mixing old archival footage and new footage- Danny Coogan (Levi Fletcher), a young man whom wants to fight in World War II but can't due to a bad limp, stumbles into the room of the puppet master Andre Toulon (William Hickey in archival footage) just moments after he killed himself. Danny had been shown Toulon's puppets before, and is able to recover them from their hiding place in the wall, vowing to take care of them and keep them safe from the Nazis Max and Klaus who had been sent to retrieve them for Hitler. (Max and Klaus are played by Tom Sandoval and Aaron Riber) Danny returns home to Los Angeles China-Town district where his mother and older brother (about to depart for the war) live, and where his girlfriend Beth (Jenna Gallaher) works. However, Max and Klaus track down Danny's address and begrudgingly unite with a Japanese spy and her associates to retrieve the puppets for the Axis, and to blow up the factory where Beth works, which may or may not be home to a new secret Allied weapon.I will give credit where credit is due- there are a lot of good, fun moments in this direct-to-DVD film. Some of the ret-con work in the beginning is highly impressive (it matches perfectly except for slight differences in the lighting), the characters though underdeveloped and poorly acted are likable, and there's even some good unintentional social commentary. (Including a good jab at American ignorance in that our Japanese villainess is able to hide out in plain sight in China-Town because Americans are too ignorant to be able to tell Chinese and Japanese apart.) It's also just good to see the puppets in action again as a fan of earlier installments in the series.However, when this film falls apart and times, it really falls apart. For one, it's 81 minutes long, but nearly ten minutes of that footage includes the opening and closing credits, and a large portion of archival footage from the original film, so the film is really only about 71 minutes of new footage. And it just isn't enough time to develop the sort-of story the director and writer are going for. You can tell that a lot of scenes must have been cut for budget and time reasons (too much is implied through dialog when it should have been shown on screen, and the film takes place in the same few locations from scene to scene), and it hurts the film. What makes this even stranger is that it's not a fast film, per say, it's actually a slower-moving film editing-wise, which makes it seem even shorter than it already is. It really could have benefited from another 10 minutes of footage.Two, this is not really a well-made movie. It feels far too low-budget. The puppet effects are all very bland and basic and look arguably worse than they did in earlier films. The production design is very cheap. The acting isn't the greatest (the actors are charming, but just can't act). It just reeks of "low budget direct-to-DVD." Those complains being said, this is still a watchable film. It's one of the weaker entries in the series (to be honest, the series has gotten a lot worse since the third film), but is still mildly entertaining. I'd give it a just under-average 4 out of 10. If you're a fan of the earlier films, pick up the box set of all nine official entries and give this one a watch. It's worth seeing for the fans.

Jennifer Okay... So this is, by far, not the worst Puppetmaster movie I've ever seen. The worst one was, and still is, Puppetmaster... ehhmm.. 5? "Curse of the Puppet Master". That one was also directed by David DeCoteau! I've said it before, I'll say it again: David DeCoteau sucks! "Curse of the Puppetmaster" was an insult to the series!But "Axis of Evil" is just... bad. As pretty much any DeCoteau movie; it's bland and boring. The actors are awkward in their parts, the plot holes are all over the place and DeCoteau used the footage from the very first movie. For that I just want to slap him and go "No! Just.. no! You do not deserve to use that stock footage!"On the other hand, the... Japanese woman's (I can't remember her name. That's how memorable her character was.) performance brings out the giggles in me every time she's on screen! Danny's Oscar-clip-crying-moment made me laugh so bad I had to pause the movie 'cause I couldn't focus. It was so hilarious I had to re-watch it over and over again! Jenna Gallaher's (Beth) acting went from decent to bad to horrible to just so bad it's funny in under 45 minutes. Taylor M. Graham's (Don) acting... how hard is it to play an asshole? Seriously? If you can't play a part that demands you to be all around annoying, then you might want to consider a career-change!And the biggest plot hole of them all, for me personally is: If Danny took the puppets to L.A., how in the firetrucking ("Firetruck" starts with the letter "F" and ends with "uck". You figure it out!) hell did they get back to the inn for the second movie?!? I mean come on! Establish that! Have Danny take them or something! Anything! Don't just leave it with a "To be continued" ending! I forbid you to make sequels! I forbid you, damn it!!!This movie is bad. It's just bad. Danny's crying, Japanese woman's and Beth's acting makes it all worth while though, so... a 3/10 just for that! Seriously, if you've seen all of the sequels up to this one then there's nothing I can say that will make you not watch it. You, like me, just want to get it over with. But if you've never seen any Puppetmaster movies: Go away! Save yourself! Go watch... Go watch "House of the Dead"! Because.. seriously.. some of these sequels make Uwe Boll look good! And lets all pray for no more sequels, shall we?

amesmonde Set in 1939 after the events of the first Puppet Master just as Toulon commits suicide, the owners nephew of the Bodega Bay Hotel, a cripple Danny 'befriends' Toulon's living deadly Puppets.   He takes them to Chinatown but soon gets caught up in a Nazi/Japanese WW2 bomb plot and it is up to Danny and the Puppets to stop this sabotage.Firstly, despite the intention of a theatrical run of the first film, all have been direct to video releases, this is a pity because there is a real following for these movies and the puppet characters, possibly with a larger budget it may have had more success. Sadly, Axis of Evil again suffers from that DTV feel and sits above Retro and is on par with the third instalment. There appears to be an effort made with the set production, acting and script (racist comments and historical inaccuracies aside). The introduction of yet another new puppet despite being story hook is unnecessary and considering it is unrated there is a distinct lack of blood. David DeCoteau's direction at times is stilted and as stiff as the puppets (who look slightly different from the original designs) giving it a TV soap opera feel. Adding smoke, darkly painted walls and combining it with back lighting doesn't guarantee atmosphere. Nevertheless, creator/producer Charles Band's brother composer Richard Band crafts another great score, however, the mix is intrusive at times. Actors Fiehler, Erica Shaffer and Levi Fiehler are notable and it nice to see William Hickey (1927-1997) even if it is reused footage.As a longtime fan of Puppet Master, it's great to see Blade, Jester, Pinhead, Tunneller, Leech Woman and gang but it's execution at times leaves it void of tension and horror. Overall, it's good fun but a missed opportunity that leaves the viewer short changed, which is a crying shame given the potential and cult following.

weemonk I remember watching the first Puppet Master film in my teens and thinking it was a pretty good. I remember watching the second and thinking it was pretty poor. I remember watching the third and thinking that, whilst low budget, it was a good film.I say remember as I'm 31 now and it was quite a while a go. But being the film fanatic that I am, I still remember the puppets and their names.Even though more Puppet Master films were made, I didn't follow the series after the third one....until I noticed that a new film had been released and that the story would take place early Toulon days - like the third film, which worked - so I thought I'd jump back in and see where the series was up to.Unfortunately, by the 10th instalment filming is on a micro budget and it shows! I liked the story and thought it was engaging enough. I looked past some of the shoddy acting and poor performances.....but the thing I just couldn't forgive was the lack of budget given towards the puppets! It was poor and disgraceful. At no point did you feel that Blade (my favourite since the first) and co. were alive. There wasn't the slightest effort made at all. If you were to make a home movie about puppets that are alive, the best you'd be able to do to make it look convincing is move the puppet with your hand so the camera can not see - this is exactly what happened in this film. No attempt at animatronics or stop motion capture.The original Puppet Master was made in 1989 - all these years later, it still outclasses this instalment in every department.The good thing that did come out of this film is that my interest is rekindled and I've obtained Puppet Master 1-9 which I'm going to watch!EDIT - Just watch 1-4 as the series goes down hill from 5 onwards :)