Day 26 started late with an opening night viewing of the newest Silent Hill film, Silent Hill: Revelation (2012). The first Silent Hill film was not necessarily the greatest horror film, but by video game movie standards it was damn good and effectively creepy. This sequel, many years in the making, also solidly delivers. Silent Hill: Revelation is a popcorn movie through and through. It delivers violently pseudo-psychological action and impressively creepy 3D monstrosities in between slightly wooden video-game acting. Silent Hill: Revelation is not a horror classic that will be remembered for generations to come nor is it an Oscar-worthy study of the macabre, but it is a fun flick that hits all the right notes and provides more than a few genuine thrills. 8 1/2 out of 12 beers.
Silent Hill: Revelation was the 49th horror movie I watched this month, which meant that I was just one movie away from my goal of watching 50 horror movies I had never seen before in one month. Quite an impressive feat when one has a full-time job, if I say so myself. So I figured that I needed to ring in this momentous occasion with something special, and I could think of no more worthy film than the latest Puppet Master film, Puppet Master X: Axis Rising (2012).
Before I talk about this film, let me begin by proclaiming my immense love for the Puppet Master films. I don't remember when or where I was when I saw my first Puppet Master movie, but they were absolutely a formative part of my early teenage years and have held a special place in my heart ever since. Being a staple of USA Network and early Sci-Fi Channel, I must've seen the first two films at least a couple of dozen times before I even turned eighteen and every time I did, some part of me deep down would tingle with excitement. The image of Blade jumping off the bed and running towards the camera from the first movie is forever burned into my brain. The third film which is set in World War II deals with some pretty heavy issues, and even when the films moved into lighter territory (some would even say cheesy) with parts four and five, they were still fantastic fun that could never disappoint a 14-year old boy with a growing obsession for horror films. Unfortunately when Full Moon Studios split with Paramount Studios after the fifth film, they no longer had the budget or talent handy to produce the stop-motion effects which made the first five films so enthralling to me. Curse Of The Puppet Master, the sixth installment, tried but ultimately could not capture the spirit of the earlier films. Retro Puppet Master and Puppet Master: The Legacy (installments seven and eight respectively) were instantly forgettable, with Retro discarding the puppets we knew and loved for new ones and Legacy being comprised mainly of stock footage from the first seven films. The Sci-Fi Channel produced a crossover with another well-known Full Moon franchise in Puppet Master Vs. Demonic Toys, resulting in a laughably bad Corey Feldman vehicle. And then word came down that Full Moon would be reviving the Puppet Master franchise with a new series of sequels set in World War II, after the events of part three. Hope was once again alive. The ninth installment (as Puppet Master Vs. Demonic Toys is not considered canon, and is generally ignored by everyone except the mentally unbalanced), Puppet Master: Axis Of Evil was at the very least a step in the right direction. Obviously, Full Moon no longer has the budget they once did, but they at least tried to make a marginally entertaining story with plenty of puppet action.
All of this brings me to the latest installment, Puppet Master X: Axis Rising. I wanted to love this movie, I really did. While Axis Rising is certainly better than Axis Of Evil and is another bold step in the right direction, it can't hold a candle to even the first five Puppet Master films. Though the effects do leave much to be desired, Axis Rising provides us with lots of puppet action by introducing four new puppets fighting on the Axis side; Bombshell- a busty Axis temptress with machine-gun boobs, Weremacht- a Nazi werewolf, Blitzkrieg- a tank, and Kamikaze- a puppet so hilariously racist it deserves it's own action figure.
Seriously.
Like I said before, Puppet Master X: Axis Rising is a step in the right direction, but it's still a long way away from the Puppet Master films of my youth. Not only do the puppets look a bit sub-par, but the acting is pretty atrocious. I don't expect award-worthy performances from Full Moon, but I do expect better than this. I plan on fully supporting this new series of films by adding Axis Rising to my DVD collection, but I expect Full Moon to step up their game a little more next time. I challenge them to invest the time and resources that they need to in order to make another great Puppet Master film. And maybe, just maybe, I can one day view a new Puppet Master movie that I'm not ashamed to enjoy, a film where I can stand up and proclaim "I love this movie! This movie is great and anyone who doesn't like it can go to hell!". I give Puppet Master X: Axis Rising 9 out of 12 beers, and I hope to give the next installment an even higher rating.
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