Puppet Master X Axis Rising Review

Puppet Master X Axis Rising Review

 

Year: 2012
Stars: Paul Thomas Arnold, Oto Brezina and Kip Canyon
Directed: Charles Band
Running Time: 86 Mins Approx.

 

 

My god another Puppet Master film what is going on here? I mean even the older ones weren’t exactly gold, with the last offering I had watched before this one was the puppet master vs. demonic toys Which I watched a little before I started this site, all I can say is Corey Feldman WHY.

 

Now I know there is Axis of evil before this one, I will watch and review it for a retro review at some point in the near future.
As I said these films have been steadily spewing out anywhere from 1-6 year increments since 1989 they were never a favourite series of mine and if I remember rightly off the top of my head one of the sequels years back used footage from the original to make their film?
Not looking that up so tell me if I right or wrong there my Nation, so let’s get on with the film at hand info.
Charles Band has had some kind of involvement with this series from the get go as either writer, producer and as of late director, or any combination of them. It’s only as late he’s been director though. With numerous other films, too many to mention under his belt in many different positions as well, none of any mention.
With no budget information floating about I can’t properly compare the sets, actors or effects to anything similar. Onto the films main storyline.

 

After foiling a plot to blow up an American arms plant, Danny Coogan (Kip Canyon who is in nothing else other this and 2 made for TV movies) and his girlfriend, Beth (Jean Louise O'Sullivan, nothing noteworthy other than a platoon of DTV, m4tv stuff floating round her resume) quickly find that their troubles have just begun. One of Toulon's mysterious Puppets has been kidnapped by the Nazis, and under the wicked, watchful eye of the occultist Commandant Moebius, the Puppets' life-giving serum is synthesized to create a master race of unstoppable soldiers. Moebius plots to assassinate the highly-decorated General Porter to deliver a crippling blow to the American war effort.
Amongst all this some new puppets are made on the Nazis side, Nazi Puppets in the form of Blitzkrieg looks slightly like the old flamethrowing puppet with a tank body, Wehrmacht a werewolf, Bombshell an embodiment of one of the female generals and Kamikaze! a crazy exploding jap puppet.
The accents, writing, lines everything is just bad and I’m not one for really hacking on a movie. I mean I review mostly B-movies anyway so I never set the bar to high.
One thing I noticed with this too is the fact that it seems dubbed like the old Kung Fu movies as well it’s weird I looked to see if it was a sync problem I even tried programs to sync the words with the lips but then the sound ran over other things like effects.
This is just not a good experience from the get go but I persevered to get through this movie just so I could let you know Horror Nation.
The acting is just as on par with the poor writing though as such these things can usually go hand in hand, though as you know I’ve watched some good films where brilliant actors have taken something with bad writing and made it something decent to watch, unfortunately this doesn’t achieve that.
I don’t know if it’s even trying to be tongue in cheek with the bad acting or not so I suppose people who want to give it a go can try it with that in mind, I tried but I just couldn’t.

 

So anyway near the end of the film the puppets fight and this time the Nazi puppets are beaten. Beth holds Freuhoffer at gunpoint, but lets him explain himself. Moebius and Stone fight and just as Stone then gets the upper hand, Moebius stabs and kills him.
Moebius comes at Danny, but is shot down by Six-shooter; Moebius is still alive and pulls out a gun with plans to shoot Danny, who states "Don't screw with America". Blade then comes up from behind and stabs Moebius. Beth and Freuhoffer come out and tell Kamikaze to detonate, destroying the lab and Moebius. Danny and Beth let Freuhoffer go.
There’s a little twist at the end there which I’ll leave out just in case you decide to watch it all I’ll say is it leaves the door open for another one which I hope never comes to the light of day.
This movie series has excellent potential and although none of them have ever made me go ooh as much as say Friday the 13^th or nightmare on Elm Street it was never unwatchable as it’s become lately.
Acting aside it’s always been the puppets in these movies you’ve routed for but even they can’t hold this rubbish together. I can’t decide whether to give it no stars or 1 for effort and persistence since I don’t do half measures as you know I have to be evil.

 

That’s right folks unfortunately this gets my lowest of the low big fat 0 stars….