Puppet Master Legacy Blu Ray Review (Full Moon Features)
Puppet Master: The Legacy is a 2003 horror film directed by Charles Band (Puppet Master X: Axis Rising, Puppet Master: Axis Termination, Gingerdead Man Vs. Evil Bong, Trophy Heads, & Ravenwolf Towers) under the alias “Robert Talbot” (NoAngels.com, Mystery Monsters, & Head of the Family). The Puppet Master franchise helped put Full Moon Pictures on the map. The craziest thing about this film to me was the fact this was the first Puppet Master project directed by creative genius Charles Band! This was the 8th sequel in the series that started out in 1989, I am shocked that it took Band so long to get behind the camera for this horror favorite. It was a 4 year gap between this & the last sequel Retro Puppet Master so Legacy was made to resurrect the franchise & re-introduce everyone to their favorite characters that have been gone for awhile under the Shadow Entertainment label. It’s definitely the lowest budget & the most controversial in the entire Puppet Master universe. Lots of footage from the previous films were featured in this as clips to help tell the new 30 minute story written by C. Courtney Joyner (Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys, Lurking Fear, Class of 1999, & Prison) under the alias “Gene Yarbrough”. Two actors were featured in the new material were Jacob Witkin (Matinee, Swamp Thing TV Series, Showgirls, Dr. Moreau’s House of Pain, Evil Bong 1/2/3/5, & Gingerdead Man 2) & Kate Orsini (Gargoyle, Dark Reel, Bedeviled, American Satan, & The Bold and the Beautiful).
Puppet Master: Legacy’s main story & focus is on Eric Weiss (Jacob Witkin) who was saved from the Nazis by the brave toy maker Andre Toulon. Weiss gets interested & drawled in with Toulon’s special ability to give life to his hand crafted puppets. He is desperate to re-create the puppet master’s unique skills when it comes to the mysterious & dangerous little army. After spending a life time trying to achieve that goal, he’s about to finally make it happen. It’s time to bring back Blade, Pinhead, Jester, Tunneler, & Six-Shooter! This leads everything to the Bodega Bay Inn. A questionable agent Maclain (Kate Orsini) has other plans & breaks into his laboratory. She tortures the new apprentice to find out & steal all of his secrets for this unforgettable power! Eric Weiss plays a tape that explains the history of these living dolls to the corrupt Maclain. Will these deadly puppets fall into the wrong hands again?
1991’s Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge provides a good amount of the flashbacks in this considering the main character’s origin came from that film. 1990’s Puppet Master II is also heavily featured in Puppet Master: The Legacy. You also get footage from the other films but those two sequels are dominate in this when it comes to clips used re-telling the past. This is definitely one of the strangest sequels ever made when it comes to any series. It’s also very smart because it brings new followers up to speed without having to watch all of the previous 7 installments. It can be seen as a stand alone with all the past footage provided in this. Puppet Master: Legacy can go either way depending on the experience of the viewer. Like I said before, someone who isn’t familiar or just a casual fan with the Puppet Master history will probably appreciate it more. This will catch them up quick & set them up for the newer films. If you are a diehard fanatic of the franchise, you will most likely be let down by this because it’s basically a 30 minute short with various clips that you have seen many times before. It doesn’t really add anything to those who are already familiar with the Puppet Master world. I will say it does feature some of the best moments in all of the films & it’s really cool to see them all together in 1 feature.
You get to see every awesome puppet in the same high definition presentation. If you are a completest like me you will want this added to your collection with all the others on blu ray. As you would expect considering it comes from so many different sources the quality changes through out the entire film. So you get this warning before the film starts “Note that Puppet Master: The Legacy master is presented totally uncut in HD using the original 35mm negative but due to the fact that some of that negative was lost over time. The original SD release & Digi-Beta videotape master were also used in order to fully restore the film. This release stands as the definitive version”. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track is actually better than expected considering it’s from different elements & it stays pretty constant. The special features are very light on this blu ray release from Full Moon Features. The original Puppet Master featurette is included on here. It’s the same one that was featured the original film high definition release. It’s always fun to watch the 7 minute “No Strings Attached”. Last not least you get trailers from the Full Moon Features catalog which includes Evil Bong 666, Ravenwolf Towers, Puppet Master, Puppet Master 2, Puppet Master 3, Retro Puppet Master, Puppet Master 9, Puppet Master X, Puppet Master 11, & Specters. This high definition release is recommended for newcomers to the franchise & fans that want to complete their Puppet Master collection on blu ray. It’s available everywhere right now!!!!
