Key Movies Of My Life: Puppet Master 5 The Final Chapter (1994)

There were key movies in my life that helped to make me who I am today. Movies that I have loved from the moment the opening credit rolled and still love now. This blog series is about those, My guilty pleasures, my favorites, my escapes. Some were very popular, others not so much. Some of these will have some real life take-aways, others are just for fun.

Today we discuss the final story in the original Puppet Master saga. Much like the Jason franchise, this ‘Final Chapter’ was literally meant to be that, the end of the Puppet Master franchise. You bet though, just like the Summer Camp Killer, this was not the end. I present to you Puppet Master 5 The Final Chapter.

Today’s Key Movie:

After a full recap of the previous film, Part 5 picks where part 4 left off. From the start we find that Rick Meyers has been arrested for the deaths of his friends but the Puppets, Suhtek and Rick’s former employer has other ideas and, of course, the Tiny Terrors return to fight the minions of Hell. Starring Gordon Currie, Chandra West, Ian Ogilvy and Guy Rolfe, this is Puppet Master 5 The Final Chapter.

Why this movie?

To be frank, much like the previous one, I barely remember this instalment. Now, I am sure that I watched it as, at the time, I was all about the Full Moon films, especially Puppet Master but for some reason this one and the previous one were essentially wiped from my memory. While the last film was remarkably good for what it was, I’m not sure if not remembering this one was necessarily a bad thing.

You like it, but is it really a ‘good’ movie?

Sometimes you watch a sequel to a beloved franchise and ask yourself, ‘why’? Why the characters do what they do, why the production company went with this particular story and, why was this one ever even released. Yeah, This one is pretty rough. From the get go it was clear that this instalment had not only fully embraced the B-horror schlock but didn’t even try to give it the gloss of a good story or try to have fun with the Schlock. Instead, we are treated with an ultra slow paced film that tries to incorporate the return of Suhtek, a corporate plan to use the puppets for their own devices and Rick’s attempt to grapple with his new position as The Puppet Master.

Sure, once things get going, the Puppets get a chance to take out their enemies in only the most delightful fashion as they have for the past few films, but boy does it take forever to get to that point. The film instead chooses to try piecing together multiple story lines that never fully intertwine in a meaningful way while giving none of the characters or even the Puppets themselves much to do. Heck, it takes Suhtek half the film to ‘put his essence’ into an evil avatar and I still have to wonder what he was doing in that scene.

Now, despite how bad it seems, not EVERYTHING is terrible in this film. I do have to keep giving props to the special effects and stop motion of the puppets themselves. While the effect is not quite as good as the previous films, the use of practical effects still manages to beat out CGI any day in my book. Just the scenes of the diminutive devils are worth the watch even if the plot itself is vastly forgettable. I know that’s not much but for a franchise built on the adventures of murderous living dolls who inexplicably turn good at some point, well, what do you expect?

Sadly, when it comes down to it, Puppet Master 5 is more of a poor rehash of the previous instalment that really could have been skipped over. Unless you are determined to watch the entire franchise like I was, you can pass over this one without missing much.

OK, where do I get this movie?

If you really must watch it, you can see this one on the Full Moon Amazon Channel or pick it up from Full Moon themselves here. Either way, only watch this one if you REALLY have to, thankfully it’s not all that expensive.

Next week we check out Curse of the Puppet Master but, until then…

Late To The Game 9/9/2021

If you would like to read more reviews please check out the rest of the Key Movies Of My Life that comes out every Thursday.

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