1. Plot

2. Cast

3. Production

4. Release

5. Reception

6. References

7. External links

• Sonny Laguna
• Tommy Wiklund

Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich is a 2018 horror-comedy film written by S. Craig Zahler and directed by Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund and is the thirteenth entry in the long-running Puppet Master franchise, in addition to being the first "FANGORIA Presents" film produced by Fangoria following their acquisition by Cinestate. It is a reboot of the series^[2] and it stars Thomas Lennon, Kennedy Summers, Barbara Crampton, Udo Kier. It was released on August 17, 2018 by RLJE Films. As of February 2019, the film has grossed over $600k through video sales.

Plot

In Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich, recently divorced and reeling, Edgar (Lennon) 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 at a small-town convention celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the infamous Toulon Murders. Girl-next-door Ashley (Pellicer) and his comic book shop boss, Markowitz (Franklin), join Edgar for the doomed road trip. 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.

Cast

• Thomas Lennon as Edgar Easton
• Jenny Pellicer as Ashley Summers
• Nelson Franklin as Markowitz
• Charlyne Yi as Nerissa
• Michael Pare as Detective Brown
• Alex Beh as Howie
• Matthias Hues as Strommelson
• Skeeta Jenkins as Cuddly Bear
• Barbara Crampton as Carol Doreski
• Udo Kier as Andre Toulon
• Serafin Falcon as Richard
• Kennedy Summers as Goldie

Production

The reboot was announced in May 2016 with Di Bonaventura Pictures and Caliber Media (later Cinestate) optioning the film rights and S. Craig Zahler listed as writing the screenplay.^[2]

In March 2017, it was announced that the Swedish film making duo Sonny Laguna & Tommy Wiklund would direct the film.^[3] At the same time, it was also announced that Thomas Lennon had joined the cast as the lead and Udo Kier had been hired to play the puppet master Andre Toulon. Other announced cast members included Jenny Pellicer, Nelson Franklin, Charlyne Yi, Alex Beh, Barbara Crampton, Tina Parker, Skeeta Jenkins and Michael Pare.^[3] The film began shooting in Dallas, Texas in April 2017.^[3]

In February 2018, it was announced that veteran Italian composer Fabio Frizzi would score the film.^[4]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Overlook Film Festival on April 20, 2018.^[5] The film had its Canadian premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Canada on July 23, 2018.^[6] It was released to video on demand on August 17, 2018 and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 25, 2018.^[7]

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 66% based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. Its consensus reads, "Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich delivers all the proudly distasteful B-movie antics genre fans might expect from a film about murderous Nazi dolls."^[8] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "Mixed or average reviews".^[9]

Cody Hamman from Arrow in the Head rated the film a score of 7/10, writing, "Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich is a ridiculous bloodbath that viewers will hate if they don't agree to meet the film on its own flippant terms and go along for the ride. Viewers who can accept offensive humor will probably have a lot of fun watching it, and might find it to be uncomfortably hilarious."^[10] Meagan Navarro from Bloody Disgusting gave the film 4.5 out of 5 skulls, writing, "The Littlest Reich delivers everything that should come with a reboot; a reverence for the original property, its own spin on the mythology, memorable new characters, and more special effects insanity than you thought possible."^[11] Noel Murray of the LA Times called the film "good, sick fun", commendign the film's "punchy" dialogue, cast, and animation of the puppets.^[12] Joshua Rothkopf from Time Out awarded the film 4/5 stars, writing, "The Littlest Reich is no Shoah but it does play around in the slop of real-life genocide and that makes it strangely transgressive. If you’re in the right mood—not too self-serious—you’ll get off on its vengeful payback".^[13] Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times gave the film a positive review, calling it "certifiably bonkers and cheerfully offensive", commending the film for its humor, while also noting the film's "flimsy" script.^[14] John DeFore from The Hollywood Reporter commended the film's performances and humor, while also noting that some viewers might find it offensive.^[15]

Not all reviews were positive.

A.A. Dowd from The A.V. Club called it "a self-satisfied wallow in tastelessness". In his review, Dowd commended the film's gore, and music, but further stated that it was "a little too self-satisfied with its own 'transgressive' mean streak to be much fun."^[16] Keith Uhlich of Slant Magazine wrote a particularly scathing review, stating, "What talent Laguna and Wiklund have is of a purely amateurish variety. You can almost see the directors’ fingers moving the puppets through scenes like well-worn action figures, as if they were ‘80s kids filming their every Dadaist thought on a camcorder after renting the first Puppet Master at the local Blockbuster."^[17] William Bibbiani from IGN stated that, although the dialogue, performances, and gore were all "unusually good", he felt that the filmmaker's changes made to the franchise had "dramatically reduce[d] the film's entertainment value, and arguably rob[bed] these iconic puppets of the very characteristics that made them special."^[18]

References

External links

• {{IMDb title|5685006}}
• {{Allmovie title|707129}}
• {{Metacritic film|puppet-master-the-littlest-reich}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes|puppet_master_the_littlest_reich}}

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