Movie Review: Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2018)

Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich, a re-imagining of the popular and ubiquitous Full Moon fright franchise of the halcyon days of video stores, begins with it’s version of series mainstay (and the eponymous puppet master) Andre Toulon (this time brought to life by genre legend Udo Kier)…a scarred French/German ex-pat who fled World War II Europe (when the allies defeated his Nazi pals) after committing countless atrocities with his magical menagerie of living killer puppets…atrocities he continues to engage in in late ’80’s rural Texas..living in a mausoleum peppered with iron rods that conduct arcane energy which he uses to control his creepy creations.  Flash forward to Texas of the present day and recently divorced comic shop employee Edgar (Thomas Lennon) discovering one of Toulon’s puppets in a box of rando shit in his parent’s house (a hold over possession of his dead brother which he acquired at camp in his youth). Edgar decides to sell the puppet (series regular Blade) at a convention celebrating the demonic doings of Toulon, but before you can say “hey, isn’t this a movie about killer puppets doin’ the murder biz?” those pint-sized psychos begin slicing and dicing the convention goers six ways to Sunday in the hotel they are all shacked up in. Can Edgar, his friends, and the remaining Toulon fanatics survive the bloody night of horror?!!
I’m not gonna do my normal monkey-fuckin’ around; I’m just going to come right out and say it; I absolutely loved Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich; it’s so drenched in over-the-top gore, political incorrectness, humor that is actually funny (I know, I can scarcely believe I typed that shit either)…simply put, this is one of those smorgasbords of rad-ass awesome that you have heard so much about!
Now, I’m sure some of you purists out there will be all “But, they changed Toulon into a complete evil maiac, and the puppets are nothing more than Nazi tools now…waaahhhh!” To that I say, “Who the hell cares!” I mean you have plenty of returning fan-fav putrid puppets (as well as some really cool new ones), you get more blood and gore (all hand crafted with that sweet, sweet practical love) than you could wade through, there are great characters you actually care about and are fun to watch (Thomas Lennon as Edgar and Skeeta Jenkins as Cuddly Bear were my stand-out favorites), cameos by genre vets including Barbara Crampton, Kier, and Michael Pare, and a fun-tastic (it’s a real word; I’m a fuckin’ professional!) screenplay by S. Craig Zahler and kinetic directing from Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund.
The only negative is that the ending promises the adventure is “…to be continued”, and that means I either have to wait to see the next installment, or it may never happen…and that would be a cryin’ shame, as this is how you do a proper re-imagining of a beloved property!
Look, I already said it; rad-ass smorgasbord = Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich! If you love the series, I think you are going to have one hell of a horror hootenanny with this entry, and if you are new to the whole affair, you can jump right in and know everything you need to from the opening scene!
 
 

 
For more on Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich from Horror Fuel, head here!