Puppet Master has proven to be as dogmatic and relentless as the killer marionettes at the center of its story. Since its release in 1989, it’s gained a cult following with a new release nearly every other year for almost 30 years. Andrew Toulon’s puppet gang have been antagonists, protagonists, and anti-heroes throughout a multitude of sequels, each building on the world imagined by the minds at Full Moon Productions.
After the puppets begin to attack the attendees of a psychic conference in their hotel rooms, it’s up to one visiting professor (Paul Le Mat) to figure out how to stop them. He must break the Egyptian spell animating them, and extinguish their unique powers. The plot may sound simple enough, but the production was incredibly complex, all surrounding the intricate workings of seven detailed puppets to make some of the most memorable icons the horror genre has ever known. Check under your bed, and read on for 10 crazy things you didn’t know about Puppet Master.
THE DIRECTOR IS STILL OWED MONEY
Charles Band of the Demonic Toys franchise and Full Moon Productions is often attributed with being the creator of Puppet Master and its sequels. It followed other movies about inanimate objects coming to life and killing victims, like Dolls in 1987.
But he also collaborated with director David Schmoeller, who wasn’t invited to do any DVD commentary because Band didn’t want anyone else getting credit for one of his production company’s biggest hit films. Schmoeller is still waiting on his residuals from the film.
IT WAS A REALLY SERIOUS DIRECT-TO-VIDEO FILM
For its subject matter, Puppet Master was never supposed to be anything other than a classic ’80s B-rated slasher, but the creative minds behind it took it as seriously as possible expecting a fair cinematic release. Charles Band, creator of Full Moon Productions and the Puppet Master franchise had other plans.
He decided he could make more money releasing the film DTV (direct-to-video), a form of distribution that was becoming more and more popular. It proved popular, and a sequel was released the following year, and the year after that.
SOME OF THE PUPPETS WERE PEOPLE
Aside from the real puppet masters being necessary to operate all of the various marionettes under the Puppet Master’s control, it was sometimes necessary for actual people to represent them during key scenes. This was done by hiring dwarf stunt actors, such as Cindy Sorensen.
She portrayed Pinhead during many of the scenes where his hands were on display, such as crawling out of the coffin, and when he was punching. The Pinhead puppet had to be perched on her shoulders, while she wore the same sweater and fingerless gloves as the marionette.
THE BODEGA BAY INN WAS NEVER IN THAT LOCATION
The film may take place at the Bodega Bay Inn, but the film wasn’t shot in the surrounding area. The prop department built a large model, roughly the dimensions of a refrigerator, and suspended it in the air. Whenever a location was found, the production team would use the suspended model.
With specific camera angles and forced perspective, they could make the Bodega Bay Inn look like it was actually in the environment they wanted (on a cliffside). The real Castle Green Hotel is located on a street in Pasadena, California, and was used for many other films in the franchise. The real Bodega Bay Inn is in Bodega Bay and was where Alfred Hitchcock filmed The Birds.
THE PUPPET AT THE BEGINNING WAS REAL
In the very beginning of the film, an Asian puppet can be seen staring out of a window of Andre Toulon’s room. This is a real marionette used in Burmese opera. He’s specifically known as Zagwyi, and occupies the role of the Alchemist/Musician.
Yoke thé is the art form of Burmese puppetry that originated in royal/affluent Burmese houses and then proliferated among the regular population. The marionettes take very dexterous performers to handle, as each one can have nearly 20 strings to control its movements.
ITS PUPPET MASTER WAS FAMOUS
David Allen, the true puppet master behind the film’s marionettes, had already achieved great notoriety for his work on Young Sherlock Holmes. The film showcased the boyhood adventures of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson while they were students at public school, and featured several sequences involving marionettes that earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.
He was responsible for designing and maneuvering Blade, Shredder, Pinhead, and all the puppets under the control of Andre Toulon. Mark Rappaport also worked with Allen beyond the traditional puppets to create stop motion puppets to be used as well.
A SCENE LASTING 17 SECONDS TOOK 2 DAYS TO MAKE
Even with assistants under David Allen and Mark Rappaport working as puppeteers, any scenes involving the marionettes took much longer than they appeared to. For a scene like Pinhead crawling out of the coffin, which included stop-motion animation and dwarf stunt woman Cindy Sorensen’s hands, it took 2 days of filming to produce 17 seconds.
This could account for why the puppets were only onscreen for a grand total of 7 minutes! As technology advanced, they were seen more in other films but, because of the nature of them being puppets, there was always guaranteed to be a great amount of effort involved.
THE PUPPETS REQUIRED INCREDIBLE TEAMWORK
Not only did it take a long time to film scenes involving the puppets because of their physical intricacies, but every person operating the puppet also had to work in sync. For one marionette like Blade, it took 5 different people to maneuver him, all thinking along the same lines.
One person had to rotate his head, one had to maneuver his arms, one his legs, the other his eyes, and one his feet. According to Mark Rappaport, the cooperation and teamwork of the puppeteers made a huge difference in how accurately the marionette “came to life” on film.
SEVERAL VERSIONS WERE MADE OF EACH PUPPET
In order to fully capture the complete range of movements of the marionette gang, as well as place them believably in different environments, several versions of each of them had to be constructed. This meant principle “hero” puppets for closeups, stunt puppets, and puppets that could be destroyed (like by falling down some stairs).
There were even versions of puppets that never made it into the film, such as a six-armed ninja with guns in each hand. He never appeared here, but a marionette named Six-Shooter (albeit not a ninja) did debut in Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge that came out in 1991.
IT HAS THE MOST HORROR SEQUELS
Beginning with Puppet Master, the film about children’s toys going on homicidal killing sprees in a hotel full of clairvoyants inspired 13 sequels. With a grand total of 14 films, including Blade: The Iron Cross, and Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys, it surpasses Jason’s Friday the 13th series and Michael’s Halloween series for most sequels.
The latest film, Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich has received favorable reviews, and Charles Band has said there will be more films in the franchise coming soon. While there have been talks of a complete reboot of the original film before, most fans have vocalized their displeasure at that idea and would prefer more sequels. It even inspired some comics and a few video games!
